By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange made a 0.10 per cent rise on Wednesday, May 7, buoyed by the N1.48 jumped posted by Afriland Properties Plc to close at N16.38 per unit compared with Tuesday’s closing price of N14.90 per unit, and the 2 Kobo price appreciation recorded by UBN Property Plc, closing at N2.00 per share versus the preceding day’s N1.98 per share.

During the trading session, the market capitalisation increased by N1.97 billion to close at N1.927 trillion from the N1.925 trillion quoted at the preceding session and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) rose by 3.36 points to 3,292.36 points from the previous session’s 3,289.00 points.

Yesterday, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost 9 Kobo to close at N38.83 per unit, in contrast to the N38.92 per unit it ended a day earlier.

A look at the activity chart showed that there was a 76.7 per cent fall in the volume of securities transacted in the session to 593,373 units from the 2.5 million units transacted in the previous trading day, there was a 48.6 per cent decline in the value of transactions to N17.9 million from N34.7 million, and there was a 35.7 per cent slump in the number of deals to 27 deals from the 42 deals recorded on Tuesday.

When the bourse ended for the trading day, Impresit Bakolori Plc remained the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, trailed by Geo-Fluids Plc with a turnover of 265.7 million units valued at N469.3 million, and Okitipupa Plc with 153.6 million units sold for N4.9 billion.

Also, Okitipupa Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 153.6 million units worth N4.9 billion, followed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with a turnover of 19.2 million units sold for N738.1 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 533.9 million units valued at N520.9 million.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira further depreciated against the United States Dollar by 0.22 per cent or N3.55 at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Wednesday, May 7.

During the trading session, the exchange rate of the domestic currency and the greenback ended at N1,610.46/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s value of N1,606.75/$1.

However, the Nigerian currency traded flat against the Pound Sterling and the Euro in the spot market at N2,137.73/£1 and N1,821.75/€1, respectively at midweek.

In the parallel market, the Naira lost N5 against the Dollar yesterday to settle at N1,20/$1 compared with the N1,615/$1 it was traded a day earlier.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was bullish on Wednesday following President’s Donald Trump’s announcement of an impending trade with a major country on Thursday, saying the deal will be first of many.

There have been speculation at which country it could be but many have predicted it could be the United Kingdom.

Easing tariffs could soften inflationary pressures and can have ripple effect in investing in crypto, tech, and other assets.

Also supporting rally, improving macroeconomic conditions including falling bond yields and the weakening Dollar.

However, the move comes amid rising political pressure on US leaders to counter China’s growing influence and revive domestic manufacturing.

The news saw Bitcoin (BTC) rising by 2.6 per cent to $99,008.57, as Dogecoin (DOGE) appreciated by 4.9 per cent to sell at $0.1806, and Cardano (ADA) gained 4.4 per cent to trade at $0.7051.

Further, Ethereum (ETH) jumped by 4.3 per cent to $1,908.90, Solana (SOL) improved its value by 3.1 per cent to close at $150.52, Ripple (XRP) expanded by 2.0 per cent to quote at $2.17, Binance Coin (BNB) went up by 1.2 per cent to ended at $611.23, and Litecoin (LTC) recorded a 0.1 per cent rise to finish at $91.66, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.

By Dipo Olowookere

The national scale issuer ratings of BBB+(NG)/A2(NG) have been assigned to Champion Breweries Plc by GCR Ratings.

In a statement obtained by Business Post, GCR noted that it also gave a stable outlook to the brewer because it foresees the brewery firm remaining profitable and sustaining strong gearing and liquidity metrics despite the expected rise in debt.

However, it emphasised that its rating could be downgraded if the organisation experiences a higher-than-expected rise in debt which leads to a deterioration in leverage metrics and creates refinancing risk.

“Also, unfavourable working capital movement that places pressure on operating cash flow and weakens liquidity would negatively impact the ratings,” a part of the statement said.

The rating agency assured Champion Breweries that an upgrade could happen if there is an improvement in its business scale as well as better product and geographical diversification which supports robust cashflows.

Champion Breweries operates on a much smaller scale with current installed production capacity at 500,000 hectolitres per annum (hlpa) compared with other peers that can produce more than 5 million hlpa.

It has only two brands, Champion lager beer and Champ Malta, and operations are all within the Southern region of Nigeria with around 60 per cent of revenue generated from Akwa-Ibom state, but its favourable cost model has supported EBITDA margin above peer average.

The company has no interest-bearing debts, therefore, EBITDA coverage of interest has remained strong at above 10x over the five-year period to 2024.

But its debt is expected to rise due to plans to borrow N5 billion from the Bank of Industry (BOI) to part finance the acquisition of an empty bottle inspection machine and installation of a canning line.

Champion Breweries intends to ramp up capacity utilisation to 80 per cent in 2025 from 69 per cent in 2024 and drive volumes to underpin a further growth in revenue.

In the 2024 fiscal year, the organisation grew its earnings to N20.9 billion from N12.7 billion in the previous year due to higher volumes and upward price adjustments.

The brewer has remained profitable, especially due to its reliance on local supplies, helping to hedge against foreign exchange volatilities. Hops and barley are the company’s major inputs and they are mostly sourced from local suppliers rather than direct importation.

Champion Breweries is majorly owned by a non-operational company, Raysun Nigeria Limited.