Economy
Red Star Express Declares N469m Profit, to Share N324m as Dividend
By Dipo Olowookere
The board of Red Star Express Plc has recommended the payment of N324 million to shareholders of the company as a dividend for the financial year ended March 31, 2020.
The cash reward, amounting to 35 kobo per unit, would be paid to those whose names appear in the register of members as at the close of business on September 18, 2020, a disclosure from the organisation stated.
Thereafter, the register of shareholders will be closed from September 21 to 25, 2020, it added, noting that on October 15, 2020, the dividends will be paid electronically to the beneficiaries, especially those who have completed the e-dividend registration and have mandated the registrar, United Securities Limited, to pay their dividends directly into their bank accounts.
Shareholders who are yet to complete the e-dividend mandate form have been advised to download the form from the registrar’s website and should be completed and submitted to the registrar or their respective banks for processing.
On October 8, 2020, Red Star Express said it will have its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Ikeja, Lagos at 11am. At the gathering, the proposed dividend payment will be presented to shareholders for approval.
Meanwhile, Red Star Express has released its financial statement for the year ended March 31, 2020, and from the analysis by Business Post, the company recorded a slight growth across the key performance indices.
For instance, the revenue generated by the firm increased in the accounting year to N10.6 billion from N10.1 billion recorded a year ago and this was mainly from its core business operations, courier services, which contributed N6.3 billion to the total turnover in contrast to N5.9 billion contributed in 2019.
However, the contribution of its mail management services to the total group’s revenue in the period under review dropped to N1.1 billion from N1.4 billion 12 months earlier and the reduction was patched up by the contribution of its freight services, which accounted for N1.3 billion versus N872.1 million in 2019.
It was observed that the contribution of logistics to the turnover in 2020 slightly reduced to N1.5 billion from N1.6 billion, while support services contributed N440.4 million to the turnover, higher than the N286.3 million in the prior fiscal year.
In the year under consideration, the cost of sales rose to N7.9 billion from N7.3 billion, while the gross profit reduced to N2.7 billion from N2.8 billion a year earlier, with administrative costs marginally rising to N2.2 billion from N2.1 billion due to increase in amortisation of intangible assets, bank charges, exchange loss, hotel accommodation and entertainment, power and water, printing and stationery, publicity and promotion, repairs and maintenance, write off of property, plant and equipment as well as security expenses.
According to the results released to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Friday, Red Star Express said it had an other operating income of N272.2 million in 2020 compared with N119.4 million in 2019, while its total operating profit stood at N792.8 million as at March 31, 2020, as against N764.6 million as at March 31, 2019.
The finance income, according to the financial document, improved to N17.8 million from N12.8 million, while the finance cost jumped to N60.5 million from N33.9 million because of the rise in the interest on lease and short term loan.
Business Post reports that the pre-tax profit for the period was N750.1 million, higher than the N743.5 million of the prior year, while the post-tax profit increased to N469.0 million from N466.3 million in 2019. However, the earnings per share (EPS) reduced to 70 kobo in the period under consideration as against 76 kobo of the comparative year, 2019.
Economy
FAAC Disburses 1.727trn to FG, States Local Councils in December 2024
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The federal government, the 36 states of the federation and the 774 local government areas have received N1.727 trillion from the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) for December 2024.
The funds were disbursed to the three tiers of government from the revenue generated by the nation in November 2024.
At the December meeting of FAAC held in Abuja, it was stated that the amount distributed comprised distributable statutory revenue of N455.354 billion, distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue of N585.700 billion, Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) revenue of N15.046 billion and Exchange Difference revenue of N671.392 billion.
According to a statement signed on Friday by the Director of Press and Public Relations for FAAC, Mr Bawa Mokwa, the money generated last month was about N3.143 trillion, with N103.307 billion used for cost of collection and N1.312 trillion for transfers, interventions and refunds.
It was disclosed that gross statutory revenue of N1.827 trillion was received compared with the N1.336 trillion recorded a month earlier.
The statement said gross revenue of N628.972 billion was available from VAT versus N668.291 billion in the preceding month.
The organisation stated that last month, oil and gas royalty and CET levies recorded significant increases, while excise duty, VAT, import duty, Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT), Companies Income Tax (CIT) and EMTL decreased considerably.
As for the sharing, FAAC disclosed that from the N1.727 trillion, the central government got N581.856 billion, the states received N549.792 billion, the councils took N402.553 billion, while the benefiting states got N193.291 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue.
From the N585.700 billion VAT earnings, the national government got N87.855 billion, the states received N292.850 billion and the local councils were given N204.995 billion.
Also, from the N455.354 billion distributable statutory revenue, the federal government was given N175.690 billion, the states got N89.113 billion, the local governments had N68.702 billion, and the benefiting states received N121.849 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue.
In addition, from the N15.046 billion EMTL revenue, FAAC shared N2.257 billion to the federal government, disbursed N7.523 billion to the states and transferred N5.266 billion to the local councils.
Further, from the N671.392 billion Exchange Difference earnings, it gave central government N316.054 billion, the states N160.306 billion, the local government areas N123.590 billion, and the oil-producing states N71.442 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue.
Economy
Okitipupa Plc, Two Others Lift Unlisted Securities Market by 0.65%
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a 0.65 per cent gain on Friday, December 13, boosted by three equities admitted on the trading platform.
On the last trading session of the week, Okitipupa Plc appreciated by N2.70 to settle at N29.74 per share versus Thursday’s closing price of N27.04 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc added N2.49 to end the session at N42.85 per unit compared with the previous day’s N40.36 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc gained 50 Kobo to close at N16.30 per share, in contrast to the preceding session’s N15.80 per share.
Consequently, the market capitalisation added N6.89 billion to settle at N1.062 trillion compared with the preceding day’s N1.055 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) gained 19.66 points to wrap the session at 3,032.16 points compared with 3,012.50 points recorded in the previous session.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors increased by 171.6 per cent to 1.2 million units from the 447,905 units recorded a day earlier, but the value of shares traded by the market participants declined by 19.3 per cent to N2.4 million from the N3.02 million achieved a day earlier, and the number of deals went down by 14.3 per cent to 18 deals from 21 deals.
At the close of business, Geo-Fluids Plc was the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with a turnover of 1.7 billion units worth N3.9 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with the sale of 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.3 million units sold for N5.3 million.
In the same vein, Aradel Holdings Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 108.7 million units for N89.2 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with a turnover of 297.3 million units worth N5.3 billion.
Economy
Naira Trades N1,533/$1 at Official Market, N1,650/$1 at Parallel Market
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira appreciated further against the United States Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) by N1.50 or 0.09 per cent to close at N1,533.00/$1 on Friday, December 13 versus the N1,534.50/$1 it was transacted on Thursday.
The local currency has continued to benefit from the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) this month.
The implementation of the forex system comes with diverse implications for all segments of the financial markets that deal with FX, including the rebound in the value of the Naira across markets.
The system instantly reflects data on all FX transactions conducted in the interbank market and approved by the CBN.
Market analysts say the publication of real-time prices and buy-sell orders data from this system has lent support to the Naira in the official market and tackled speculation.
In the official market yesterday, the domestic currency improved its value against the Pound Sterling by N12.58 to wrap the session at N1,942.19/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,954.77/£1 and against the Euro, it gained N2.44 to close at N1,612.85/€1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,610.41/€1.
At the black market, the Nigerian Naira appreciated against the greenback on Friday by N30 to sell for N1,650/$1 compared with the preceding session’s value of N1,680/$1.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was largely positive as investors banked on recent signals, including fresh support from US President-elect, Mr Donald Trump, as well as interest rate cuts by the European Central Bank (ECB).
Ripple (XRP) added 7.3 per cent to sell at $2.49, Binance Coin (BNB) rose by 3.5 per cent to $728.28, Cardano (ADA) expanded by 2.4 per cent to trade at $1.11, Litecoin (LTC) increased by 2.3 per cent to $122.56, Bitcoin (BTC) gained 1.9 per cent to settle at $101,766.17, Dogecoin (DOGE) jumped by 1.2 per cent to $0.4064, Solana (SOL) soared by 0.7 per cent to $226.15 and Ethereum (ETH) advanced by 0.6 per cent to $3,925.35, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
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