Economy
SEC Okays NSE’s Sustainability Disclosure Guidelines, Take Effect 2019
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the Sustainability Disclosure Guidelines of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
The sustainability guidelines are in fulfilment of the local exchange’s desire to champion sustainable capital market practices in Africa.
The Nigerian bourse said it recognises that the promotion of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles can facilitate more meaningful engagement between investors and listed companies on ESG risks and opportunities. This, in turn, is expected to further deepen the role played by market operators and regulators in leading sustainability policies and regulations.
The guidelines primarily provide the value proposition for sustainability in the Nigerian context and also articulate a step by step approach to integrating sustainability into organisations, indicators that should be considered when providing annual disclosure to the NSE and timelines for such disclosures.
Whilst developing the guidelines, the NSE noted that issuers may be at varying levels of understanding sustainability disclosure requirements and capacity to comply with the requirements, encouraging all issuers to adopt the practice of sustainability reporting.
The NSE said the guidelines are available in electronic form on its website, www.nse.com.ng and will be distributed to issuers listed on all its boards, adding that the guidelines will become effective on January 1, 2019.
They will be mandatory for companies listed on the Premium Board of the exchange, noting that companies having their year ending December 31, 2019 will have on or before March 30, 2020 to file their accounts.
Also, companies having their year ending February 28, 2020 will have on or before May 30, 2020 to file their accounts, while companies having their year ending May 31, 2020 will have on or before August 29, 2020 to file their accounts, and those ending their year on June 20, 2020, will have till on or before September 28, 2020 to file their accounts.
Whilst describing the objectives of the Sustainability Disclosure Guidelines, Chief Executive Officer of NSE, Mr Oscar Onyema, explained that, “We are supporting the global agenda of green and sustainable finance, which is so critical for Africa.
“As the first exchange to list a sovereign green bond in Africa, our issuance of these guidelines is to further enable investors to ascertain their exposure to ESG risks whilst providing our issuers with a platform to disclose them along common themes for comparability. We encourage peer exchanges on the continent to continue to enhance information disclosure in their markets as this will help build trust.”
On his part, Head of Corporate Communications at the NSE, Mr Olumide Orojimi, was of the view that, “With continued global participation in our market, a shared framework of ESG principles with multi-stakeholder approach and metrics is imperative.
“The guidelines set out recommendations for good practice in thirteen thematic areas under four core principles in ESG reporting. With the launch of these guidelines, investors can look forward to a consistent approach to ESG reporting from issuers listed on the NSE.”
As a member of the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) initiative, and the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE), NSE said it was committed to providing its listed companies with guidance on sustainability reporting and has taken steps to demonstrate its commitment through a number of pre-implementation activities.
The first major step was the hosting of the inaugural Nigerian Capital Market Sustainability Conference (NCMSC) in November 2015, which served as a stakeholder engagement session to discuss the business value of sustainable investment, enhancing corporate transparency and ultimately performance on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues.
Outcomes from the conference and results from relevant assessments aided in the production of the draft Sustainability Disclosure Guidelines (SDG), the stock exchange said.
Also, the NSE held a Sustainability Reporting Seminar on June 8, 2016, to intimate stakeholders with the guidelines, the reporting format and template, and the real value proposition of reporting. The draft guidelines were subsequently taken through The Exchange’s rule-making process, exposed for stakeholders’ comments, and submitted to SEC for approval.
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.
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.
By Dipo Olowookere
For the fourth consecutive trading session, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited closed higher on Friday by 0.63 per cent on sustained renewed buying pressure.
Apart from the energy and industrial goods sectors which closed flat, every other sector ended in the green territory, according to data obtained from the bourse.
Business Post reports that the insurance index appreciated by 1.52 per cent, the banking space improved by 0.63 per cent, and the consumer goods counter expanded by 0.46 per cent.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) gained 617.47 points to settle at 99,378.06 points compared with the preceding day’s 98,760.59 points and the market capitalisation went up by 375 billion to close at N60.242 trillion, in contrast to Thursday’s closing value of N59.867 trillion.
The volume of transactions on Customs Street yesterday grew by 11.13 per cent to 544.2 million shares from the 489.7 million shares transacted a day earlier.
The value of transactions increased during the session by 49.30 per cent to N10.6 billion from N7.1 billion and the number of deals went up by 1.93 per cent to 8,464 deals from the 8,304 deals posted in the previous trading session.
The busiest equity for the trading day was Japaul with the sale of 71.7 million units valued at N158.0 million, eTranzact exchanged 70.7 million units worth N477.5 million, Tantalizers sold 57.3 million units for N101.2 million, FCMB traded 33.0 million units worth N297.3 million, and Universal Insurance transacted 27.1 million units valued at N9.6 million.
A total of 36 stocks ended on the gainers’ chart, while 15 stocks finished on the losers’ table, indicating a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
The trio of Aradel Holdings, Ikeja Hotel and Caverton gained 10.00 per cent each to trade at N550.00, N8.80, and N1.98, respectively, as Africa Prudential rose by 9.87 per cent to N17.25 and Golden Guinea Breweries soared by 9.64 per cent to N8.64.
On the flip side, Austin Laz lost 10.00 per cent to close at N1.62, ABC Transport crashed by 8.00 per cent to N1.15, Royal Exchange slumped by 7.69 per cent to 60 Kobo, Secure Electronic Technology plunged by 5.26 per cent to 54 Kobo, and The Initiates crumbled by 4.26 per cent to N2.25.
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