Economy

Oil Sheds Over 3% as OPEC, JTC Wade in to Stop Further Drop

Published

6 years ago

04/02/2020

By Adedapo Adesanya

Oil futures recorded more than three percent drop on Monday, February 3 as fears surrounding the coronavirus and its impact on oil demand continue to pull prices further.

Brent crude fell $2.28 or 4.10 percent to $54.32 per barrel on Monday night, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell $1.46 or 2.83 percent to settle at $50.10. Earlier at the session, the WTI posted below $50 to trade at $49.

Markets continue to face drop as a result of the coronavirus, which analysts consider the largest demand shock faced by the oil market since the global financial crisis of 2008 to 2009, and the most sudden since the September 11 attacks.

This continuous dip has forced the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, including Russia, to consider an emergency meeting on February 14-15, one of the OPEC sources said, earlier than a current schedule for a meeting in March that could see further cut on production to stop the decline in prices.

Meanwhile, an OPEC and non-OPEC panel called the Joint Technical Committee (JTC) has scheduled a meeting for February 4 and 5 in Vienna to assess the impact of the virus on demand.

Oil, last month, fell more than $10 a barrel to $56, lower than the level many OPEC countries need to balance their budgets, such as Nigeria with a $57 stipulated price already affected and de-facto leader, Saudi Arabia which has a benchmark of $80 per barrel.

The outbreak could cut China’s oil demand by nothing less than 250,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the first quarter of the year, according to analysts. The country consumes about 14 million barrels a day and with any change in demand, it affects the global energy market.

An OPEC member, Iran, said on Monday that the spread of the virus had hit oil demand and called for the need to stabilise prices. This backs up call made by the Russian Energy Minister, Mr Alexander Novak, last week when he said Russia was ready to bring forward a meeting to February from March to address a possible change to global oil demand from the virus.

OPEC officials had been scheduled to meet in early March with Russia and their other non-OPEC partners to review their production deal, and possibly increase their cut from 1.7 million barrels agreed upon last year to a higher cut.

There are considerations by members that the meeting could lead the alliance to cut their oil output by a further 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) to reach 2.2 million bpd to stifle declines.

There are also reports that discussions were ongoing to consider extending the duration of the cuts set to expire by March to June.

Economy

Food Concepts Plans 10 Kobo Interim Dividend Payout

Published

27 minutes ago

19/03/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of fast food brands like Chicken Republic and PieXpress, has disclosed plans to pay 10 Kobo in interim dividend to new and existing shareholders for the 2026 financial year.

This was disclosed by the company in a notice to the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange, where it trades its securities.

The notice indicated that the proposed interim dividend, which comes with no bonus, will be paid to those who hold the stocks of the company as of the qualification date for the dividend, which was Tuesday, March 24.

This means only those who hold the company’s shares as of the closing session will be eligible to receive the stipulated dividend payment.

The shareholders of the company will be credited with the 10 Kobo dividend on Tuesday, March 31.

The notice noted that the closure of the company’s register will be on Wednesday, March 25, through Friday, March 27, 2026, both days inclusive.

Economy

NASD Exchange Further Slips 0.39% as Sell-Offs Persist

Published

2 hours ago

19/03/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange dropped for the third consecutive session on Wednesday, March 18, by 0.39 per cent due to continued sell-offs.

In what would be the final trading session of the week due to public holidays on Thursday and Friday for Eid-el-Fitr, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) further dipped by 16.14 points to 4,114.75 points from 4,130.89 points, and the market capitalisation lost N9.66 billion to close at N2.461 trillion versus the previous day’s N2.471 trillion.

FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc depreciated by N10.32 to sell at N112.00 per share versus N122.32 per share, NASD Plc dropped N4.50 to finish at N41.50 per unit compared with the previous session’s N46.00 per unit, and Geo-Fluids decreased by 9 Kobo to N3.02 per share from N3.11 per share.

On the flip side, Air Liquide Plc improved by N2.23 to N24.57 per unit from N22.34 per unit, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc advanced by 90 Kobo to N76.33 per share from N75.43 per share, Food Concepts Plc rose by 24 Kobo to N3.30 per unit from N3.06 per unit, UBN Property Plc surged by 20 Kobo to N2.18 per share from N1.98 per share, Impresit Bakalori Plc jumped 16 Kobo to N1.83 per unit from N1.67 per unit, and First Trust Mortgage Bank Plc added 14 Kobo to trade at N1.89 per share versus N1.75 per share.

During the trading day, the volume of securities went up by 43,404.4 per cent to 400.8 million units from 921,265 units, the value of securities grew by 2,108.7 per cent to N1.2 billion from N54.7 million, and the number of deals soared by 23.7 per cent to 47 deals from 38 deals.

CSCS Plc ended the day as the most traded stock by value (year-to-date) with 38.7 million units valued at N2.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units exchanged for N1.2 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 6.4 million units traded for N1.2 billion.

Resourcery Plc finished the session as the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 1.1 billion units worth N415.7 million, trailed by Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units sold for N1.2 billion, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 131.1 million units valued at N505.6 million.

Economy

Aradel, Red Star Express, Others Crash NGX by 0.69%

Published

2 hours ago

19/03/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) experienced a pullback of 0.69 per cent as a result of profit-taking by investors, with shares in the banking and energy sectors mostly affected.

Data harvested by Business Post showed that the energy index was down by 4.58 per cent during the session, and the banking space lost 2.14 per cent.

They brought down the All-Share Index (ASI) by 1,402.56 points to 201,156.85 points from 202,559.41 points and shrank the market capitalisation by N900 billion to N129.126 trillion from N130.026 trillion.

Customs Street ended in red at midweek despite three of the five key sectors finishing in green. The consumer goods counter expanded by 1.19 per cent, the industrial goods index improved by 0.46 per cent, and the insurance sector grew by 0.43 per cent.

Red Star Express declined by 9.98 per cent to N25.70, Aradel Holdings went down by 9.68 per cent to N1,210.30, Presco lost 9.30 per cent to trade at N1,701.10, Living Trust Mortgage Bank crashed by 8.40 per cent to N4.80, and DAAR Communications dropped 7.50 per cent to end at N1.85.

On the flip side, Secure Electronic Technology gained 10.00 per cent to settle at N1.32, Guinness Nigeria rose by 9.92 per cent to N423.20, John Holt increased by 9.72 per cent to N11.85, Sovereign Trust Insurance surged by 9.57 per cent to N2.06, and Linkage Assurance chalked up 9.33 per cent to trade at N1.64.

Investor sentiment was weak yesterday after the bourse registered 33 price gainers and 38 price losers, indicating a negative market breadth index.

Market participants bought and sold 6.1 billion stocks valued at N130.1 billion in 58,562 deals compared with the 1.8 billion stocks worth N88.1 billion traded in 62,654 deals on Tuesday, representing a shortfall in the number of deals by 6.53 per cent, and a spike in the trading volume and value by 238.89 per cent and 47.67 per cent apiece.

The most active equity on Wednesday was eTranzact with 5.2 billion units sold for N24.3 billion, Wema Bank exchanged 111.4 million units worth N3.1 billion, Coronation Insurance transacted 96.4 million units valued at N303.9 million, Dangote Cement traded 75.2 million units for N56.5 billion, and Access Holdings exchanged 61.5 million units valued at N1.6 billion.