Economy
NSE Deploys New Strategy to Deliver Superior Performance
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.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The oil market improved by more than 1 per cent on Friday to record its second-straight week of gains, as supplies tightened in some parts of the world and US inflation data indicated price rises were slowing.
Brent futures grew by $1.29 or 1.6 per cent to $79.89 a barrel, as the US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) increased by $1.30 or 1.8 per cent to $75.67 a barrel.
Data on Friday showed the US Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, rose 0.3 per cent in February on a monthly basis compared with a 0.6 per cent rise in January.
On a 12-month basis, core PCE increased 4.6 per cent, a slight deceleration from the level in January. Including food and energy, headline PCE rose 0.3 per cent monthly and 5 per cent annually, compared with 0.6 per cent and 5.3 per cent in January.
The softer-than-expected data came with monthly energy prices in the world’s largest economy decreasing by 0.4 per cent while food prices went up by 0.2 per cent, with goods prices climbing 0.2 per cent and services increasing 0.3 per cent.
In other data from the report, personal income rose 0.3 per cent, slightly above the 0.2 per cent estimate. Consumer spending climbed 0.2 per cent, compared with the 0.3 per cent estimate.
This points to the fact that inflation and supported oil prices could point to less aggressive interest rate hikes from the US central bank, lifting investor demand for risk assets like oil.
Oil prices were also buoyed after producers shut in or reduced output at several oilfields in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of northern Iraq following a halt to the northern export pipeline.
Since Saturday, Iraq has been forced to halt around 450,000 barrels per day of crude exports, or half a per cent of global oil supply, from the Kurdistan region (KRI) through a pipeline that runs from its northern Kirkuk oil fields to the Turkish port of Ceyhan.
Turkey stopped pumping Iraqi crude from the pipeline after Iraq won an arbitration case in which it said Turkey had violated a joint agreement by allowing the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to export oil to Ceyhan without Iraq’s consent.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) led by Russia are likely to stick to their existing output deal at a meeting on Monday.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) will likely stick to its existing deal to cut oil output at a meeting on Monday, April 3.
According to Reuters, this was said disclosed by five delegates from the producer group after oil prices recovered following a drop to 15-month lows due to banking fears and demand worries.
Brent crude has recovered towards $80 a barrel after falling to near $70 on March 20 as fears ease about a global banking crisis and as a halt in exports from Iraq’s Kurdistan region curbs supplies.
OPEC+ is due to hold a virtual meeting of its ministerial monitoring panel, which includes Russia and Saudi Arabia, on Monday.
The consensus was that Kurdistan curbs and recent price drops were not sufficiently important to affect the overall OPEC+ policy path for 2023.
Kurdistan’s crude oil exports – around 400,000 barrels per day shipped through an Iraqi-Turkey pipeline to Ceyhan and then on tankers to the international markets – were halted late last week by the federal government of Iraq.
Last week, the International Chamber of Commerce ruled in favour of Iraq against Turkey in a dispute over crude flows from Kurdistan. Iraq had argued that Turkey shouldn’t allow Kurdish oil exports via the Iraq-Turkey pipeline and Ceyhan without approval from the federal government of Iraq.
Talks between officials from Kurdistan and from the Iraq federal government have failed in recent days, but they are set to continue next week.
Three other OPEC+ delegates also told Reuters that any policy changes were unlikely on Monday. After those talks, the next full OPEC+ meeting is not until June.
Last November, OPEC+ reduced its output target by 2 million barrels per day – the largest cut since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The same reduction applies for the whole of 2023.
Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, has said OPEC+ will stick to the reduced target until the end of the year.
By Dipo Olowookere
The board of Oando Plc has informed the investing community of its intention to leave the Nigerian and Johannesburg stock exchanges in the coming months.
The reason for exiting the stock market, according to the energy firm, is to become a private company and to achieve this, its core investor, Ocean and Oil Development Partners Limited (OODP), has offered to buy all the shares held by minority shareholders in Oando.
OODP is offering to pay N7.07 in cash or its equivalent in South African Rand (ZAR) for each of the stock, which it said represents a 58 per cent premium to the last traded share price of Oando on Tuesday, March 28, 2023, being the day prior to the date it submitted the scheme application to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Oando trades its shares on the floors of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).
This news comes hours after the company announced that it had bounced back into profitability after years of dishing out losses to the frustration of shareholders.
In its unaudited financial results for 2021, Oando reported a profit after tax of N34.7 billion, in contrast to the loss after tax of N140.7 billion of the preceding year.
Before now, Oando has had it rough with regulators in Nigeria, leading to its suspension from the market and a court tussle over allegations that it tampered with its financial statements to deceive investors.
In the notice released this week, Oando said after the acquisition of “the shares of all minority shareholders in Oando,” it would “subsequently be delisted from NGX and JSE and re-registered as a private company.”
At the moment, the energy firm said it has “applied for the SEC’s No Objection to the scheme, noting that the deal is “subject to the approval of the shareholders of Oando at the Court-Ordered Meeting of the company, as well as the sanction of the Federal High Court.”
However, it disclosed that, “The terms and conditions of the transaction will be provided in the scheme document, which will be dispatched to all shareholders following the receipt of an order from the Federal High Court to convene a Court-Ordered Meeting,” promising to update the market “upon receipt of requisite approvals from shareholders and regulators.”
