SEC Blacklists Prime Invest, Five Other Online Trading Platforms

By Dipo Olowookere The trio of Universal Insurance, Oando and UBA were the busiest stocks on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited last week, trading 2.212 billion units valued at N8.907 billion in 7,593 deals, contributing 56.56 per cent and 29.32 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively. In the week, investors transacted 3.911 billion shares worth N30.379 billion in 38,536 deals versus the 2.933 billion shares worth N47.449 billion exchanged in 44,654 deals in the preceding week. Financial stocks dominated with 2.774 billion units valued at N15.241 billion in 16,379 deals, contributing 70.92 per

By Adedapo Adesanya A foreign oil company, Equinor ASA, has chosen a little-known Nigerian company, Chappal Energy, as the preferred buyer of its stake in one of the country’s largest deep-water oil fields, Agbami. According to a report by Bloomberg on Monday, the Norwegian energy giant is trying to sell its 20.2 per cent interest in the Agbami field – joining other international producers such as Shell Plc, Exxon Mobil Corporation and Eni SpA in looking to offload assets in Africa’s biggest crude producer, Nigeria. In January, Equinor launched the sale of its stake in an offshore Nigerian oilfield, joining

By Aduragbemi Omiyale A new Code of Conduct for Approved Persons of Trading License Holders, otherwise known as stockbrokers, has been introduced by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Regulation Limited (NGX RegCo). It was disclosed that the ethical guideline was designed to ensure professionals dealing with the trading of shares at NGX Limited follow high standards. Furthermore, it highlights the expected standards and values that Approved Persons must display at all times when conducting their businesses at all times. The idea of the code of conduct for stockbrokers, according to the regulator, is to deepen the market and foster professionalism, integrity,

By Bliss Okperan The exchange rate instability in the country is already giving small business owners sleepless nights and it threatens their investments. This concern was raised recently by the National Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Association of Small-Scale Industrialists, Mr Segun Kuti-George. He emphasised that business owners would have to increase their prices because of the unavoidable consequence of the current exchange rate crisis in Nigeria. According to him, if consumers are unable to meet up with the increase in the cost of goods and services, businesses would be forced to shut down their operations, which would, in turn,

By Adedapo Adesanya Crude prices headed downward by more than 2 per cent on Wednesday as the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported an inventory build of 2.3 million barrels in the United States for the week to October 1. The price of the Brent crude fell to $80.75 per barrel after dropping $1.81 or 2.19 per cent, while the United States West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was sold at $76.98 per barrel after it dipped by $1.95 or 2.47 per cent. At 420.9 million barrels, US crude oil inventories are within the limits of the five-year average for this time

By Dipo Olowookere The nation’s stock market started on a positive note on Monday, closing 0.12 per cent higher as results of the key players in the market have started to come in. Yesterday, investors had time to chew the Q1 2021 earnings of UBA released on Sunday and they were happy with the impressive performance of the tier-one lender as it recorded double-digit growth across key performance indicators. Also, Business Post observed a huge demand for the shares of MTN Nigeria and Fidelity Bank at the market on Monday and the transactions had a significant impact on the activity

By Adedapo Adesanya One of Nigeria’s top financial institutions, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) Plc, has announced that it will be paying a final dividend of N2.50k per ordinary share of 50 kobo to its shareholders for the period ended December 31, 2019. With this payment, total dividend paid by GTBank for the year ended 2019 would be N2.80k, when the interim dividend of 30 kobo paid earlier in the financial year is considered. According to a statement issued by the bank, the dividends will be paid electronically to the bank accounts of qualified shareholders on March 30, as long as

By Olayemi Samuel Oluwaseun Whether you are setting out fresh from the ideation or have spent some quality years building a business empire, there are some vital statistics through forecasts or systemic procedures you should not take for granted or overlook. Likewise, before taking it further, it is idyllic to ascertain that doing a lot and little is known of is not a testimony any business owner or driver would want to hold on to. In essence, to bridge the gap and laugh really well, there is a proven tool that has helped businesses or organizations achieve communication objectives when

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Global Credit Ratings (GCR) has affirmed the national scale Issuer ratings assigned to Fidson Healthcare Plc of BBB(NG) and A3(NG) in the long term and short term respectively; with the outlook accorded as Stable. Concurrently, GCR has assigned a national scale long term rating of BBB(NG) to the N2 billion Secured Fixed Rate Bond. The ratings are valid until June 2018. Explaining reasons for the ratings, GCR said Fidson remains one of the key players in the Nigerian pharmaceutical sector, with an estimated market share of 6%. The business is enhanced by a strong marketing base and

By Modupe Gbadeyanka In recognition of the importance of financial literacy in making informed financial decisions, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, a member of Standard Bank Group, deployed its senior personnel to 31 schools across six selected states in the country in line with CBN’s financial literacy drive to educate students on the benefits of financial planning and a savings culture. The initiative was part of activities to commemorate the 2018 World Savings Day on October 31, 2018. Students of Ibadan Grammar School Oyo State were mentored by representatives of the leading financial institution which stated that the importance of acquiring

By Dipo Olowookere President Muhammadu Buhari has been urged to use his good offices and leadership position “to urgently refer the allegations of corruption against the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Babachir David Lawal, to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for further investigation. This call was made in an open letter by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP). The group also appealed to President Buhari to “urgently publish the outcome of the investigation conducted on the matter by the Attorney General of

By Dipo Olowookere The embargo earlier placed on the shares of African Alliance Insurance Plc has now been lifted by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). Trading in the equities of the insurance company was initially suspended on the local bourse following failure of the firm to adhere to listing rules. African Alliance Insurance was among the eight companies suspended from trading their shares at the NSE on July 5, 2018. They had failed to comply with Rule 3.1, Rules for Filing of Accounts and Treatment of Default Filing, Rulebook of the NSE, which required them to file their financial statements