Economy
Odu’a Investment Company Shareholders to Share N320m Dividend
By Adedapo Adesanya
Shareholders of Odu’a Investment Company Limited will take their share of N320 million in dividends payable for the financial year ended December 31, 2019, after granting approval at the company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Wednesday, October 7.
This happened at the 38th AGM of the company which took place at the company’s head office, Cocoa House, Ibadan under strict adherence to the COVID-19 protocols of the Nigerian government.
The shareholders also approved, among other resolutions, the group and holding company consolidated financial statements for the financial year ended December 31, 2019.
According to the group chairman, Odu’a Investment Company, Mr Segun Aina, the company’s profit before tax rose by 5 per cent to N889.71 million in the year under review from N849.34 million reported in 2018.
He explained that this came from the company’s budget monitoring processes, coupled with increased productivity and reduced operating costs.
“The prudence of management and its budget monitoring processes coupled with increased efficiency and productivity reduced operating costs and boosted profitability of the company in the year under review,” the chairman said.
He also said with substantial investment, it has paid N1.53 billion cumulative dividends since 2015 and also rolls out an ambitious five-year Strategic Plan 2021-2025.
The company, as part of its corporate governance reforms, also got shareholders’ approval for the appointment of two each Independent Directors and Group Executive Directors to strengthen the Board which now has 11 members.
Mr Aina added the board remained positive about the company’s future. He said, “the Board remains positive about the company’s future and will continue to work closely with the Management and provide the needed oversight, guidance and strategic direction.”
The company’s Group Managing Director/CEO, Mr Adewale Raji, backed up Mr Aina noting that despite the global and domestic economic challenges during the financial year that affected our revenue trajectory, the company managed to increase its PBT by 5 per cent compared to 2018.
He assured shareholders of better performance in ensuing years as the new board and the management team had at a recent strategy retreat mapped out a new course to deliver the audacious 5-year growth plan.
This entails consolidating on existing businesses and diversifying into high growth and profitable sectors of the economy to realize our strategic objectives of creating value for our shareholders and delivering social impact to the South West States.
The GMD spoke on some of the company’s new foray into the oil and gas upstream sector and agriculture with processing component. These include the group’s mechanized farm at Imeko, Ogun State, where 1,200 hectares of cassava is currently under cultivation with a technical partner that will feed into two 50 tonnes per day modular processing plants for the conversion of cassava tubers into High-Quality Cassava Flour (HQCF) and High-Quality Cassava Starch (HQCS).
He also added that there are also renewed organic growth efforts at our Wemabod Limited (Real Estate) and Glanvill Enthoven Insurance Brokers & Pensions Consultants Ltd (Insurance Brokerage).
He emphasized on the group’s commitment to agricultural transformation to address food security, export earnings, job creation, accelerating industrialization and lifting the rural economy.
He disclosed that the group had recently incorporated South West Agriculture Company Limited (SWAgCo) to mid-wife the agriculture transformation of the South West strictly on sound private-sector principles and strategic partnerships.
This agric investment company has already identified focused food crops, cash crops, livestock and agriculture processing that will guide its investment decisions. SWAgCo will spin-off SPVs that will bring about profitable economic growth and social impact of job creation and lifting the rural economy of their locations.
Mr Raji concluded in his outlook for the future that the group will focus its strategy in critical essential sectors of the economy like food and manufacturing, healthcare & pharmaceuticals, logistics, ICT/digital, etc which are all well covered in the new 2021-2025 strategic plan.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of MRS Oil and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.68 per cent on Friday, June 5.
MRS Plc lost N19.00 during the session to sell at N171.00 per share compared with Thursday’s value of N190.00 per share, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc depreciated by N8.70 to finish at N181.68 per unit compared with the preceding session’s N190.38 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation further lost N22.59 billion to close at N2.607 trillion versus the N2.630 trillion it ended a day earlier, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropped 37.76 points to settle at 4,358.32 points, in contrast to the previous day’s 4,396.08 points.
The alternative stock market closed the last trading day of this week with a price gainer, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which gained 6 Kobo to quote at N78.40 per share compared with the preceding session’s N78.34 per share. However, it could not prevent the market from going down at the close of business.
Yesterday, the volume of securities bought and sold by investors went down by 50.0 per cent to 140,345 units from the preceding day’s 280,714 units, the value of stocks decreased by 16.5 per cent to N17.9 million from the previous session’s N21.5 million, and the number of deals carried out by market participants fell by 35.7 per cent to 27 deals from the 42 deals recorded on Thursday.
When trading activities closed for the day, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 64.7 million units traded for N4.4 billion.
GNI Plc also ended the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
Renewed interest in financial stocks and others lifted the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited by 0.15 per cent on Friday.
Customs Street closed higher yesterday despite the 1.37 per cent loss recorded by the consumer goods sector as a result of profit-taking.
This was offset by gains in the other key sectors of the local bourse, as the insurance counter chalked up 1,14 per cent. The banking space appreciated by 0.90 per cent, the industrial goods segment grew by 0.46 per cent, and the energy sector expanded by 0.01 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 366.00 points to 242,593.31 points from 242,227.31 points, and the market capitalisation gained N235 billion to close at N155.594 trillion compared with the previous day’s N155.359 trillion.
The trio of International Energy Insurance, Abbey Mortgage Bank, and DAAR Communications improved by 10.00 per cent each yesterday to N7.26, N9.35, and N1.98, respectively, while Zichis advanced by 9.39 per cent to N32.38, with Sovereign Trust Insurance up by 8.70 per cent to N2.50.
On the flip side, Academy Press lost 9.84 per cent to quote at N8.25, University Press depreciated by 9.73 per cent to N5.10, Africa Prudential dipped by 2.63 per cent to N12.95, Chams crumbled by 2.44 per cent to N4.00, and International Breweries slipped by 1.59 per cent to N12.35.
Business Post reports that the market breadth index was positive during the session after recording 37 appreciating equities and 14 depreciating equities, implying strong investor sentiment.
Abbey Mortgage Bank led the activity chart with a turnover of 164.1 million units worth N1.5 billion, Ellah Lakes sold 76.7 million units for N767.2 million, Access Holdings transacted 44.8 million units valued at N1.1 billion, Linkage Assurance exchanged 23.0 million units worth N41.2 million, and The Initiates traded 20.2 million units for N562.1 million.
At the close of trades, market participants transacted 608.5 million units worth N32.0 billion in 53,826 deals versus the 588.5 million units valued at N27.9 billion executed in 57,352 deals in the previous session. This showed that the number of deals eased by 6.15 per cent, the volume of transactions rose by 3.40 per cent, and the value of transactions soared by 14.70 per cent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira further depreciated against the United States Dollar by N3.46 or 0.25 per cent to N1,362.21/$1 from N1,358.75/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, June 5.
However, it appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market window during the session by N4.47 to trade at N1,823.59/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,828.06/£1, and gained N7.00 against the Euro to sell at N1,574.58/€1, in contrast to Thursday’s closing price of N1,581.58/€1.
For another trading session, the Nigerian Naira maintained stability against the Dollar in the parallel market and the GTBank forex counter on Friday at N1,375/$1 and N1,372/$1, respectively.
The Naira is expected to remain strong in the near term, backed by a rise in external reserves, which are nearing $50 billion, enhancing analysts’ confidence about its outlook in the second half of 2026.
Heightened global uncertainty has reduced the incentive for importers and corporates to demand FX, as cautious trade weighs on import needs. Analysts estimate a $40 billion net FX position for the year, a projection anchored in oil windfall gains.
As for the cryptocurrency market, prices remained depressed following a strong US jobs report that spurred markets to price in higher-for-longer interest rates, sending Treasury yields and the dollar up while hammering stocks, especially AI-related names. Crypto markets saw heavy leverage washouts with about $1.6 billion in positions liquidated over 24 hours.
Ethereum (ETH) gave up 4.9 per cent to trade at $1,584.68, Solana (SOL) fell by 3.3 per cent to $63.22, Bitcoin (BTC) crashed by 1.9 per cent to $61,333.23, Dogecoin (DOGE) slipped by 1.8 per cent to $0.0821, and Ripple (XRP) moderated by 1.8 per cent to $1.09.
Further, TRON (TRX) dropped 1.6 per cent to sell at $0.3197, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 1.0 per cent to $581.18, and Cardano (ADA) declined by 0.4 per cent to $0.1589, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) gained 0.07 to sell at $0.9997, and US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $0.9998.
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