Economy
NGX Group Tasks FG on More Friendly Market Policies
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Group Plc has tasked the federal government, under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu, to come up with more friendly market policies to attract foreign investment inflows.
At its Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos on Friday, the chairman of the organisation, Mr Umaru Kwairanga, assured that the company would work with the government to achieve this goal.
He lauded the various reforms of this administration that have resulted in the impressive performance of the market.
“The capital market community is excited by the new government and the steps it has so far taken with respect to the economy as reflected in the tremendous growth in our market indicators.
“As a group, we are committed to working with the government to stimulate further growth in the economy, and address higher capital costs, as this will go a long way to enhance Nigeria’s credit profile and create a favourable environment for both domestic and foreign investors,” he said.
But Mr Kwairanga noted that the federal government needs to eke out more friendly market policies that will engender growth as the consistent and faithful implementation of market policies will help businesses to thrive.
He added that the group was hopeful that the planned Initial Public Offer (IPO) of the NNPC Limited would be fast-tracked by the Tinubu-led administration.
Speaking on the performance of the group, Mr Kwairanga noted that the organisation demonstrated resilience in 2022, achieving a 10.3 per cent increase in gross earnings to N7.5 billion, despite a challenging economic environment.
Its total revenue grew primarily due to a 6.8 per cent increase in revenue to N6.2 billion and a 30.1 per cent increase in other income to N1.3 billion.
The growth in its revenue was further bolstered by a 51.2 per cent increase in treasury investment income and a 9.0 per cent increase in transaction fees. However, its total expenses rose by 35.5 per cent to N8.8 billion, primarily due to interest costs on borrowed funds used for strategic acquisitions.
“Achieving an efficient capital mix and broadening our access to capital remain fundamental to our mission.
“The board will continue to assist the Management team in addressing long-term risks, strengthening the global NGX brand, and assessing progress toward our goal of being Africa’s preferred exchange hub,” remarked Mr Kwairanga.
While welcoming the new board members, he commended the contributions of the outgoing board members to the growth and development of the organization.
Commending the group’s performance, the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr Oscar Onyema, said the performance reflects NGX Group’s commitment towards driving growth in Nigeria and Africa’s capital markets. Onyema further added that the group is proud to have generated multiple income streams that enabled it to overcome economic headwinds.
Speaking on the group’s outlook, he expressed optimism about the opportunities and challenges ahead and emphasized the group’s commitment to leveraging its strengths and expertise to drive growth and value creation in Nigeria and other financial markets in Africa.
“NGX Group will continue supporting its operating subsidiaries, associates, and investee companies to deliver sustainable value creation for its shareholders. We will look to enhance our performance by continuously striving to optimize operations, increase revenue streams and expand our market reach.
“We are confident that these measures will enable us to build on the positive momentum we have achieved in recent years and drive growth in 2023 and beyond,” he said.
Shareholders approved all resolutions on the agenda, including the appointment of six Directors of Nigerian Exchange Group Plc: Mr Nonso Okpala (Non-Executive Director), Mr Sehinde Adenagbe (Non-Executive Director), Mr Ademola Babarinde (Non-Executive Director), Mrs Mosun Belo – Olusoga (Independent Non-Executive Director), Mr Mohammed Garuba (Non-Executive Director) and Mrs Fatima Wali- Abdurraham (Independent Non-Executive Director).
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange dropped for the third consecutive session on Wednesday, March 18, by 0.39 per cent due to continued sell-offs.
In what would be the final trading session of the week due to public holidays on Thursday and Friday for Eid-el-Fitr, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) further dipped by 16.14 points to 4,114.75 points from 4,130.89 points, and the market capitalisation lost N9.66 billion to close at N2.461 trillion versus the previous day’s N2.471 trillion.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc depreciated by N10.32 to sell at N112.00 per share versus N122.32 per share, NASD Plc dropped N4.50 to finish at N41.50 per unit compared with the previous session’s N46.00 per unit, and Geo-Fluids decreased by 9 Kobo to N3.02 per share from N3.11 per share.
On the flip side, Air Liquide Plc improved by N2.23 to N24.57 per unit from N22.34 per unit, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc advanced by 90 Kobo to N76.33 per share from N75.43 per share, Food Concepts Plc rose by 24 Kobo to N3.30 per unit from N3.06 per unit, UBN Property Plc surged by 20 Kobo to N2.18 per share from N1.98 per share, Impresit Bakalori Plc jumped 16 Kobo to N1.83 per unit from N1.67 per unit, and First Trust Mortgage Bank Plc added 14 Kobo to trade at N1.89 per share versus N1.75 per share.
During the trading day, the volume of securities went up by 43,404.4 per cent to 400.8 million units from 921,265 units, the value of securities grew by 2,108.7 per cent to N1.2 billion from N54.7 million, and the number of deals soared by 23.7 per cent to 47 deals from 38 deals.
CSCS Plc ended the day as the most traded stock by value (year-to-date) with 38.7 million units valued at N2.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units exchanged for N1.2 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 6.4 million units traded for N1.2 billion.
Resourcery Plc finished the session as the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 1.1 billion units worth N415.7 million, trailed by Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units sold for N1.2 billion, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 131.1 million units valued at N505.6 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) experienced a pullback of 0.69 per cent as a result of profit-taking by investors, with shares in the banking and energy sectors mostly affected.
Data harvested by Business Post showed that the energy index was down by 4.58 per cent during the session, and the banking space lost 2.14 per cent.
They brought down the All-Share Index (ASI) by 1,402.56 points to 201,156.85 points from 202,559.41 points and shrank the market capitalisation by N900 billion to N129.126 trillion from N130.026 trillion.
Customs Street ended in red at midweek despite three of the five key sectors finishing in green. The consumer goods counter expanded by 1.19 per cent, the industrial goods index improved by 0.46 per cent, and the insurance sector grew by 0.43 per cent.
Red Star Express declined by 9.98 per cent to N25.70, Aradel Holdings went down by 9.68 per cent to N1,210.30, Presco lost 9.30 per cent to trade at N1,701.10, Living Trust Mortgage Bank crashed by 8.40 per cent to N4.80, and DAAR Communications dropped 7.50 per cent to end at N1.85.
On the flip side, Secure Electronic Technology gained 10.00 per cent to settle at N1.32, Guinness Nigeria rose by 9.92 per cent to N423.20, John Holt increased by 9.72 per cent to N11.85, Sovereign Trust Insurance surged by 9.57 per cent to N2.06, and Linkage Assurance chalked up 9.33 per cent to trade at N1.64.
Investor sentiment was weak yesterday after the bourse registered 33 price gainers and 38 price losers, indicating a negative market breadth index.
Market participants bought and sold 6.1 billion stocks valued at N130.1 billion in 58,562 deals compared with the 1.8 billion stocks worth N88.1 billion traded in 62,654 deals on Tuesday, representing a shortfall in the number of deals by 6.53 per cent, and a spike in the trading volume and value by 238.89 per cent and 47.67 per cent apiece.
The most active equity on Wednesday was eTranzact with 5.2 billion units sold for N24.3 billion, Wema Bank exchanged 111.4 million units worth N3.1 billion, Coronation Insurance transacted 96.4 million units valued at N303.9 million, Dangote Cement traded 75.2 million units for N56.5 billion, and Access Holdings exchanged 61.5 million units valued at N1.6 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira stumbled against the Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Wednesday, March 18, by N8.96 or 0.67 per cent to trade at N1,353.00/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s rate of N1,344.04/$1.
Also, the local currency weakened against the Pound Sterling in the spot market at midweek by N6.06 to sell for N1,801.93/£1 compared with Tuesday’s value of N1,795.87/£1, and lost N4.75 against the Euro to quote at N1,556.22/€1 versus the preceding day’s N1,551.46/€1.
However, the Nigerian currency gained N2 against the greenback yesterday at the GTBank forex desk to close at N1,363/$1 versus the N1,365/$1 it was exchanged for a day earlier, and traded flat in the parallel market at N1,395/$1.
Nigeria’s external reserves fell by $178 million over three consecutive international payments recorded by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), settling at $49.83 billion from $50.008 billion, indicating that there have been some interventions in the FX market for stability and liquidity.
While the wider outlook for the Naira is positive, potential disruptions to global oil supply have increased volatility in energy markets and could spike inflation with higher oil prices.
In the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin (BTC) slipped below $71,000 on Wednesday as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell flagged rising oil prices amid the war in Iran as a new inflation risk. It sold at $70,538.58.
The US central bank held interest rates steady as expected, but during his post-meeting press conference, Mr Powell acknowledged that the recent surge in energy prices is already feeding into the central bank’s outlook.
He said rising oil prices “for sure showed up” in policymakers’ higher inflation outlook for this year, lifting their forecast to 2.7 per cent from 2.4 per cent.
Further, Ethereum (ETH) lost 6.3 per cent to trade at $2,178.56, Cardano (ADA) fell by 6.1 per cent to $0.2714, Dogecoin (DOGE) dropped 5.7 per cent to close at $0.0096, Solana (SOL) dipped 4.8 per cent to $89.83, Ripple (XRP) slumped by 3.8 per cent to $1.46, and Binance Coin (BNB) declined by 3.7 per cent to $648.61.
However, TRON (TRX) appreciated by 0.4 per cent to $0.3037, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
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