Economy
NASD Exchange Places ‘Red Flag’ on 13 Companies
By Adedapo Adesanya
A total of 13 companies have been flagged and placed under the red category by the NASD Over the Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange over their failure to comply with listing rules of the trading platform for unlisted securities in Nigeria.
In its weekly newsletter last Friday, NASD said based on the information it compiled as at Thursday, October 31, 2019, it found out that 13 companies on its platform fell short of the requirements and have been placed under the red category.
NASD said it carried out the categorisation following the mandate established by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to regularly conduct a categorization exercise on securities on its platform.
The NASD noted that all securities fell under certain categorization based off the capabilities of the companies to meet the set criteria and are scored into one of three categories such as the NASD Blue, NASD pink, and NASD Red.
As a result, these erring companies were placed under the red category following their failure to meet criteria that show a sound corporate governance and adherence to timely report of financial activities for transparency.
Business Post understands these 13 companies under the NASD Red are Costain West Africa Plc; Spring Mortgage Bank; Free Range Farms; Vital Products Plc; Geo-Fluids Plc; Riggs Venture West Africa; Famad Nigeria Plc; International Packaging Industries of Nigeria Plc.
Others include: Acorn Petroleum; Providus Bank Limited; Resourcery Plc; Swap Technologies; Golden Capital Plc; and Mass Telecom Innovation.
On the other hand, the NASD Blue reflect shares of companies with a history of sound financial performance that display a high level of corporate governance and only 8 companies met this.
These companies are also compliant with timely disclosure of their financial statements, same as establishing a regular communication with shareholders and meet minimum requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Those under this premium category are eight and they include FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc, UBN Property Company Plc, Niger Delta Exploration and Production (NDEP) Plc, NASD Plc, Central Securities Clearing Systems (CSCS) Plc, ARM Life Plc, AG Mortgage Bank Plc, and Afriland Properties.
For the third category, the NASD Pink, it denotes shares of companies that do not comply with the minimum disclosure and reporting requirements of SEC and NASD. They also include companies without current information available to the public.
The NASD disclosed that 14 securities fall under this category and they include: Cappa and D’Alberto, Fumman Agric Product Industries Plc, Food Concept Plc, Mixta Real Estate Plc, Lighthouse Financial Services Plc, Air Liquide Plc, Industrial & General Insurance Plc, NIPCO Plc, Trustbond Mortgage Bank Plc, Fan Milk Plc, CR Services Plc, Allianz Insurance Nigeria Plc, Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company Plc, and Dufil Prima Foods Plc.
The exchange has reiterated that it would continue to encourage good governance and timely financial disclosure among securities listed on its market for the benefit of all stakeholders.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.40 per cent on Monday, July 13, buoyed by buying interest in 11 Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and UBN Property Plc, which offset the profit-taking in Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of Chicken Republic.
11 Plc gained N20.69 to end at N227.64 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N206.95 per share, CSCS Plc grew by N1.83 to N91.48 per unit from N89.65 per unit, and UBN Property Plc added 1 Kobo to sell at N1.81 per share versus N1.80 per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 24 Kobo to close at N2.45 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.69 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N9.2 billion to N2.587 trillion from N2.578 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.33 points to 4,311.67 points from 4,296.34 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 615.9 per cent to 9.1 million units from the previous 1.3 million units, and the value of securities rose by 997.1 per cent to N320.4 million from the preceding session’s N29.2 million, while the number of deals decreased by 12.5 per cent to 28 deals from last Friday’s 32 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units exchanged for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
