Nestle, Seplat Stop Further Stock Market Flop

By Adedapo Adesanya The cryptocurrency market witnessed an uptick on Wednesday, with Bitcoin (BTC) managing to stay above the $26,000 level even as the US Dollar index rose to a new year-to-date high. Data obtained by Business Post showed that the most valued crypto, BTC, posted a 0.7 per cent appreciation during the midweek session to trade at $26,408.37 in the last 24 hours. On the part of the second-most valued digital coin, Ethereum (ETH), it remained in the $1,600 mark and it improved its value yesterday by 1.6 per cent to sell at $1,610.94. At the trading session, the US

By Adedapo Adesanya The Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, has cleared the air regarding recent reports on the transfer of funds to the Joint Tax Board (JTB) by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) under the erstwhile chairman, Mr Muhammad Nami, for the tax reform committee. In a statement on Friday, he revealed that N5 billion was paid to the board to fund activities of the team set up by President Bola Tinubu, noting that “The committee’s budget includes provisions for a national Data for Tax project which the JTB had been

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 Modupe Gbadeyanka Chief Executive Officer of Access Bank, Mr Herbert Wigwe, has revealed that the lender has booked a N4 billion impairment on its loan to Etisalat Nigeria, which recently changed its name to 9mobile after its main investor pulled out of the business. Speaking during an analysts’ call yesterday, Mr Wigwe said Access Bank hopes to recover the debt once 9mobile was sold to new investors, which will likely happen before the end of December 2017. According to him, the financial institution had a direct exposure of N11 billion to 9mobile, as well as an exposure of N35-N39

 By Dipo Olowookere If gold mining operations are improved in Nigeria, not less than $500 million can be generated by the federal government from the sector in taxes and royalties. This was the submission of President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday in Abuja when he received the locally mined gold bars presented to him by the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative (PAGMDI). A statement issued by the Special Adviser to President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, stated that the President further said the sector could also generate no fewer than 250,000 jobs if the necessary policies and actions

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Neustar Incorporated, a trusted, neutral provider of real-time information services, has announced the publication of “DDoS & Cyber Security Insights,” an in-depth research report that provides statistical analysis of the distributed denial of services (DDoS) attack and mitigation data collected through Neustar SiteProtect. The report examines the growth of DDoS attacks during 2016, providing specific insight into multiple attack vectors, such as DNSSEC amplification and Internet-of-things (IoT) botnets. “The DDoS attack landscape has become increasingly complex in 2016 because there is no singular goal behind these attacks; some seek to disrupt services, while others serve as smokescreens

By Adedapo Adesanya Despite a drop in the demand for foreign exchange (FX) at the market on Monday, the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar by 0.08 per cent or 34 kobo at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window. Data obtained by Business Post from the FMDQ Securities Exchange showed that the domestic currency was traded yesterday at N410.67/$1 compared with N410.33/$1 it was traded at the same segment last Friday. During the opening session of the new week, transactions worth $32.61 million were recorded as against the $146.52 million of the preceding session, indicating a $113.91 million or 77.7

By Modupe Gbadeyanka One of the leading rating agencies in the world, S&P Global Ratings, has affirmed its ‘B/B’ long- and short-term sovereign credit ratings on Nigeria with a stable outlook. At the same time, it affirmed its long- and short-term Nigeria national scale ratings at ‘ngBBB/ngA-2’. S&P Global Ratings said the ratings on Nigeria are constrained by its low level of economic wealth, real GDP per capita trend growth rates below those of peers with similar levels of development, and future policy responses that may be difficult to predict because of the highly centralized political environment. The ratings are

By Dipo Olowookere One of the leading indigenous energy companies in Nigeria, Oando Plc, has denied being part of those who imported adulterated premium motor spirit (PMS), better known as petrol, into the country. Following the return of queues to fuel stations in some key cities of the nation, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited claimed that four firms brought into the country methanol-blended petrol. It was alleged that the bad fuel in circulation was the reason for the scarcity of the product in the country as oil marketers had to stop selling the commodity because of the damage

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The managing director of a leading logistics company in Nigeria, Trans-Nationwide Express (Tranex) Plc, Mrs Chidinma Iheme, has retired. This information was made known yesterday by the management of the firm, which is involved in domestic and international express delivery, haulage and freight services. In a statement signed by the scribes of Tranex, Cautious Services Ltd and Mrs Adesua Akintemi, the company said Mr Theodore Chikelu will take over the position in an acting capacity. Mrs Iheme was thanked for her services to the company while she worked there and wished her all the best in her

By Dipo Olowookere Plans have been concluded by the management of Sheraton Lagos Hotel to host afro-beat legend Femi Kuti’s live in concert slated for September 22, 2018. Curated in partnership with media and entertainment company Chocolate City Group, the critically acclaimed singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, and four-time Grammy Award nominee, is set to enthrall music lovers, afro-beat enthusiasts and members of Marriott International’s award-winning loyalty programs – Marriott Rewards, The Ritz-Carlton Rewards, and Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG), with an exclusive live performance of his seventh studio album, One People One World. Marriott International has been focused on stepping up its