Economy
NGX Hails Flour Mills, Dangote Cement’s Leadership in Sustainability Reporting
By Dipo Olowookere
The quintet of Lafarge Africa, Dangote Cement, Seplat Energy, Flour Mills of Nigeria and Courteville Business Solutions has been commended by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited for demonstrating leadership in sustainability reporting.
According to the Chief Executive Officer of the exchange, Mr Temi Popoola, the fivesome has made use of the Facts Behind the Sustainability Report platform of the bourse to promote transparency in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) disclosures by showcasing the sustainability performance and reporting.
Speaking on Thursday at the digital closing gong ceremony organised by NGX in celebration of the 2022 World Environment Day themed Only One Earth, Mr Popoola called on businesses to adopt sustainable business practices and report sustainability performance to stakeholders to promote inclusivity in transformational initiatives for the economy and society.
In his opening remarks, he noted that the critical roles required of the private sector in actualising the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement now enjoy some clarity and as such businesses would need to incorporate environmental and social factors into their operations and activities.
He stated that the Facts Behind the Sustainability Report platform was designed to “mainstream the adoption of sustainability reporting amongst listed companies so as to increase the availability of decision-useful ESG data that investors can utilize in making investment decisions.”
The NGX chief said to encourage others, it was necessary to “celebrate companies that have demonstrated leadership in sustainability reporting by leveraging the NGX Facts Behind Sustainability Report platform for good reason.”
“Our commendation goes to the Boards and Executive Management of Courteville Business Solutions Plc, Dangote Cement Plc, Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, Lafarge Africa Plc and Seplat Energy Plc who have leveraged the Facts Behind the Sustainability Report platform since the platform was launched in 2019”, he added.
Mr Popoola reaffirmed NGX’s commitment to fostering the growth of long-term sustainable finance, toward combatting climate change and environmental concerns across Africa as well as upscaling its platforms to advance sustainable development in new ways that reflect the risks and opportunities presented by climate change and the SDGs.
In his remarks, the Country CEO, Lafarge Africa Plc, Mr Khaled El Dokani, who was represented by Lolu Akinyemi, Chief Finance Officer and Executive Director, highlighted some strategies deployed by Lafarge Africa towards providing sustainable building solutions, creating a zero-waste initiative, implementing sustainable manufacturing, utilizing renewable energy and deploying rail transportation for distribution of products to end-users, thereby reducing carbon emissions.
“We are at the forefront of demonstrating sustainable behaviour at Lafarge Africa Plc,” he said.
On his part, the CEO of Dangote Cement, Mr Michel Puchercos, also represented by Mr Guillaume Moyen, Group Financial Officer, stressed the need for collective efforts in prioritising the environment.
As for the Group Managing Director of Courteville Business Solutions, Dr Adebola Akindele, he discussed initiatives embarked on to align his organisation with the SDG goals, such as setting up a social capital management team that trains stakeholders on sustainable business practices, workplace diversity, and cultural background and language. He further suggested the introduction of active carbon trading equipment for motorists to regulate vehicular carbon emissions.
Additionally, Mr Omoboyede Olusanya, GMD/CEO of Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, represented by Mr Sadiq Usman, Director, Group Strategy & Stakeholder Relations, identified initiatives embarked on by his company that promote sustainable supply chain management, where operations have been aligned with product sustainability themes.
“Beyond installing capacity banks, sustainability initiatives around recycling to save N250 million in product packaging have been introduced to our operations,” he said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Four securities weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.95 per cent on Friday, erasing N41.17 billion from the bourse, which had its market capitalisation at N2.567 trillion compared with the previous session’s N2.618 trillion.
In the same vein, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) decreased at the close of business by 85.28 points to 4,277.07 points from 4,362.32 points.
The price decliners were led by 11 Plc, which gave up N20.50 to sell at N200.50 per share compared with the preceding day’s N221.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc dropped N16.94 to close at N155.20 per unit versus Thursday’s closing price of N172.14 per unit, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went down by N2.11 to N84.68 per share from N86.79 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc lost 11 Kobo to end at N16.74 per unit, in contrast to the N16.85 per unit it closed a day earlier.
During the trading day, the value of transactions jumped by 172.1 per cent to N29.9 million from the preceding session’s N10.9 million, and the volume of trades soared by 136.5 per cent to 955,096 units from the previous 403,901 units, while the number of deals went down by 11.4 per cent to 31 deals from 35 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 68.6 million units sold for N4.7 billion.
GNI Plc also ended the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The last trading session of this week on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended on a negative note, with a 0.66 per cent loss on Friday.
This was influenced by sustained selling pressure and cautious trading, which forced investors into profit-taking.
Data obtained by Business Post showed that the energy sector fell by 4.66 per cent, the insurance counter dipped by 2.23 per cent, the consumer goods index depreciated by 0.96 per cent, and the banking segment shed 0.28 per cent, while the industrial goods space remained unchanged.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) of Nigeria’s stock exchange went down by 1,531.81 points to 232,049.02 points from 233,580.83 points, and the market capitalisation dropped N983 billion to settle at N148.905 trillion compared with Thursday’s N149.888 trillion.
Aradel was the worst-performing equity after it lost 10.00 per cent to close at N1,417.50. International Energy Insurance slipped by 9.95 per cent to N5.79, Trans-Nationwide Express depreciated by 9.89 per cent to N3.28, eTranzact crashed by 9.79 per cent to N14.75, and UPDC slumped by 9.72 per cent to N28.12.
The best-performing equity for the day was Universal Insurance, which gained 6.32 per cent to close at N1.01, McNichols grew by 5.52 per cent to N8.60, Linkage Assurance expanded by 4.67 per cent to N1.57, NGX Group appreciated by 4.35 per cent to N120.00, and Transcorp increased by 3.62 per cent to N41.50.
As look at the activity level indicated that investors traded 388.7 million stocks worth N18.4 billion in 44,631 deals compared with the 393.7 million stocks valued at N19.2 billion executed in 45,813 deals a day earlier, representing a decline in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 1.27 per cent, 4.17 per cent, and 2.58 per cent, respectively.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira recorded a loss of 82 Kobo or 0.06 per cent against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, June 26, exchanging at N1,380.93/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s rate of N1,380.11/$1.
Equally, the domestic currency further weakened against the Pound Sterling in the official FX market yesterday by N6.06 to settle at N1,824.90/£1 versus the preceding session’s N1,818.84/£1, and lost N10.74 on the Euro to sell at N1,577 .58/€1 versus N1,566.84/€1.
At the GTBank forex counter, the Naira depreciated against the greenback during the session by N4 to close at N1,387/$1, in contrast to Thursday’s value of N1,383/$1, and at the parallel market, it was unchanged at N1,395/$1.
Interbank FX activity among financial institutions has fluctuated amid a sharp slowdown in forex market interventions by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as it allows demand and supply to move the market.
Also, a stronger greenback has generally put significant pressure on emerging-market currencies.
Nigeria has accessed the first tranche of a proposed $5 billion derivatives financing arrangement with First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC, the largest lender in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The $5 billion facility, approved by the National Assembly earlier this year, is part of the federal government’s plan to diversify external financing sources and reduce borrowing costs. Structured as a Total Return Swap with First Abu Dhabi Bank, proceeds are earmarked for refinancing debt and supporting infrastructure financing.
If the proceeds are brought into the country through the official FX market, the transaction will increase the currency reserves or Dollar liquidity.
At the cryptocurrency market, Solana (SOL) grew by 2.2 per cent to $71.92, Cardano (ADA) gained 1.1 per cent to trade at $0.1474, Ripple (XRP) also appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $1.05, Dogecoin (DOGE) expanded by 0.9 per cent to $0.0755, and Ethereum (ETH) improved by 0.4 per cent to $1,578.84.
On the flip side, TRON (TRX) slid 0.6 per cent to $0.3203, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 0.3 per cent to $564.33, and Bitcoin fell by 0.2 per cent to $60,219.37, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
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