Economy
Nigerian Equities Rebound by 0.04% Amid Drop in Sales Volume
By Dipo Olowookere
The first trading day in the month of May 2019 kicked off on a positive note with equities closing in the green territory by 0.04 percent. This was largely due to the mopping up of some stocks with the potentials of yielding investors good returns in the short term.
At the close of business on Thursday, the All-Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) increased by 11.99 points to settle at 29,171.73 points, while the market capitalisation rose by N4 billion to finish at N10.963 trillion.
At the market yesterday, Mobil Oil Nigeria topped the gainers’ chart after adding N9 to its share price to close at N186 per unit.
It was closely followed by Guinness Nigeria, which gained N1.40k to end at N50 per share, and Nigerian Breweries, which improved its share value at 75 kobo to settle at N65.75k per share.
CCNN appreciated yesterday by 60 kobo to close at N14.60k per unit, while Dangote Flour continued its bull run after a scare in the earlier part of the day by 15 kobo to end at N18.95k per share.
On the other side, Presco led the losers’ table, recording a N4.75k loss to close for the day at N58 per share.
Total Nigeria depreciated by N2.10k to finish at N164 per share, while Conoil went down by 70 kobo to finish at N20.10k per share.
Forte Oil lost 35 kobo on Thursday to finish at N34.95k per share, while Lafarge Africa depreciated by 25 kobo to end at N11.20k per unit.
Business Post observed that despite the positive performance put up by the market on Thursday, the level of activity dropped.
For instance, the volume of share transacted yesterday decreased by 48.59 percent from 543.9 million to 279.6 million, while the value of the transactions went down by 65.56 percent from N8.2 billion to N2.8 billion.
Transcorp dominated the activity chart yesterday, closing with a turnover of 34.9 million units of its stock sold for N42.5 million.
Dangote Flour traded 23.6 million units worth N450.1 million, while Chams recorded the sale of 20.7 million units of its shares worth N10.7 million.
Access Bank traded 19.7 million equities worth N135.6 million, while Japaul Oil transacted 17.1 million shares for N6.1 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.40 per cent on Monday, July 13, buoyed by buying interest in 11 Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and UBN Property Plc, which offset the profit-taking in Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of Chicken Republic.
11 Plc gained N20.69 to end at N227.64 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N206.95 per share, CSCS Plc grew by N1.83 to N91.48 per unit from N89.65 per unit, and UBN Property Plc added 1 Kobo to sell at N1.81 per share versus N1.80 per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 24 Kobo to close at N2.45 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.69 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N9.2 billion to N2.587 trillion from N2.578 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.33 points to 4,311.67 points from 4,296.34 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 615.9 per cent to 9.1 million units from the previous 1.3 million units, and the value of securities rose by 997.1 per cent to N320.4 million from the preceding session’s N29.2 million, while the number of deals decreased by 12.5 per cent to 28 deals from last Friday’s 32 deals.
At the close of trades, 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 73.9 million units exchanged for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed 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.
