Economy
Nigerian Equities Remain Down Despite Rise in Volume, Value of Trades
By Dipo Olowookere
Despite the significant increase in the volume and value of equities traded on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday, the market indices remained bearish as profit-taking activities maintain dominance.
The local bourse finished 0.76 percent lower at the close of transactions today with the Year-to-Date (YtD) returns dipped further to -4.64 percent.
Business Post reports that the release of half year financial statements by United Capital and Ecobank were not enough to lift the stock market just as the news of the appointment of a new chief executive for Ecobank Nigeria after the resignation of Mr Charles Kie was also not enough to lead the market out of danger.
While the All-Share Index (ASI) declined by 278.13 points to close at 36,470.05 points, the market capitalisation reduced by N101 billion to finish at N13.211 trillion.
At the close of business, the market breadth finished negative with a total of 20 equities appreciating in price, while 26 stocks recorded losses.
Nestle Nigeria led the 26 depreciating stocks after losing N84.70k of its share value to settle at N1442.30k per share.
It was followed by Nigerian Breweries, which fell by N2.40k to close at N105.60k per share, and International Breweries, which went down by N1.80k to settle at N39.20k per share.
Zenith Bank depreciated by N1 to finish at N22.95k per share, while UAC of Nigeria dropped 75 kobo to end at N13.25k per share.
On the other hand, it was a good day for Guaranty Trust Bank as its shares gained N1.45k today to close at N38 per share.
Dangote Cement grew by N1.20k to finish at N19.50k per share, while Oando went up by 45 kobo to end at N5.20k per share.
Eterna Oil appreciated by 40 kobo to settle at N6.90k per share, while NASCON surged by 25 kobo to close at N20.25k per share.
Like earlier stated, there was a significant surge in the volume and value of shares traded by investors today, appreciating by 63.61 percent and 196.39 percent.
A total of 296.6 million equities exchanged hands on Thursday in 3,684 deals worth N4.9 billion against the 181.3 million valued at N1.6 billion transacted on Wednesday at the market.
The Financial Services sector topped the activity chart today with 182 million shares exchanged for N4 billion, while the Services industry followed with 51.9 million equities sold for N107 million.
A further analysis of the activity chart showed that GTBank led the log with a total of 78.4 million units sold for N3 billion.
It was followed by MedView Air, which exchanged 50 million units valued at N102.3 million, and Zenith Bank, which traded 26.5 million equities worth N609 million.
Transcorp transacted 24.4 million shares valued at N28.7 million, while FBN Holdings exchanged 19.3 million shares worth N171.9 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.
