Economy
NGX Group’s Profit Rises 82.4% in Six Months
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Group Plc has recorded an 82.4 per cent growth in profit in the first six months of the year, rising to N820.167 million from N449.658 million in H1 2021.
This information was contained in the NGX group’s unaudited results for the half-year ended June 30, 2022, which noted that revenue rose by 140.4 per cent to N3.823 billion during the period from N1.59 billion in 2021.
Highlights of the result included gross earnings of 138.3 per cent improvement to N4.22 billion from N1.77 billion, driven by 165.1 per cent growth in treasury investment income (26.6 per cent of revenue) to N1,017.4 million in June 2022 relative to N383.7 million in the comparative period in 2021 driven largely by relatively higher yields on the Group’s treasury bills, bonds and fixed deposit investments.
There was a 198.4 per cent growth in transaction fees (60.7 per cent of revenue) to N2.3 billion in June 2022 from N777.7 million recorded in June 2021 due to a significant increase in trading activities in the Exchange.
The company also saw an 18.6 per cent increase in listing fees (9.5 per cent of revenue) to N363.8 million in June 2022 from N306.8 million in June 2021 buoyed by improved listing on the Exchange in the first half of 2022 relative to the first half of 2021.
Rental income (1.4 per cent of revenue) earned from NGX Real Estate lease of office floor spaces recorded a 60.5 per cent increase from N32.2 million in June 2021 to N51.7 million.
However, there was a 15.4 per cent decline in other fees (1.8 per cent of revenue) to N69.7 million in June 2022 from N82.4 million in June 2021 which represents rental income from the trading floor, annual charges from brokers, dealing license and membership fees earned by the Group.
There was a 119.6 per cent increase in other income (9 per cent of gross earnings) driven primarily by a 376.5 per cent improvement in market data income (56 per cent of other income) to N220.94 million from N46.3 million reported in June 2021 which is made up of technology income, other sub-lease income, and penalty fees.
There was a 15.99 per cent growth in other operating income (31 per cent of other income) from N105.6 million in June 2021 to N122.5 million in June 2022.
Also, total expenses grew by 102.6 per cent from N1.9 billion in June 2021 to N3.9 billion in June 2022 primarily driven by a 231.6 per cent growth in operating expenses (59.1 per cent of total expenses) to N2.3 billion from N702.9 million in June 2021. This was largely as a result of a finance cost (57 per cent of operating expenses) of N1.3 billion related to a term loan taken during the period. Personnel expenses (34.4 per cent of total expenses) also grew by 27 per cent from N1.01 billion in June 2021 to N1.35 billion during the period under review.
The exchange’s made an operating profit of N273.2 million in June 2022 compared to an operating loss of N177.2 million in June 2021, as a result of 138.3 per cent growth in gross earnings.
Profit before income tax grew by 134.4 per cent to N1.22 billion in June 2022 from N521.9 million in the corresponding period in 2021 due to an impressive growth in the top line which was more than sufficient to mitigate the impact of the increases in key expense lines.
Despite an increase in effective tax rate to 32.9 per cent relative to 13.8 per cent in June 2021, profit after income tax grew by 82.4 per cent to N820.2 million from N449.7 million. This resulted in a decline in profit after tax margin to 19.5 per cent from 25.4 per cent recorded in June 2021.
Total assets rose by 59.9 per cent to N39.8 billion from N24.9 billion in December 2021, driven primarily by 91.3 per cent growth in investment in associates to N31.99 billion from N14.8 billion in Dec. 2021, and 116.8 per cent growth in Cash and Cash equivalent to N4.3 billion from N2.2 billion in December 2021.
Total liabilities recorded a 394.7 per cent increase from N3.8 billion in December 2021 to N18.6 billion as a result of a N14.5 billion term loan used to facilitate the increase in investment in select associates.
Speaking on the result, the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr Oscar Onyema said, “In 2021, we took strategic steps to reorganise our business by laying the foundation for the rebirth of our franchise as we became a fully-fledged for-profit making company with a clear focus on maximizing resources and improving stakeholder returns.
“Our performance in the first half of 2022 is a testament to our ability to deliver long-term value. We recorded impressive growth in our top line to deliver a profit before tax of N1.22 billion despite the peculiar challenges inherent in our operating environment.
“Our goal remains to sustain our position as a leading integrated market infrastructure group in Africa, by diversifying our revenue streams, and identifying and investing in new businesses. We remain focused on building formidable businesses through broader and deeper involvement in every sphere of the capital market value chain through informed investments in profitable verticals and enhanced risk management practices, without losing sight of emerging opportunities in unrelated businesses within the Sub-Saharan African region.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
Luno Nigeria has received Approval in Principle (AIP) from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) through admission into its Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Programme (ARIP), marking a significant milestone in the country’s evolving digital asset regulatory landscape.
The approval follows an extensive engagement process between the company and the regulator and represents a major step in Luno Nigeria’s regulatory journey. As a result, it becomes the first global cryptocurrency exchange to be admitted.
Nigeria has a sordid regulatory minefield when it comes to digital assets; while it encourages new technologies, it has not fully lifted restrictions placed on crypto transactions via official channels.
Admission into ARIP means the cryptocurrency platform has met the commission’s requirements to participate in the programme and is authorised to operate within its defined scope, subject to ongoing compliance obligations and regulatory conditions, thus limiting full utilisation.
Founded in Africa in 2013, Luno has operated in Nigeria since 2015 and was among the first cryptocurrency exchanges to serve the Nigerian market. It was affected by a blanket ban announced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The company said the latest approval reinforces its commitment to operating within Nigeria’s emerging regulatory framework for digital assets.
Commenting on the development, the chief executive of Luno Nigeria, Mr Ayotunde Alabi, described the approval as a landmark achievement for the company.
“This is an important milestone for Luno Nigeria and a strong validation of our commitment to building responsibly in one of Africa’s most important cryptocurrency markets. Admission into ARIP gives us a clearer regulatory pathway, strengthens trust with customers and partners, and provides a stronger foundation for the next phase of our growth, particularly as we expand our focus on institutional and B2B opportunities,” Mr Alabi said.
He expressed appreciation to the regulator for its continued engagement throughout the approval process and commended the Luno team for its resilience and commitment in achieving the milestone.
Luno said the regulatory approval comes at a time when it is expanding its business-to-business operations by engaging banks, fintech companies, payment providers, asset managers and corporate institutions seeking digital asset solutions.
According to the company, increasing regulatory clarity has become a key requirement for institutional adoption of digital assets. It noted that admission into ARIP would strengthen its ability to provide compliant digital asset infrastructure, including stablecoin applications, treasury solutions, crypto-as-a-service offerings and secure access to digital assets.
The Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Programme is the SEC’s regulatory sandbox designed to accelerate the onboarding of digital asset and investment service providers, including Virtual Asset Service Providers and tokenised product platforms.
The initiative enables the commission to assess emerging technologies and business models in a controlled environment while ensuring adequate investor protection and market integrity.
Building on the initial licensing rollout in 2024, Luno’s admission into the second batch of the programme underscores Nigeria’s efforts to establish a structured and transparent regulatory framework for the digital asset ecosystem, while strengthening confidence among investors, institutional partners and other market participants.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Regulation Limited has allowed the trading in the shares of Fortis Global Insurance Plc.
This followed the completion of the share capital reconstruction of the organisation, which triggered the suspension a few weeks ago.
In a notice dated June 17, 2026, NGX RegCo announced the suspension of the underwriting company because of the exercise.
Yesterday, another notice was issued to inform the investing public of the lifting of the embargo on the securities of the organisation.
A total of 12,911,030,586 ordinary shares of Fortis Global Insurance were delisted, with 3,227,757,647 ordinary shares relisted at N3.96 per share.
“We refer to our market bulletin with reference number NGXREG/IRD/MB68/26/6/17, dated June 17, 2026, wherein the Market was notified that trading in the shares of Fortis Global Insurance Plc was placed on suspension effective Wednesday, June 17, 2026, in preparation for the share reconstruction of the company’s issued shares.
“The market is hereby notified that the entire 12,911,030,586 ordinary shares of Fortis Global Insurance were delisted from the daily official list of Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) on July 2, 2026, while the newly reconstructed issued share capital of 3,227,757,647 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each were also listed on the daily official list of NGX at N3.96 per share.
“The delisting of 12,911,030,586 ordinary shares and listing of 3,227,757,647 ordinary shares on NGX is pursuant to the approval received from the company’s shareholders at its Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) of April 4, 2025, and the no-objection received from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
“Consequently, following the completion of the share reconstruction, the suspension placed on the securities of the company has been lifted,” the circular signed by Bonaventure Onwuji, on behalf of the Head of Issuer Regulation Department at NGX RegCo, stated.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has urged the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) to grant a one-month extension for the filing of Company Income Tax (CIT) returns.
The appeal followed widespread technical glitches that occurred on the newly introduced Rev360 tax platform, which restricted organisations from meeting the June 30 deadline.
The Director General of the think tank, Mrs Chinyere Almona, in a statement, also appealed to the NRS to waive penalties for companies that were unable to file their returns by the Tuesday statutory deadline due to the portal’s failure.
Mrs Almona explained that the prolonged downtime experienced on the Rev360 platform on the deadline day prevented thousands of companies from completing their tax filings, noting that though some businesses waited until the last minute to file their returns, the widespread system failure could not be blamed on taxpayers.
“Rev360 inaugurated about two months ago, suffered prolonged downtime on Tuesday, leaving thousands of companies unable to file with only hours to spare.
“This is a platform failure, not a taxpayer failure,” she said.
The LCCI director general noted that while teething challenges were expected with a newly deployed digital platform, inaugurating it close to a major statutory deadline exposed businesses to avoidable risks.
According to her, the heavy volume of last-minute users reveals shortcomings in the platform’s capacity, resulting in login failures, validation errors and unsuccessful submissions when taxpayers need reliable access.
She, therefore, appealed to the tax body to immediately extend the CIT filing deadline by one month and waive all penalties for companies that attempted to file on or before the deadline but were prevented from doing so by the system outage.
The LCCI head also appealed to the revenue agency to urgently improve the platform’s capacity and reliability ahead of subsequent filing deadlines.
“The LCCI appeals to the NRS to announce the extension and penalty waiver as soon as possible to avoid apprehension and confusion within the business community,” Mrs Almona said.
She added that in the interest of ensuring a smooth implementation of the new tax administration system, granting an extension had become necessary. According to her, adopting a cautious regulatory approach during the rollout of the new platform will help build confidence among taxpayers while supporting compliance.
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