Economy
SEC, Registrars to Simplify Processing Unclaimed Dividends
By Dipo Olowookere
One lingering major problem in the Nigerian capital market the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is not happy about is unclaimed dividends.
Business Post reports that despite the efforts of the apex capital market regulator to reduce the N158.4 billion unclaimed dividends in the market, not much progress has been made.
But the new Director-General of SEC, Mr Lamido Yuguda, seems to know the root cause of this stubborn problem and he is ready to face it head-on.
Investors at the capital market have always complained about the bottlenecks faced when trying to get the reward of their sweat, especially in the hands of registrars and some stockbrokers, who are not efficient in the discharge of their duties.
The SEC DG, while addressing newsmen at the weekend, said the agency will address these issues and work with registrars, the Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) and stockbrokers to come up with easier ways of processing the unclaimed dividends.
“We have the e-dividend mandate at the moment, which should substantially take care of the accumulation of new unclaimed dividends in the future. I know this is not working exactly perfectly, but it has substantially reduced the accumulation of new unclaimed dividends.
“The task now is to work with the registrars to make it easy for shareholders to be unbundled unto the system.
“I know there are complaints in the market that some shareholders are finding it a little difficult or some registrars are not working quickly to get people unbundled,” Mr Yuguda said.
The capital market expert said he was deeply worried at the level of unclaimed dividend in the space, promising to make investors happy.
It was gathered that as at December 2019, the value of unclaimed dividends stood at N158.44 billion and according to Mr Yuguda, some of them have already been returned to the companies in line with the law, with a little percentage still with the registrars.
But he promised that his team and other stakeholders will look into the issue and announce the outcome of the deliberations to the investing community soon.
“These are issues we are also looking at and we will come out to the market very soon with a statement about it,” the SEC DG told capital market reporters.
In addition, he said the agency was looking at ways to simplify transactions in the capital market to attract more investors, explaining that the mode of transactions had been complicated due to the number of processes to invest in the market.
“From the point of parting with your money to the point of getting the money in the form of dividend or as proceeds from the sale of stocks bought, the process is extremely complicated.
“For many people, that complication is a long tunnel because they do not want to go through that process and you will agree with me that along that line, a lot of things happen.
“For example, people part away with their money and never get any shares, while others get shares but the shares become worthless at some point and so there are a lot of things that we need to do to simplify transactions in the capital market.
“The process of capital market investment is extremely complicated for many people that complication is a put off because they don’t really want to go through that process,” Mr Yuguda said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
There was a 0.15 per cent appreciation at NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Monday March 17, with the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) increasing by 4.90 points to close at 3,368.64 points, in contrast to last Friday’s 3,363.74 points and the market capitalisation of the bourse rose by N2.83 billion to settle at N1.945 trillion compared with the preceding trading day’s N1.942 trillion.
Okitipupa Plc gained N7.66 during the session to close at N307.66 per unit compared with the preceding session’s N300.00 per unit, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc expanded by 78 Kobo to settle at N39.01 per share versus last Friday’s price of N38.23 per share, and Geo Fluids Plc grew by 6 Kobo to trade at N2.90 per unit, in contrast to the previous trading day’s N2.84 per unit.
On the flip side, Afriland Properties Plc lost N2.01 to close at N21.19 per share compared with its previous rate of N23.20 per share.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded at the bourse went down by 55.8 per cent to 288,383 units from the 652,237 units recorded last Friday, the value of securities traded by investor depreciated by 45.3per cent to N18.2 million from the N33.1 million quoted at the preceding session, and the number of deals executed at the first session of the week shrank by 27 per cent to 27 deals from 37 deals.
When the market closed for the session, Impresit Bakolori Plc remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with a turnover of 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, followed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 13.0 million units valued at N505.1 million, and Afriland Properties Plc with 17.4 million units sold for N357.0 million.
Also, Impresit Bakolori Plc remained as the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 69.9 million units sold for N23.7 million, and Afriland Properties Plc with 17.4 million units valued at N357.0 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira depreciated against the United States currency at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Monday by N9.61 or 0.63 per cent to settle at N1,531.98/$1, in contrast to last Friday’s value of N1,522.37/$1.
Similarly, the Nigerian currency weakened against the Pound Sterling during the trading session by N20.41 to quote at N1,984.61/£1 compared with the previous trading day’s rate of N1,964.20/£1 and against the Euro, it tumbled by N14.68 to sell for N1,668.46/€1 versus the preceding session’s value of N1,653.78/€1.
The depreciation trend continued after the exchange rate had appreciated just once over the last week as supply factors and the Dollar strengthening across the global market continues to impact other local currencies.
Nigeria’s inflation cooled to 23.18 per cent in February, a month after the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) rebased its Consumer Price Index (CPI) to reflect changes in consumption patterns. A month earlier, the inflation was 24.48 per cent.
However, the the domestic currency appreciated against the US Dollar in the official market yesterday by N5 to quote at N1,585/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,590/$1.
In the cryptocurrency market, most of the tokens fell as investors expect the US Federal Reserve to keep interest rates steady this week, with analysts saying policymakers might pause or stop the central bank’s balance sheet runoff.
There are also trade tensions and concerns around a slowdown in the US economy at a time when it is increasingly uncertain how much more accommodation the US central bank can offer.
Solana (SOL) slumped by 2.8 per cent to trade at $125.04, Litecoin (LTC) fell by 2.7 per cent to $89.70, Dogecoin (DOGE) lost 2.5 per cent to settle at $0.1673, Ripple (XRP) dropped 2.2 per cent to end at $2.28, Cardano (ADA) slid by 1.5 per cent to $0.7072, Bitcoin (BTC) crashed by 0.4 per cent to $83,103.91, and and the US Dollar Tether (USDT) went down by 0.03 per cent to $0.9998.
Conversely, Binance Coin (BNB) appreciated by 0.8 per cent to $634.55, and Ethereum (ETH) added 0.5 per cent to close at $1,907.25, while the US Dollar Coin (USDC) was flat at $1.00.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Crude oil rose on Monday after the United States vowed to keep attacking Yemen’s Houthis until the Iran-aligned group ends its assaults on shipping, which is affecting prices.
As a result, Brent futures went up by 49 cents or 0.7 per cent to $71.07 per barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 40 cents or 0.6 per cent to settle at $67.58 a barrel.
The US carried out airstrikes that reportedly killed at least 53 people.
This is the biggest US military operation in the Middle East since President Donald Trump took office in January.
According to Reuters, the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah and the Al Jawf governorate north of the capital Sanaa were targeted on Monday.
Mr Trump said on Monday he would hold Iran responsible for any attacks carried out by the Houthi group that it backs in Yemen.
Meanwhile, the Houthi group said it would target US ships in the Red Sea as long as the country continues its attacks on Yemen.
Also, Chinese economic data buoyed hopes for higher demand.
Retail sales growth quickened in the world’s largest oil importer in January-February, indicating positive signs to boost domestic consumption.
However, unemployment rose and factory output eased.
Support also came as the US Dollar eased against a basket of currencies as investors worried about the economic fallout from President Trump’s protectionist trade policies.
A weaker Dollar makes oil less expensive for overseas buyers, boosting demand.
On the supply front, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) plan to raise oil output from April has also pressured prices.
However, market analysts noted that the prospect of tighter US sanctions against Iran more than offsets the gradual OPEC+ production increase.
The market will also looking forward to and to the Russia-Ukraine war as President Trump said he would speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday about ending the Ukraine war.
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