Economy
Multiple Accounts: SEC Extends Deadline for Forbearance Window
By Dipo Olowookere
Deadline for investors to consolidate their shares registered with different names has been extended by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The process, called the forbearance window, will now end in September 2018.
Before the new deadline, investors have the opportunity to consolidate their identities with the registrars and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) into one that bears their official names.
Addressing newsmen at the end of the first 2018 Capital Market Committee (CMC) meeting, acting Director-General SEC, Ms Mary Uduk, explained that during the market boom, some investors bought shares with different names which they had forgotten hence could no longer access the benefits of such investments.
She urged the affected investors to take advantage of the forbearance window to ratify their accounts.
Mr Uduk also expressed commitment to ensure listing of multinationals adding that de-listing by quoted companies posed a threat to the growth of the capital market.
“Increase in de-listing by public companies pose a threat to the market in view of the fact that quite a number of them are highly capitalised,” she said.
The SEC chief said that the commission mandated the committee to come up with strategies aimed at tackling de-listing and boosting listing of more multinationals.
She said that some highly capitalised companies had delisted, thereby, affecting the growth of the market.
According to her, the committee will meet with stakeholders and find out why they are delisting as well as discuss with eligible ones why they are not listed.
Ms Uduk said that some companies had complained of tax issues, and gave the assurance that the commission would engage the government to address the issue.
She said that the committee would come up with recommendations.
“If they are regulatory issues – more rule amendment – we are open to it, but our rules must be in line with international best practices,” Ms Uduk said.
She gave the assurance that the apex capital market regulator would work in line with the committee’s recommendations.
The Acting DG also said that the commission was collaborating with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to obtain the list of companies not quoted on any of the exchanges in the country.
On issuance of electronic annual accounts, she said that the pilot scheme had begun adding that the commission had received feedbacks of concerns from various shareholder associations on the electronic annual reports.
She said “shareholders expressed concerns of poor electricity supply and internet services in the rural areas.
“The market would deliberate further on the issue, while the pilot scheme of one year would go on. We are still looking at it but the pilot scheme will go on.”
On e-dividend, she said that the technical committee on e-dividend reported that the total and approved mandate currently stood at 2.5 million, translating into 466,000 unit investors.
Also, Ms Uduk disclosed that retail players in the domestic capital market invested N5 billion in the Sukuk (ethical) bond issued by the Federal Government last year.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed flat on Wednesday, January 14, with the key performance indicators like the market capitalisation and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) remaining unchanged at N2.2 trillion and 3,678.13 points, respectively.
This happened despite the alternative stock market recording three price gainers led by Nipco Plc, which appreciated by N21.42 to sell at N235.90 per share compared with the N214.48 per share achieved a day earlier.
Further, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc improved its value by 84 Kobo to close at N40.97 per unit versus N40.13 per unit, and IPWA Plc expanded by 12 Kobo to finish at N1.35 per share, in contrast to Tuesday’s price of N1.23 per share.
During the trading session, the price of Food Concepts Plc went down by 31 Kobo to end at N3.06 per unit compare with the preceding day’s N3.37 per unit.
Yesterday, there was a 71.6 per cent drop in the value of transactions to N24.4 million from the N86.1 million recorded in the previous day, same as the volume of transactions, which shrank by 60.3 per cent to 645,002 units from the 1.6 million units posted in the previous day, as the number of deals depreciated by 71.6 per cent to 19 deals from 67 deals.
When the market closed for the day, CSCS Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 2.6 million units for N102.5 million, followed by MRS Oil Plc with a turnover of 265,748 units valued at N53.1 million, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 6.4 million units worth N43.4 million.
Geo-Fluids Plc ended the day as the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 6.4 million units traded for N43.4 million, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with a turnover of 3.1 million units valued at N1.9 million, and CSCS Plc with 2.6 million units sold for N102.5 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira crashed against the United States Dollar on Wednesday, January 14 by 38 Kobo or 0.03 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) to N1,420.04/$1, in contrast to the N1,419.66/$1 it was traded a day earlier.
Despite the decline in the daily value of the Naira against the greenback in the official FX market, the near-term projection indicate that with continued support by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), stronger external inflows from foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), and improving current account dynamics, the local currency will remain within projected range.
The country’s external reserves continued to swell as it added $40.26 million to the previous day’s balance, bringing total reserves to $45.78 billion.
Data showed that the domestic currency firmed up against the Pound Sterling in the spot market by N2.89 to trade at N1,911.09/£1 versus Tuesday’s closing rate of N1,913.98/£1 and gained N1.11 against the Euro to finish at N1,655.48/€1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,656.59/€1.
At the GTBank forex desk, the Nigerian currency gained N4 on the US Dollar to sell for N1,427/$1, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1,431/$1 but closed flat at the black market at N1,490/$1.
A look at the cryptocurrency market showed that most of the tracked tokens were under pressure as broader financial markets turned cautious of the US-Iran rhetoric, which affect risk assets like crypto.
US President Donald Trump signaled he may delay military action against Iran, easing immediate geopolitical tensions.
With upcoming U.S. economic data unlikely to shift expectations for a Federal Reserve rate cut before midyear, traders are watching whether crypto can hold positive positions despite softer equity markets.
During the trading day, Litecoin (LTC) declined by 4.9 per cent to $74.70, Cardano (ADA) slumped by 4.3 per cent to $0.4024, Dogecoin (DOGE) went down by 2.6 per cent to $0.1433, Ripple (XRP) slipped by 2.0 per cent to $2.09, Ethereum (ETH) shrank by 0.13 per cent to $3,319.40, and Binance Coin (BNB) depreciated by 0.05 per cent to $936.13.
On the gainers’ angle, Bitcoin (BTC) led with an appreciation of 2.9 per cent to sell at $96,474.70, and Solana (SOL) grew by 0.3 per cent to $144.49, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
By Dipo Olowookere
It was another trading session in the green territory for Customs Street on Wednesday as it closed higher by 0.56 per cent as investors doubled down on their confidence in the market.
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited rallied despite the consumer goods sector going down by 0.20 per cent due to profit-taking by traders.
According to data, the 6.26 per cent gain recorded by the energy space and the others contributed to the growth achieved by bourse at midweek.
Business Post reports that the commodity index was up by 3.35 per cent, the insurance counter expanded by 0.78 per cent, the banking index grew by 0.05 per cent, and the industrial goods sector advanced by 0.01 per cent.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) of the platform was swollen by 934.63 points to 166,771.95 points from 165,837.32 points as the market capitalisation inflated by N599 billion to N106.781 trillion from N106.182 trillion.
During the session, there were 47 price gainers and 28 price losers, implying a positive market breadth index and bullish investor sentiment.
Academy Press gained 10.00 per cent to close at N8.25, NCR Nigeria improved by 9.98 per cent to N106.30, Tripple G surged by 9.95 per cent to N4.86, Tantalizers rose by 9.93 per cent to N2.99, and McNichols leapt by 9.92 per cent to N7.31.
On the flip side, May and Baker lost 9.79 per cent to trade at N28.55, Coronation Insurance shed 6.76 per cent to settle at N3.31, Livestock Feeds declined by 6.67 per cent to N7.00, PZ Cussons moderated by 6.52 per cent to N54.50, and Eterna gave up 6.30 per cent to quote at N34.20.
It was a quiet market day on Wednesday as the level of activity dropped, as Access Holdings, which led the chart by volume, only transacted 53.4 million shares valued at N1.2 billion, Lasaco Assurance traded 39.0 million stocks worth N100.2 million, Veritas Kapital sold 32.8 million equities for N69.6 million, Tantalizers exchanged 30.1 million shares worth N89.6 million, and Deap Capital traded 28.6 million stocks valued at N114.1 million.
At the close of business, a total of 761.9 million equities worth N29.9 billion exchanged hands in 55,751 deals compared with the 1.1 billion equities valued at N33.6 billion transacted in 49,216 deals on Tuesday, indicating a shortfall in the trading volume and value by 30.74 per cent and 11.01 per cent apiece, and a leap in the number of deals by 13.28 per cent.
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