Economy
NSE Reviews Market Indices: Fidelity Bank Joins as Forte Oil Exits
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Next week, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) is expected to carry out a reclassification of the NSE 30, and the six sectoral indices and information reaching us indicates that Fidelity Bank, Cadbury Nigeria and others may make the list.
However, companies that are likely to be dropped include Forte Oil, Conoil, Paints & Coatings Manufacturers Plc and others.
The six sectoral indices to be reviewed are the NSE Consumer Goods, NSE Banking, NSE Insurance, NSE Industrial, NSE Oil & Gas and the NSE Lotus Islamic Indices.
This exercise is normally done bi-annually (June and December) except for NSE Pension Index, which is reviewed once in the year (December).
“With the review, we will witness the entry/re-entry as well as exit of some major companies,” the NSE said in a statement on Wednesday.
It was disclosed that under the NSE 30 Index, Fidelity Bank Plc is likely to join, while Conoil Plc might exit.
Furthermore, under the NSE Lotus Islamic Index, Total Nigeria Plc is shortlisted for inclusion, while Forte Oil Plc is likely to leave.
But for the NSE Consumer Goods Index and the NSE Banking Index, there might likely be no changes at all.
Similarly, the NSE Oil & Gas Index will likely not experience any change, according to the statement issued by the NSE.
However, under the NSE Insurance Index, Linkage Assurance Plc, Regency Alliance Insurance Plc, and
Universal Insurance Co. Plc may be included, while Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc, Unity Kapital Assurance Plc, and Mutual Alliance Insurance Plc are exiting.
Lastly, First Aluminium Nigeria Plc is joining the NSE Industrial Index, while Paints & Coatings Manufacturers Plc quits.
However, the composition of these indices after the review will be effective on July 3, 2017.
The stock market regulator explained in the statement that The NSE-30 and NSE Industrial Indices are modified market capitalization index with the numbers of included stocks fixed at 30 and 10, respectively.
The stocks are selected based on their market capitalization from the most liquid sectors. The liquidity is based on the number of times the stock is traded during the preceding two quarters. To be included, the stock must have traded for at least 70 percent of the number of times the market opened for business.
The NSE explained that it was aware that the number of the stocks included in some of the indices may not be practically suitable for optimal portfolio diversification; however, the numbers would be reviewed as sector conditions change.
The Nigerian bourse began publishing the NSE 30 Index in February 2009 with index values available from January 1, 2007.
On July 1, 2008, it developed four sectoral indices and developed the NSE Pension Index in 2013, with a base value of 1,000 points, designed to provide investable benchmarks to capture the performance of specific sectors.
The sectoral indices comprise the top 15 most capitalized and liquid companies in the Insurance and Consumer Goods sectors, top 10 most capitalized and liquid companies in the Banking and Industrial Goods sector and the top seven most capitalized and liquid companies in the Oil & Gas sector.
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.
