By Dipo Olowookere
The management of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has disclosed that in order to consolidate on its strong performance last year, a new growth plan has been adopted.
This, Business Post learned, is to make the local bourse more investor friendly and customer centric exchange hub in Africa.
President of National Council of NSE, Mr Abimbola Ogunbanjo, speaking at the NSE 57th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on Thursday, June 7, 2018 at the NSE Event Centre in Lagos, stated that this new corporate strategy has a four-year tenor.
“We have deployed a new four year corporate strategy that will reposition us as a more investor friendly and customer centric exchange hub in Africa.
“With this new strategy, we are poised to deliver superior performance for our multi-faceted stakeholders especially issuers and investors who continue to access our market to raise and save capital respectively,” Mr Ogunbanjo said at the AGM, where the 2017 Full Year Financial Results were announced.
The results announced at the meeting showed a total income of N8.30 billion for the Group and N3.82 billion surplus before tax for the year ended December 31, 2017.
This represents an 86 percent increase in gross earnings when compared to the N4.46 billion achieved in 2016 and surplus before tax growth of 5,629 percent in the same period.
Key achievements for the Exchange in 2017 include a market capitalization of N22.918 trillion, showing a growth of 41.59 percent when compared with N16.186 trillion in FY 2016; an All-Share Index of 38,243.19 points against 26,874.62 points in 2016 showing 42.30 percent rise; a 3rd best performing stock exchange rating in 2017 by CNN.
Others include achieving new listings across diversified product classes – 41 Bonds, 19 equities, 5 ETFs and 15 Memorandum Listings; awarded CSR Company of the Year by Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industry, named Employer of The Year by HR People’s Magazine; commissioning of Tier 3 designed data centre with cloud computing capabilities; and the launching of the FGN Savings Bond, Green Bond and Sukuk to promote financial inclusion in Nigeria in partnership with the Debt Management Office (DMO).
Commenting on these, chief executive of the NSE, Mr Oscar Onyema, remarked that, “This positive performance, after the significant headwinds witnessed over the past two years, affirms the resilience of our market and its potential as a catalyst of economic growth in Nigeria and the hub for Africa.
“Focus on executing our robust strategy of cost efficiency, products and revenue diversification, as well as innovative and improved operational delivery, underpins this strong performance.”
At the AGM, members of the Exchange approved the Audited Financial Statement of the exchange for the year ended December 2017, and the reports of the National Council and the Auditors thereon.
Also, the following were re-elected to the National Council, Mr Abubakar B. Mahmoud (SAN); Erelu Angela Adebayo; Chartwell Securities Limited (represented by Mr Oluwole Adeosun) and Equity Capital Solutions Limited (represented by Mr Kamarudeen Oladosu).
The Exchange Group comprises four (4) subsidiary companies namely; Naira Properties Limited, Coral Properties Plc., NSE Consult Limited and NSE Nominees Limited. The Exchange also has interests in NG Clearing Limited and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc as joint venture and associate company respectively.
