NASD Investors’ Portfolios Shrink by N12.23bn in One Week

By Adedapo Adesanya Brent crude futures surged by 2.8 per cent or $2.59 on Wednesday to the highest settlement in 2023 at $96.55 per barrel after a steep drop in crude stocks in the United States compounded worries of tighter global supplies. The price of the US West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) climbed by 3.6 per cent or $3.29 to $93.68 as the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a crude oil inventory draw of 2.2 million barrels for the week to September 22 in the country. In the preceding week, the agency posted an inventory draw of 2.1 million

By Dipo Olowookere The board of Capital Hotels Plc has announced the creation of an escrow account for the payment of about N1.6 billion to minority shareholders of the company. The hospitality firm is leaving the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited after years on the nation’s main stock exchange. In a notice signed by Alex Ugwuanyi, the organisation said the account was created with CardinalStone Registrars Limited and has been sufficiently funded for payment “to shareholders” who “have accepted to exit” the firm by selling their holdings. Recall that in March 2023, shareholders of Capital Hotels approved the request of the

By Adedapo Adesanya VFD Group Plc has been officially delisted from the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange months after the proprietary investment company revealed its intention to list its stocks on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited. The bourse on Thursday confirmed the development in a notice seen by Business Post. “Pursuant to the company’s request to delist from the NASD OTC Exchange, we wish to inform you that VFD Group PLC shares will be delisted with effect from the close of business (COB) today, Thursday, September 28, 2023,” the notice read. Last Friday, after three years of trading on the

By Dipo Olowookere Profit-taking persisted at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Thursday, with Customs Street going down by 0.31 per cent on its return from a midweek break. The market closed its doors to traders on Wednesday due to the public holiday declared by the federal government to mark Eid-el Maulud, the birthday of Prophet Mohammed. Business Post reports that market participants did not take their minds off the pressing issues affecting the Nigerian economy, especially rising inflation, energy costs and the foreign exchange (FX) crisis. As a result, they liquidated their shares, leading to a negative market breadth

By Destiny Ugorji Disbarred Lagos-based lawyer, Mr Emeka Ugwuonye, was on Monday arraigned before Magistrate Court 9, Wuse, Abuja, presided over by Abdulaziz Omezia on a nine-count charge of obstruction and interference with Police investigation, offensive publications among other seven charges. The charge reads “extortion by threat of accusation, an offence punishable by death, injurious falsehood, defamation, giving false information, with intent to mislead public servant, obstructing public servant in discharge of his duty, use of insulting or abusive language, influencing course of justice, fabricating false evidence, inciting disturbance, failing to assist public servant when bound by law  to assist

By FBNQuest Research Although Nigeria’s economy has emerged from its technical recession, its macro challenges have not dissipated. As such, a cautiously optimistic approach has been adopted by banks on lending. The CBN’s Quarterly Statistical Bulletin for Q2 2017 shows total private sector credit by banks’ contracting by –0.5% q/q and expanding by just 1.1% y/y. The slowdown in loan growth is partly due to banks’ preference for the elevated yields well in excess of 20% for longer tenors that were recently available on the NTB market. However, those yields have started to dip in response to the CBN’s signal

By Dipo Olowookere Transactions at the secondary market for treasury bills in Nigeria closed bullish on Monday, with the corresponding yields declining across the maturity buckets tracked. Business Post observed that the tenors came under immense pressure during the trading session as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) mopped up N183.6 billion from the system through the sale of OMO bills yesterday. At the close of business, yield on the one-month treasury bills depreciated by 0.96 percent to 11.56 percent from 12.52 percent, the 3-month instrument fell by 0.90 percent to 12.12 percent from 13.02 percent, the 6-month tenor went

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Top celebrities in Nigeria living in Lagos State are in for a big trouble with the state government as lawsuits have been filed against them over tax evasion. According to Punch, David Adedeji Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, and Ayo Makun, better known as AY, have been dragged to court for failing adhere to tax laws of the land. A court paper, sighted by SUNDAY PUNCH on Saturday, indicated that Davido, the Chief Executive Officer of HKN Music, Lagos, was charged before a Lagos High Court in July 2017 and risk a jail term if convicted. AY

By Dipo Olowookere The 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja suffered a 1.93 per cent decline in the total internally general revenue (IGR) in 2020. This information was contained in a report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Friday, which was analysed by Business Post. In the report, the NBS said last year, the total IGR was N1.31 trillion, lower than N1.33 trillion recorded in 2019, with Lagos State accounting for N418.99 billion, closely followed by Rivers State with N117.19 billion and Yobe State recording the least IGR of N7.78 billion.

By Adedapo Adesanya The Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, has charged insurers across West Africa to strategise on repositioning the insurance industry on the continent for global competitiveness amid continued disruption. The Minister gave this charge at the 50th anniversary of the West African Insurance Companies Association (WAICA) 2023 Educational Conference hosted by Nigeria in Lagos. At the event themed Repositioning Insurance Industry in West Africa for Global Competitiveness, she said insurance has been characterised by low penetration and poor contribution to most African countries’ financial growth. Mrs Ahmed, represented by the Commissioner for Insurance/Chief

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The callable N23 billion worth of bond issued by leading technology-driven company with a focus on the digitisation of payments in Nigeria and other African countries, Interswitch Limited, has been listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). The senior unsecured bond, with a tenor of seven years and a fixed rate of 15 percent, was admitted on the stock exchange on Friday, January 31, 2020. It is part of a N30 billion debt issuance programme of the company and issued through a Special Purpose Vehicle known as Interswitch Africa One Plc. Parties to this transaction were FBNQuest

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Kaduna State House of Assembly on Friday approved the 2017 budget presented to it by the Governor, Mr Nasir El-Rufai, which is worth N215 billion. On October 12, 2016, the Governor presented the N214.921 billion appropriation bill to the state lawmakers for their consent. The 2017 budget is N172 billion more than what was approved by the Assembly for 2016. In the budget passed by the Assembly, recurrent expenditure gulped N83.46 billion, while the capital spending is N131.45 billion. An analysis of the draft shows education, infrastructure, and health getting the biggest budgetary allocations. While education got