Economy
Stocks up 0.56% as Market Regains Investors’ Confidence
By Dipo Olowookere
There was a renewed vigour on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Wednesday on the back of fresh bargain hunting on some fundamentally sound stocks.
This further pushed the market higher by 0.56 per cent at the midweek session, with investor sentiment closing positive as 18 equities appreciated in value while 16 shares depreciated in price, indicating that the market is beginning to regain investors’ confidence.
The major driver of the bullish momentum was the consumer goods counter, which rose during the session by 0.39 per cent mainly due to gains printed by BUA Foods, Flour Mills and a few others.
However, the other four main sectors of the exchange depreciated at the close of transactions, with the banking index letting go of 0.61 per cent. The insurance space fell by 0.39 per cent, the industrial goods space dropped 0.28 per cent, while the energy counter declined by 0.19 per cent.
But when the market closed for the day, the All-Share Index (ASI) rose by 285.46 points to 51,377.21 points from 51,091.75 points, while the market capitalisation grew by N154 billion to N27.698 trillion from N27.544 trillion.
Ellah Lakes reported the biggest price growth with 10.00 per cent to sell at N4.40, Presco appreciated by 9.71 per cent to N183.00, FBN Holdings gained 9.52 per cent to quote at N9.20, Livestock Feeds chalked up 9.09 per cent to finish at N1.44, while Courteville closed 8.70 per cent higher to 50 kobo.
On the contrary, Northern Nigerian Flour Mills ended the midweek session as the heaviest price decliner as it shed 9.91 per cent to trade at N9.55, John Holt lost 9.86 per cent to end at 64 kobo, CWG depreciated by 9.09 per cent to 80 kobo, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance fell by 8.82 per cent to 62 kobo, while GlaxoSmithKline declined by 6.25 per cent to N6.00.
Oando was the most active stock at the bourse yesterday, selling 34.5 million units for N185.0 million and was trailed by FCMB, which traded 26.2 million units valued at N91.7 million. UBA transacted 26.0 million equities worth N194.1 million, Access Holdings exchanged 22.8 million shares for N216.3 million, while GTCO sold 15.8 million stocks for N332.4 million.
In all, investors bought and sold 229.4 million equities worth N3.2 billion in 4,536 deals compared with the 167.0 million equities worth N2.7 billion transacted in 4,398 deals on Tuesday, implying an increase in the trading volume, value and number of trades by 37.37 per cent, 16.68 per cent and 3.14 per cent respectively.
By Adedapo Adesanya
About 143 companies that successfully passed the technical and prequalification stages of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission’s (NUPRC) 2025 Licensing Round will, today, compete for 50 oil and gas blocks at the commercial bid conference in Abuja, the final stage in the allocation process for the assets.
The commission said only the prequalified companies have been invited to attend the event, which will hold at the Conference Centre of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, stressing that participation is strictly by invitation.
The commercial bid conference will determine the successful bidders for oil and gas assets located across Nigeria’s producing and frontier basins.
The 50 blocks comprise 16 onshore blocks and 18 shallow water blocks in the Niger Delta, one deep offshore block, three onshore blocks in the Benin Basin, four in the Anambra Basin, four in the Chad Basin, and four in the Benue Trough.
According to the commission, the winning bids will be determined through a transparent evaluation process based on clearly defined commercial parameters. These include the signature bonus offered by bidders, the proposed work programme commitment and the level of performance security provided. The final selection will be based on a weighted technical and commercial score.
The licensing round is being conducted under the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, which requires a transparent and competitive process for the award of petroleum assets.
NUPRC had announced the commencement of the 2025 Licensing Round on November 11, 2025, before opening the online bid portal on December 1, 2025, to enable interested companies to register and participate in the exercise.
To ensure prospective investors fully understood the requirements, the commission organised a pre-bid conference on January 14, 2026, at Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos. The event provided detailed explanations on the licensing guidelines and bidding procedures to registered participants and other stakeholders.
Registration and submission of prequalification documents closed on February 27, 2026, while the prequalification evaluation was completed on March 16, 2026.
NUPRC disclosed that 286 companies initially submitted applications for prequalification.
Following the evaluation process, 196 companies were cleared to participate in the technical and commercial bid stages.
The prequalified 143 companies eventually submitted a total of 200 bids for the available oil and gas blocks. These companies are now set to compete at the commercial bid conference, where the financial offers will be opened and evaluated to determine the eventual winners.
The licensing round is expected to attract fresh investment into Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector, boost exploration activities across both producing and frontier basins, increase crude oil and gas reserves, and support the country’s drive to grow production and government revenue.
It also underscores the regulator’s commitment to implementing a transparent, competitive and investor-friendly licensing regime under the Petroleum Industry Act.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has retained all key monetary policy parameters following the conclusion of its two-day meeting on July 21, 2026, on Tuesday, maintaining its tight monetary policy stance to curb inflation and support macroeconomic stability.
According to the Governor of the apex bank, Mr Yemi Cardoso, who chaired the committee, the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), which serves as the benchmark interest rate, remains at 26.50 per cent. The MPC also retained the asymmetric corridor around the MPR at +50 basis points and -450 basis points.
In addition, the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) for commercial banks was left unchanged at 45.00 per cent, while the CRR for merchant banks remains at 16.00 per cent. The committee also retained the CRR on non-Treasury Single Account (Non-TSA) public sector deposits at 75.00 per cent, with the liquidity ratio at 30.00 per cent.
The decision reflects the apex bank’s continued commitment to containing inflationary pressures through a restrictive monetary policy while safeguarding the resilience of Nigeria’s financial system amid ongoing macroeconomic adjustments.
By keeping all policy tools unchanged, the MPC signalled its intention to continue managing excess liquidity in the banking sector and maintain stability in financial markets.
The move is also expected to provide greater policy certainty for investors and businesses monitoring the country’s monetary policy direction.
The latest decision also means borrowing costs are likely to remain elevated in the near term as the central bank continues to prioritise price stability over monetary easing.
Analysts had expected the CBN committee to retain the rate after Nigeria’s headline inflation came in at 15.91 per cent as of June 2026, marking a slight decline from 15.93 per cent in May.
However, even as overall price growth has moderated significantly compared to previous periods, food inflation remains a persistent challenge, accelerating to 17.52 per cent in June.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Shareholders of Unilever Nigeria Plc will receive an interim dividend of N2 per share, the board of the organisation has said.
The cash reward was announced after the company released its financial statements for the first half of the year ended June 30, 2026.
The payment will be made on Friday, August 14, 2026, only to investors whose names appear on the Register of Members at the close of business on Friday, July 31, 2026.
A quick look at the financial performance of the firm in the first six months of this year showed that revenue improved by 22.22 per cent to N119.9 billion from the N98.1 billion achieved in the corresponding period of last year.
A rise in earnings also resulted in a 16.43 per cent surge in cost of sales, though this did not shrink the gross profit, which rose by 29.93 per cent to N54.7 billion from N42.1 billion. The operating profit stood at N24.4 billion in the period under review, higher than N18.8 billion in the same period of 2025, while the net finance income contracted by 9.43 per cent to N4.8 billion from N5.3 billion due to elevated borrowing costs.
Business Post reports that despite higher taxes paid in the first six months of 2026, the net profit grew by 8.33 per cent to N15.6 billion from N14.4 billion, enabling the board to pass on value to shareholders for their faith in the firm.
