Nestle Nigeria Q1’20 Profit Drops Despite Lower Finance Costs

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Business owners in Lagos have been assured of more incentives by the state governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who added that this is part of his administration’s commitment to reforms aimed at improving the ease of doing business and enhancing investment opportunities. Speaking at the commissioning of the newly-built wet hair production factory of Godrej Nigeria Limited, the Governor said his government would continue to pursue actions that would eliminate red tapes and regulatory impediments hindering the growth of businesses in the state, thereby demonstrating his willingness for continued collaboration with the private sector to improve the livelihood

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr Zacch Adedeji, has asked his counterpart in the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Ola Olukoyede, to support his agency to achieve the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu, who appointed both of them. Speaking during a courtesy visit to the headquarters of the anti-money laundering firm, Mr Adedeji said the EFCC has a role in ensuring that taxpayers’ funds are “judiciously utilised in line with the social contract with the people.” He assured that the FIRS would continue to strive to raise the revenue

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira appreciated against the US Dollar in the Nigeria Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) and the unregulated Peer-to-Peer (P2P) and the parallel market segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Wednesday, November 29 as President Bola Tinubu reiterated his administration’s promise to meet its obligations. Speaking during the presentation of his administration’s N27.50 trillion 2024 budget proposal to the joint session of the 10th National Assembly on Wednesday, Mr Tinubu said, “Despite the challenges, we continue to meet our obligations.” In the official NAFEM segment of the market, the value of the local currency went

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Strong inflationary pressures in November further negatively impacted companies in Nigeria, with new orders and output both falling as customers were either reluctant or unable to pay higher charges. Purchase prices rose at the fastest pace in almost two years amid exchange rate weakness and higher costs for fuel and materials. According to the latest Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) from Stanbic IBTC, business conditions remained under pressure, scoring 48.0 points last month compared with the 49.1 points it garnered in October 2023. Readings above 50.0 signal an improvement in business conditions, while readings below 50.0 show deterioration.

By Adedapo Adesanya The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has reassigned two pre-shipment inspection agents; Carmine Assayer and Cobalt International to inspect all non-oil exports emanating from northern and south-western parts of Nigeria. This was disclosed by Director, Trade and Exchange Department of the CBN, Mr Ozoemena Nnaji, in a circular titled Notice of Re-assignment of Pre-Shipment Inspection Agents for Non-oil Exports on Thursday. According to the CBN Director, Carmine Assayer has been re-assigned from the northern zone to serve as PIA for non-oil export for the south-west zone, comprising Lagos, Ondo, Osun, Ekiti and Ogun states. On the other

By Dipo Olowookere Ogun State Governor, Mr Ibikunle Amosun, has expressed optimism that the country was on the path of greatness in spite of its current challenges. “Yes, there are challenges, but in spite of these challenges, we are confident in the future of Nigeria and the ability of the current managers of the nation to steer it consistently on the path of greatness,” Governor Amosun said in his 2016 Independence Day celebration message issued in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital. According to Mr Amosun, “In spite of the current economic challenges, Nigeria and Nigerians have every reason to celebrate the

By Adedapo Adesanya FTX has recovered at least $5 billion of liquid assets, including cash, crypto, and securities, lawyers told a Delaware bankruptcy judge on Wednesday. The crypto exchange was once valued at $32 billion but imploded after reports of financial impropriety, which ultimately gave way to criminal and regulatory probes, culminating in the arrest of its founder. FTX’s new CEO, Mr John J. Ray, previously attested that at least $8 billion of customer assets were unaccounted for in the “worst” case of corporate control he’d ever seen. The news comes after federal prosecutors announced plans to seize at least

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) have agreed to harmonise conflictive areas in the Code of Corporate Governance for the Telecom Industry and the National Code of Corporate Governance. The NCC and FRCN also agreed to institute processes to achieve seamless implementation of the two codes with respect to enforcement, monitoring, stakeholder enlightenment, and unforeseen exigencies that may arise in the course of time. NCC’s Executive Commissioner in charge of Stakeholder Management, Mr Sunday Dare, who represented NCC’s Chief Executive, Prof. Umar Danbatta, at the meeting held at NCC Head Office, stated that

By Adedapo Adesanya Prices of oil declined on Wednesday as American President Donald Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He signed an initial trade deal in Washington DC to stop the trade war between both nations that has affected the global markets and cut into economic growth. Last night, the Brent crude was trading down by 21 cents or 0.33 percent at $64.25 per barrel, while the West Texas Intermediate crude shed 21 cents or 0.36 percent to settle at $58.02 per barrel. This signing of the deal means China will double its purchases from American farmers worth $12.5 billion

By Dipo Olowookere A financial advisory company, TrustBanc Capital Management Limited, has topped the list of most active brokerage firm on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) by volume of shares traded in the month of August 2019. Business Post reports that during the period under review, the company transacted a total of 1.104 billion units of equities, accounting for 10.79 percent of the total volume traded stocks. It was closely followed by Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers, which traded 1.074 billion units, representing 10.50 percent of the total volume, while APEL Asset exchanged 938.7 million stocks, accounting for 9.17 percent. RenCap Securities,

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday arraigned the immediate past Governor of Ekiti State, Mr Ayodele Fayose, at a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos. The former Governor was brought to the court premises by officials of the anti-graft agency in a white bus and was later taken into the courtroom for trial. Mr Fayose was flown to Lagos yesterday from the Abuja office of the EFCC, where he submitted himself for investigation on October 16, 2018, few hours after his tenure expired. The EFCC arraigned Mr Fayose this morning on an 11-count charge

By Investors Hub Asian markets drifted lower on Friday, led by losses in technology stocks amid falling demand for smartphones and a downward revision in revenue target by the world’s largest contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor. Japanese stocks ended slightly lower, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index edging down by 28.94 points or 0.1 percent to 22,162.24. In economic news, overall consumer prices in Japan were up 1.1 percent year-over-year in March, data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications showed. That was in line with expectations and down from 1.5 percent in February. Core CPI, which excludes volatile food