Okomu Oil Palm Plc: Healthy Fundamentals; Neutral Rating Maintained

By Dipo Olowookere The board of Capital Hotels Plc has announced the creation of an escrow account for the payment of about N1.6 billion to minority shareholders of the company. The hospitality firm is leaving the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited after years on the nation’s main stock exchange. In a notice signed by Alex Ugwuanyi, the organisation said the account was created with CardinalStone Registrars Limited and has been sufficiently funded for payment “to shareholders” who “have accepted to exit” the firm by selling their holdings. Recall that in March 2023, shareholders of Capital Hotels approved the request of the

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira appreciated against the US Dollar in the Peer-2-Peer (P2P) wing of the foreign exchange market on Monday, October 2, as the official market, the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window closed for the Independence Day holiday. In the P2P segment, the Nigerian Naira appreciated against the American currency by N3 to sell at N998/$1 compared with the preceding session’s value of N1,001/$1. In the same vein, the local currency improved its value against the US Dollar on Tuesday by N1 to sell at N1001/$1 versus the previous session’s exchange rate of N1002/$1. During the Independence Day

By Adedapo Adesanya Oil prices fell about 2 per cent on Monday as the US Dollar strengthened and traders took profits while the market remained concerned about rising crude supplies and pressure on demand from high-interest rates. Brent crude lost $1.49 or 1.6 per cent to finish at $90.71 a barrel while the US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) depreciated by $1.97 or 2.2 per cent to settle at $88.82 per barrel. Analysts said some traders took profits after crude prices rose nearly 30 per cent to 10-month highs in the third quarter, which wrapped up last week. Prices are

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The OTC FX Futures market recorded a circa 25 percent increase in the notional amount matured in February 2017, $266.17 million, to $354.00 million, being the 9th Naira-settled OTC FX Futures contract, NGUS MAR 22 2017, which matured and settled on Wednesday, March 22, 2017, on FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange, the OTC FX Futures Exchange. The NGUS MAR 22 2017 contract which stopped trading eight days earlier, was valued against the Nigerian Inter-Bank Foreign Exchange Fixing (NIFEX) Spot rate as published by FMDQ on March 22, 2017; and brings the total value of contracts so far matured

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun has advocated for a lower interest rates in order to boost domestic borrowing by the government. Mrs Adeosun made this known in an interview. The Minister said she was working with the Debt Management Office (DMO), the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) and the pension industry to issue an infrastructure bond to raise money for road and housing projects. She noted that lower interest rates will allow the government to take on more local loans without increasing the burden of debt servicing. Mrs Adeosun expressed confidence that the government can spend its

By Modupe Gbadeyanka One of the players in the hospitality business in Nigeria, Capital Hotels Plc, is considering raising fresh capital from the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). The executives of the company confirmed this on Wednesday during their Facts Behind the Figures presentation, which was done virtually at the exchange. It was the first to be held after the COVID-19 pandemic limited physical interactions in the country. Chairman of Capital Hotels, Mr Anthony Idigbe, and the Managing Director, Mr Robert Itawa, noted that the organisation will take advantage of the laytime investment opportunity the pandemic has provided to the source

By Adedapo Adesanya As part of continued efforts to get an increased share of Nigeria’s oil and gas revenue, the Akwa Ibom State Government has sought for a partnership with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited for the refining of aviation fuel in the state. Governor Udom Emmanuel made a request for a license from NNPC Limited for the establishment of a modular refinery for aviation fuel to service the state’s growing aviation industry and the country at large. Mr Udom said the request was imperative as the state was currently constructing an international airport with a smart airport

By Adedapo Adesanya The President of the United States, Mr Joe Biden, on Wednesday, revoked executive orders from his predecessor, Mr Donald Trump, seeking to ban Chinese-owned mobile apps, TikTok and WeChat, over national security concerns. In a statement, the White House said that instead of banning the popular apps, the Biden administration would carry out a “criteria-based decision framework and rigorous, evidence-based analysis to address the risks” from internet applications controlled by foreign entities. Business Post had reported that before leaving office last year, Mr Trump had claimed the Chinese-owned apps posed national security risks and had sought to

By Adedapo Adesanya The Brent crude oil grade depreciated further on Wednesday by 1.9 per cent or $1.89 to $98.02 per barrel as traders reacted to progress in Russia-Ukraine peace talks and a surprise increase in crude inventories in the United States. Also, the price of the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) grade declined during the session by 1.5 per cent or $1.40 to trade at $95.04 per barrel. Business Post reports that Brent has dropped more than $40 after it jumped past $139 a barrel on worries about extended disruption to Russian supply following the country’s invasion of its

By Dipo Olowookere Former innovation director and principal technical strategy advisor at Microsoft, Mr Adrian Clarke, has joined Modex. Mr Clarke is the latest tech star to join forces with the UK based blockchain firm developing a global first smart contract marketplace. In the wave of tech executives leveraging experience and know-how as advisors to promising start-ups in the blockchain revolution, Mr Clarke’s pioneering work in the development of the Microsoft app store, lends proven muscle to Modex. “A world-class marketplace for smart contracts is exciting and I believe Modex has the perfect solution to deploy smart contracts in key

By Adedapo Adesanya Those trading unlisted securities in Nigeria lost N8.43 billion last week, which was the 18th for the year, data obtained by Business Post revealed. It was the first weekly loss the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange was recording in the past few weeks and it was by 1.5 per cent. As a result, the NASD Security Index (NSI) dipped by 11.86 points to close the week at 778.03 points compared to 789.89 points of the previous week. In the same vein, the market capitalization close reduced by N8.43 billion to finish at N553.03 billion in contrast to