Economy

Shareholders Authorise Board to Change Name to Seplat Energy

Published

4 years ago

24/05/2021

By Adedapo Adesanya

Shareholders of Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc have unanimously approved the proposal presented by the board to change the name of the company to Seplat Energy Plc.

The board was authorised by the shareholders to go ahead with the name change at the company’s 8th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held recently.

The change of name is in line with the transition of the organisation into a full energy solutions company.

Speaking at the event, Mr ABC Orjiako, Chairman of the board of Seplat, said it was the responsibility of the board to plan for the long-term sustainability of the company, as scenario analysis on Seplat’s assets have been conducted under different climate change and demand scenarios.

According to him, Seplat looks forward to a future in which it is much more involved in promoting a low carbon environment in its operations, hence the adoption of the new name, Seplat Energy.

In his address to shareholders and other stakeholders during the AGM, Mr Orjiako said the company’s cash position remained strong in the full year of 2020 and the $318 million of cash it generated from operations was significantly more than the $150 million invested for future growth.

“Of this, our Eland assets contributed 8,855 barrels of oil per day (bopd) or 26 per cent of total liquid volumes. Our financial performance enabled us to maintain our commitment to paying dividends.

“While other companies were cutting back or cancelling payments for the 2019 financial year, because of prevailing uncertainties, we honoured our commitment and paid a final dividend of $0.05 for a total dividend of $0.10 for 2019.

“In October 2020, we announced an interim dividend of $0.05 and the board has since approved an additional top-up of $0.05, maintaining our $0.10 dividend for the 2020 financial year.

“Since we raised $535 million at our initial public offering in May 2014, we have returned $344 million to shareholders in the form of dividends.

“The strengthening of our board is part of our ongoing desire to achieve world-class governance of our company. Six of our 13-member board are independent and we continue to work towards increasing diversity.

“In addition, as we announced in March, we have taken the bold decision to eliminate all related-party transactions – a move that exceeds the requirements of the UK Code of Corporate Governance,” he said.

On his part, the CEO of Seplat, Mr Roger Brown, said “Nigeria’s per-capita energy consumption and carbon emissions are actually very low and its national electricity grid is still very poorly developed. This is why the country is so reliant on small-scale diesel generation to satisfy its energy needs and this is the problem we need to address most urgently.

“It’s important to recognise that Nigeria is a developing country with low access to energy and a rapidly growing young population. Hydrocarbons are the country’s main resource and provide significant help for its economy. The proceeds from the oil industry fund a wide range of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and are crucial to the country’s societal development.

“Nigeria needs to achieve significant growth in its capacity to deliver education and health services, food production and energy security.

“Without the development of its indigenous oil and gas industry, these goals will become very difficult to achieve and so in Nigeria, the industry remains not just relevant but essential.”

He further said, “Seplat is embracing climate change opportunities on two fronts. Firstly, we continue to invest heavily in expanding our domestic gas business in line with the government’s strategy to achieve universal access to electricity and to make that energy cheaper and cleaner by replacing diesel generation, which is very damaging to the environment and the economy.

“Gas is clearly the next step for Nigeria, and we have a leading position domestically with the Nigerian Government declaring the ANOH project as one of the seven critical gas development projects for the country.

“Secondly, we have created a New Energy unit to focus on lower carbon to zero-carbon fuel sources and the natural extension beyond gas is for Seplat to participate in renewable energy, such as solar power, and in emerging technologies such as carbon capture and storage.

“Our view is that Nigeria will benefit from being able to deploy renewable energy on its electricity grid rather than solely developing an off-grid renewable solution. By providing a baseload of cheaper, lower carbon gas on the grid, the acceleration of grid-based renewables will be possible, which is why we are currently focusing on accelerating our midstream gas business and additionally expanding into LPG, which is a good fuel source for cooking, preventing deforestation.

“The priority for 2021 is to address our responsibilities as part of the global energy transition and to set realistic targets for how we as a company evolve to drive that transition along. Having survived the worst year in the history of the oil and gas industry, the actions we’ve taken before and during 2020 have left us in a position of strength and I am confident that as demand recovers and the imperative for gas increases, Seplat will exit 2021 a larger, stronger, more profitable company and strengthen its position as Nigeria’s indigenous energy leader.”

Adding his input, Mr Emeka Onwuka, Chief Financial Officer, Seplat, said the company’s robust financial performance in 2020 demonstrated the importance of a prudent approach to managing its finances, focusing on capital allocation, revenue diversification, cost control, hedging and debt management.

“Despite a challenging year, we repaid $100 million debt, invested $150 million for growth and maintained our dividend at $0.10 per share for the year.

“Financial sustainability begins with the decisions we make about capital allocation and the priorities we consider when using cash. Our aim has always been to maintain a healthy balance sheet, focusing on cash generation first and foremost so we can build up a large reserve for future deployment and protect ourselves against the kind of downturns the world experienced in 2020,” he said.

Economy

NASD OTC Exchange Market Cap Drops 0.44% in Week 14

Published

2 hours ago

07/04/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The market capitalisation of the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a 0.44 per cent or N3.87 billion decline to close at N1.911 trillion in the 14th trading week 14 of 2025 compared with the preceding week’s N1.915 trillion.

The drop was impacted by a markdown in the price of Capital Bancorp Plc for the company’s proposed interim dividend of 10 Kobo per share.

During the three-day trading week, the Unlisted Security Index (NSI) went down by 0.20 per cent or 6.71 points to 3,309.46 points from the 3,316.17 points recorded in Week 13.

The share price of Food Concepts Plc tumbled by 10 per cent last week to N1.17 per unit from N1.30 per unit, Geo-Fluids Plc slipped by 8.2 per cent to N2.48 per share from N2.70 per share, Capital Bancorp Plc slid by 4.7 per cent to N2.04 per unit from N2.14 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc lost 2.6 per cent to end at N18.42 per share versus the preceding week’s N18.92 per share.

On the flip side, IPWA Plc gained 10 per cent to close at 55 Kobo per unit compared with the previous week’s 50 Kobo per unit, Lagos Building Infrastructure Company (LBIC) Plc went up by 9.9 per cent to N2.63 per share from N2.40 per share, First Trust Microfinance Bank Plc appreciated by 3.6 per cent to 58 Kobo per unit from 56 Kobo per unit, Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc rose by 2.9 per cent to 36 Kobo per share from 35 Kobo per share, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria jumped by 0.2 per cent to N36.80 per unit from N36.73 per unit.

In the week, investors executed 82 deals in 14 different stocks as there was only a short trading week due to the Ramadan holidays.

The trading volume in the week increased by 262.8 per cent to 10.8 million units from 2.98 million units, but the value of transactions decreased by 76.1 per cent to N16.3 million from N68.2 million.

The most active stock by value last week was FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with N6.1 million, followed by IPWA Plc with N4.9 million, 11 Plc recorded N1.4 million, Air Liquide Plc posted N1.3 million, and Nipco Plc achieved N1.0 million.

But the most active stock by volume was IPWA Plc with 8.8 million units, IGI Plc transacted 1.1 million units, Food Concepts Plc recorded 0.334 million, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc traded 0.164 million units, and Air Liquide Plc exchanged 0.159 million units.

Economy

NGX Delists Med-View Airline, Capital Oil, Goldlink Insurance

Published

5 hours ago

07/04/2025

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The shares of Med-View Airline Plc, Capital Oil Plc, and Goldlink Insurance Plc have been delisted from the trading platform of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.

This action followed the inability of the companies to meet the standards of the NGX for trading its securities.

In a notice, Customs Street delisted the equities of the publicly-quoted firms from Thursday, April 3, 2025, “on the grounds that they are operating below the listing standards of NGX, and their securities are no longer considered suitable for continued listing and trading in the market.”

It was stated that the removal of the three organisations was in compliance with the provisions of Clause 14 of the Amended Form of General Undertaking, for listing on Nigerian Exchange Limited General Undertaking.

This clause states that, “The exchange reserves the right to, at its sole and absolute discretion, suspend trading in any listed securities of the issuer, delist such securities, or remove the name of the issuer from the daily official list of the exchange with or without prior notice to the issuer, upon failure of the issuer to comply with any one or more of the provisions of this General Undertaking, or when in its sole discretion, The exchange determines that such suspension of trading or delisting is in the public interest, or otherwise warranted.”

Business Post reports that the last share price of Capital Oil on the Nigerian Exchange before its exit was 20 Kobo, Goldlink Insurance was also 20 Kobo, while Med-View Airline was N1.62.

Economy

Nigerian Stocks Attract N28.868bn Transactions in Three Days

Published

5 hours ago

07/04/2025

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

Investors bought and sold 1.183 billion stocks worth N28.868 billion in 42,397 deals on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited last week compared with the 7.521 billion stocks valued at N398.949 billion transacted a week earlier in 61,312 deals.

The bourse only opened for three trading days in the due to the public holiday declared by the Nigerian government on Monday, March 31, and Tuesday, April 1, 2025, to commemorate Eid el Fitr celebration after the one-month long Ramadan.

The market participants were mainly interested in financial stocks, especially as some of them churned out impressive financial performance in 2024, proposing dividends to shareholders.

Business Post reports that the sector led the activity chart in the three-day trading week with 906.590 million units sold for N18.926 billion in 22,876 deals, contributing 76.60 per cent and 65.56 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively.

The consumer goods shares recorded a turnover of 71.059 million units worth N 2.224 billion in 3,394 deals, and the services stocks traded 47.305 million units valued at N396.897 million in 2,132 deals.

The trio of Fidelity Bank, Zenith Bank, and Universal Insurance dominated the log with a turnover of 264.627 million shares worth N5.932 billion in 5,714 deals, contributing 22.36 per cent and 20.55 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively.

The biggest price gainer for the week was VFD Group with an appreciation of 20.76 per cent to N57.00, Union Dicon gained 19.59 per cent to finish at N5.80, Africa Prudential soared by 15.71 per cent to N15.10, NGX Group leapt by 11.90 per cent to N32.45, and UPDC REIT grew by 10.91 per cent to N6.10.

Conversely, UAC Nigeria lost 18.31 per cent to sell for N29.00, Sunu Assurances tripped by 13.38 per cent to N5.76, Universal Insurance depreciated by 13.33 per cent to 52 Kobo, Oando fell by 13.13 per cent to N42.00, and Consolidated Hallmark slipped by 12.85 per cent to N3.12.

At the close of trading in the week, 23 equities appreciated versus 43 equities in the previous week, 51 shares declined versus 36 shares a week earlier, and 73 stocks remained unchanged versus 71 stocks in the preceding week.

The All-Share Index (ASI) and the market capitalisation depreciated by 0.14 per cent and 0.17 per cent each to close the week at 105,511.89 points and N66.147 trillion, respectively.

In the same vein, all other indices closed lower except the corporate governance, banking, pension, AseM, AFR bank value, MERI value, sovereign bond and pension broad indices, which gained 0.13 per cent, 0.22 per cent, 0.22 per cent, 0.06 per cent, 1.02 per cent, 0.32 per cent, 0.12 per cent and 0.02 per cent, respectively while the commodity index closed flat.