Economy
Stock Investors Lose N166bn as John Holt Closes Worth-Performer
By Dipo Olowookere
The bears tightened their grip of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Friday after the platform further depreciated by 0.19 per cent.
Like the preceding session, investor sentiment remained bearish as the bourse finished with 19 price gainers and 31 price losers due to continued profit-taking.
John Holt ended the day as the worst-performing equity after it lose 10.00 per cent to settle at N6.30, Lasaco Assurance declined by 9.64 per cent to N3.00, Guinea Insurance shed 7.79 per cent to trade at N1.42, Universal Insurance tumbled by 6.25 per cent to N1.20, and Secure Electronic Technology dipped by 5.56 per cent to 85 Kobo.
On the flip side, Learn Africa was the best-performer after it chalked up 9.86 per cent to quote at N7.80, Union Dicon appreciated by 8.04 per cent to N12.10, Prestige Assurance gained 6.75 per cent to N1.74, Academy Press jumped by 6.11 per cent to N9.55, and Omatek improved by 6.06 per cent to N1.40.
It was observed that the financial services landscape was under selling pressure yesterday, with the insurance arm losing 1.54 per cent and the banking space surrendering 0.88 per cent to profit-takers.
Also, the energy index was down by 0.51 per cent, and the industrial goods industry gave up a marginal 0.01 per cent, while the consumer goods sector gained 0.14 per cent, with the commodity counter closing flat.
When Customs Street closed its doors for the day, the All-Share Index (ASI) retreated by 261.75 points to 140,295.49 points from 140,557.24 points and the market capitalisation recoiled by N166 billion to N88.769 trillion from N88.935 trillion.
A total of 435.1 million shares valued at N10.4 billion exchanged hands in 25,609 deals on Friday compared with the 885.0 million shares worth N28.3 billion transacted in 26,163 deals on Thursday, showing a decrease in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 50.84 per cent, 63.25 per cent, and 2.12 per cent, respectively.
VFD Group topped the activity chart with 49.3 million stocks valued at N542.2 million, Secure Electronic Technology transacted 33.2 million shares worth N28.8 million, Access Holdings exchanged 26.9 million equities for N717.0 million, GTCO traded 21.3 million shares worth N2.0 billion, and First Holdco sold 19.9 million stocks valued at N646.7 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.40 per cent on Monday, July 13, buoyed by buying interest in 11 Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and UBN Property Plc, which offset the profit-taking in Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of Chicken Republic.
11 Plc gained N20.69 to end at N227.64 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N206.95 per share, CSCS Plc grew by N1.83 to N91.48 per unit from N89.65 per unit, and UBN Property Plc added 1 Kobo to sell at N1.81 per share versus N1.80 per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 24 Kobo to close at N2.45 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.69 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N9.2 billion to N2.587 trillion from N2.578 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.33 points to 4,311.67 points from 4,296.34 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 615.9 per cent to 9.1 million units from the previous 1.3 million units, and the value of securities rose by 997.1 per cent to N320.4 million from the preceding session’s N29.2 million, while the number of deals decreased by 12.5 per cent to 28 deals from last Friday’s 32 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units exchanged for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
