Economy

Transcorp Maps Out Strategies to Improve Q4 Performance

Published

6 years ago

30/10/2019

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Chief executive of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (Transcorp), Mr Valentine Ozigbo, has listed steps management of the company would take to make shareholders happier in the fourth and final quarter of this fiscal year.

On Tuesday, the firm released its financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2019, but the numbers were not encouraging.

Mr Ozigbo, while reacting to the results, attributed the weak performance to significant operational challenges like severe gas shortages, mandated reduction in generation from the National Control Centre and importantly, revenue exposures from delayed payment of receivables in our power business.

Business Post reports that the gross revenue generated by the firm depreciated to N58.3 billion from N79.9 billion, while the profit before tax (PBT) dropped to N7.4 billion from N17.7 billion. However, the total assets increased by about 5 percent to N313.1 billion from N297.1 billion as of FY 2018.

The hospital arm of the group, Transcorp Hotels Plc (THP), grew notably by 16 percent in its year-on-year revenue and had a gross profit increase of 19 percent in comparison with the same period of 2018. Revenue from its power business, Transcorp Power Limited (TPL), however, declined during the period due to gas and transmission issues.

But Mr Ozigbo allayed fears of shareholders, assuring that, “On our part, we have taken several actions aimed at proactively and sustainably addressing these issues.”

According to him, “These include the recent activation of our Gas Supply and Aggregation Agreement, guaranteeing gas supply to our power plant in Ughelli; leveraging the Eligible Customer regime initiated by the Federal Government, which gives value to our stranded capacities; consummating the acquisition of Afam Power Plc and Afam Fast Power Limited, thereby raising our total generation capacity from 972MW to 1938MW; expansion into alternative power generation and mini-grid opportunities, among other things.”

He expressed confidence that, “The actualisation of these steps, as well as improvement in market payment for electricity generation, will facilitate our projected revenue expansion in Q4 and the coming years.”

According to Mr Ozigbo, “This is in addition to even more significant contributions from our hospitality business, which is expected to benefit from the introduction of new service offerings.”

He said, “The recent discharge of the hotel from the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) post-privatization monitoring, further speaks to its operational excellence and top-line corporate governance.”

However, he boasted that, “Our Q3 result reflects our long-term commitment to the sectors in which we play as we have had to focus on creating value for our shareholders.”

Economy

NASD OTC Exchange Extends Loss by 0.63%

Published

57 minutes ago

14/08/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange fell further by 0.63 per cent on Wednesday, August 13 after closing with two price losers led by Okitipupa Plc and Mixta Real Estate Plc.

Okitipupa Plc lost N21.05 during the session to end at N216.19 per share versus N237.24 per share and Mixta Real Estate Plc declined by 54 Kobo to trade at N5.52 per unit compared with the previous day’s price of N6.06 per unit.

Consequently, the market capitalisation of the bourse decreased by N13.65 billion to close at N2.149 trillion, in contrast to the N2.162 trillion quoted at the preceding session, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) shrank by 22.81 points to 3,591.88 points from the previous day’s 3,614.69 points.

Business Post reports that the market ended with three price gainers during the session led by Lagos Building Investment Company (LBIC) Plc, which gained 30 Kobo to settle at N3.38 per share versus N3.08 per share, Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc appreciated by 5 Kobo to end at 53 Kobo per unit compared with the previous day’s 48 Kobo per unit, and Food Concepts Plc chalked up 1 Kobo to finish at N3.11 per share versus N3.10 per share.

There was a 61.3 per cent slide in the volume of securities to 12.3 million units from 31.9 million units, just as the number of deals went down by 21.6 per cent to 29 deals from 37 deals, while the value of securities rose by 715.5 per cent to N925.6 million from N113.5 million.

Okitipupa Plc finished the day as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 158.6 million units valued at N5.9 billion, followed by Air Liquide Plc with 507.2 million units worth N4.2 billion, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 43.8 million units valued at N1.9 billion.

The most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis remained IGI Plc with 1.1 billion units worth N369.1 million, trailed by Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units valued at N524.8 million, and Air Liquide Plc with 507.2 million units traded for N4.2 billion.

Economy

Naira Now N1,534/$1 at Official Market, N1,560/$1 at Parallel Market

Published

1 hour ago

14/08/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira moved in different directions at the foreign exchange (FX) market on Wednesday, August 13, appreciating against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) segment and depreciating in the parallel market window.

In the black market, the Nigerian currency lost N5 against the greenback during the session to settle at N1,560/$1 compared with the previous day’s rate of N1,555/$1.

However, in the official market, it gained N2.47 or 0.16 per cent on the Dollar to close at N1,534.91/$1, in contrast to the N1,537.38/$1 it was traded at on Tuesday.

Sadly, in the spot market, the local currency depreciated against the Pound Sterling yesterday by N8.91 to sell for N2,082.45/£1 versus the preceding session’s N2,073.54/£1 and lost N4.57 against the Euro to settle at N1,796.21/€1 compared with the N1,791.64/€1 it was transacted a day earlier.

Pressure eased in the market as updated FX data showed external reserves increased further, settling at $40.229 billion, marking this is the first time since January that reserves have crossed the $40 billion threshold.

This buildup likely reflects sustained Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) inflows and a recent surge in non-bank corporates, which indicates that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) can continue to back the Naira as expected.

As for the crypto market, it was up as investors eye the Federal Reserve going for a 25 basis point cut in the September meeting as pressure is ramping up on policymakers to consider deeper easing.

The US central bank has been reluctant to cut interest rates, but investors see the possibility as crypto could likely gain if it happens, barring any other factors.

Cardano (ADA) surged by 16.9 per cent to $0.9849, Solana (SOL) appreciated by 4.5 per cent to $204.76, Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 4.2 per cent to $0.2452, Ethereum (ETH) grew by 2.5 per cent to $4,736.21, Binance Coin (BNB) went up by 2.4 per cent to $855.49, Bitcoin (BTC) improved by 2.0 per cent to $121,602.01, and Ripple (XRP) increased by 0.9 per cent to $3.24.

But, Litecoin (LTC) closed lower by 0.7 per cent to $129.84 during the trading day, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.

Economy

Nigerian Exchange Succumbs to Profit-Taking by 0.13%

Published

2 hours ago

14/08/2025

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited surrendered its control to the bears on Wednesday, closing lower by 0.13 per cent when trading activities ended for the day.

The decline was influenced by profit-taking in most of the sectors, despite the insurance and the energy indices closing green by 7.94 per cent and 0.12 per cent, respectively.

It was observed that the consumer goods space lost 0.91 per cent, the banking index depreciated by 0.53 per cent, and the industrial goods counter went down by 0.33 per cent.

As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) decreased by 191.09 points to 145,864.80 points from 146,055.89 points and the market capitalisation moderated by N121 billion to N92.284 trillion from N92.405 trillion.

Sell-offs in large-cap stocks like GTCO, Zenith Bank, Lafarge Africa, Nigerian Breweries and others caused the downfall of Customs Street yesterday as the market breadth index remained positive and investor sentiment still strong after closing with 53 price gainers and 21 price losers.

Thomas Wyatt lost 10.00 per cent to trade at N3.42, UPDC slipped by 7.94 per cent to N8.00, Legend Internet tumbled by 6.35 per cent to N5.60, Berger Paints slumped by 6.16 per cent to N32.00, and Champion Breweries depreciated by 5.75 per cent to N16.38.

On the flip side, Learn Africa, Tripple Gee, Prestige Assurance, FTN Cocoa, and Caverton gained 10.00 per cent each to finish at N7.70, N5.17, N2.42, N6.93, and N7.92 apiece.

A total of 1.3 billion shares worth N20.2 billion were traded in 30,749 deals at midweek versus the 1.3 billion shares valued at N24.3 billion transacted in 31,155 deals in the preceding session, showing a shortfall in the trading value and number of deals by 16.87 per cent and 1.30 per cent apiece, as the trading volume remained unchanged.

Universal Insurance topped the activity chart after it sold 193.4 million units for N282.4 million, Japaul traded 123.2 million units worth N390.0 million, Veritas Kapital exchanged 93.2 million units valued at N260.1 million, Access Holdings transacted 85.0 million units worth N2.4 billion, and Sterling Holdings traded 68.2 million units valued at N552.6 million.