Economy

UACN Property to Slash N20.8bn Debt to N4.8bn

Published

5 years ago

19/02/2020

By Adedapo Adesanya

The management of UACN Property Development (UPDC) Plc has announced plans by the company to reduce its current debt obligation of about N20.8 billion to about N4.8 billion.

Addressing some analysts and members of the media, including Business Post at the Exchange on Tuesday in Lagos, the CEO of UPDC, Mr Folasope Aiyesimoju, stated that this was one of the main reasons for the firm’s N16 billion rights issue, which is to be used to refinance its short-term debt and reduce finance costs.

He said the optimal performance of its recapitalisation through this right issue will see the debt cut to N4.8 billion by repaying the bridge loan facility owed its former parent company, UAC of Nigeria Plc.

At the company’s Facts Behind the Issue presentation yesterday, Mr Aiyesimoju disclosed the company’s broader strategy to create long term shareholder value through the recapitalisation effort.

UPDC, in the second quarter of 2019, had obtained a one-year N16 billion bridge loan for debt obligations and to reduce high debt service cost. The facility was used to pay the company’s maturing short term obligations of N6.5 billion in Commercial Papers, N7.4 billion Commercial Paper-related support facility, and N2.1 billion in intra-group working capital facilities.

In 2019, UAC of Nigeria Plc offloaded its entire stock in its real estate subsidiary, UPDC, following years of loss–making despite efforts to turn it around. Results of the company for the half year ended June 2019 showed that the former parent company recorded a N1.2 billion loss while in 2018, it recorded a N15 billion loss due to UPDC.

The company now plans to raise fresh funds via a rights issue of 15,961,574,145 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at N1.00 per share on the basis of 43 new ordinary shares for every 7 ordinary shares held as at the close of business on Monday, September 30, 2019 through its issuing house, Stanbic IBTC Capital.

Set to reposition the real estate company, Mr Aiyesimoju, who was appointed in August 2019 after the board was reconstituted, is seeking to strengthen and improve its capital structure by focusing on affordable housing to cater for young middle management professionals.

The company also said that it will be looking at expanding its hotel service in Lagos to offer a more with the current housing demands of its target clientele.

He explained that with the teeming youth population in Nigeria, the company deemed it necessary to address the gap in residential units for young professionals one unit at a time.

“Recognising a shift in the demographics in Nigeria with a rising youth population, and limited home ownership opportunities for young middle management professionals in close proximity to the central business areas of Lagos, we tested the market with our first residences development in Festac, Lagos.

“The residences offered 196 units of 1- and 2-bedroom apartment at a price of N22 million to N30 million per unit,” he said.

According to the UPDC CEO, this is the fastest selling development of the company, adding that in years to come, it will replicate this in other parts of Lagos.

“Our aim is to expand this concept for middle income housing for young professionals further into areas such as Surulere, Yaba, and Ibeju-Lekki over the next three years,” he added.

“Located opposite our mixed-use Festival Complex in Festac, this development is scheduled to commence in the third quarter of 2020. The project will be funded with a mix of developer equity and off-plan sales,” he added.

To improve its hotel performance, Mr Aiyesimoju said, “Our plan is to convert one of the three hotel wings into serviced residential apartments for sale, similar to our successful residences development.”

Economy

Geo-Fluids, Afriland Properties Lift NASD Bourse by 0.13%

Published

2 days ago

11/01/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The duo of Geo-Fluids Plc and Afriland Properties Plc propelled the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange up 0.13 per cent on Friday, January 10.

Investors gained N1.4 billion during the trading session after the market capitalisation of the bourse ended at N1.053 trillion compared with the previous day’s N1.052 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) increased at the close of business by 4.07 points to wrap the session at 3,073.93 points compared with 3,069.86 points recorded at the previous session.

Geo-Fluids added 25 Kobo to its value to close at N4.85 per unit compared with the previous session’s N4.60 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc gained 24 Kobo to close at N16.25 per share versus Thursday’s closing price of N16.01 per share.

There was a 35.4 per cent fall in the volume of securities traded in the session as investors exchanged 4.3 million units compared to 6.6 million units traded in the preceding session, the value of shares traded yesterday went down by 37.4 per cent to N17.2 million from the N27.5 million recorded a day earlier, and the number of deals decreased by 47.2 per cent to 19 deals from the 36 deals recorded in the preceding day.

FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 1.9 million units worth N74.2 million, followed by 11 Plc with 12,963 units valued at N3.2 million, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI )Plc with 10.7 million units sold for N2.1 million.

IGI Plc closed the day as the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 10.6 million units sold for N2.1 million, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 1.9 million units valued at N74.2 million, and Acorn Petroleum Plc with 1.2 million units worth N1.9 million.

Economy

Naira Depreciates to N1,543/$1 at Official Market

Published

2 days ago

11/01/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira witnessed a depreciation on the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, January 10.

According to data from the FMDQ Exchange, the local currency weakened against the greenback yesterday by 0.12 per cent or N1.80 to sell for N1,543.03/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,541.23/$1.

The pressure on the domestic currency came as the access granted to the Bureaux de Change (BDC) operators by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to purchase FX from the official market through the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) platform prepares to end next week, precisely on January 19.

The CBN had given a 42-day window to the operators to access the platform to help stabilise the Naira in December, and this expires next week.

On Friday, the Nigerian currency tumbled against the Pound Sterling in the official market by N30.78 to sell for N1,889.29/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,858.51/£1, but gained N5.48 against the Euro to finish at N1,583.81/€1, in contrast to Thursday’s rate of N1,589.29/€1.

As for the parallel market, the Nigerian Naira remained stable against the US Dollar during the trading session at N1,650/$1, according to data obtained by Business Post.

In the cryptocurrency market, it was bearish as the US economy added 256,000 jobs last month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday, topping forecasts for 160,000 and up from 212,000 in November (revised from an originally reported 227,000).

However, the readings came after a number of recent economic reports triggered a broad-market pullback across asset classes such as crypto as investors quickly scaled back the idea of a continued series of Federal Reserve rate cuts in 2025.

Cardano (ADA) fell by 3.6 per cent to trade at $0.921, Solana (SOL) slumped by 2.8 per cent to $185.93, Ethereum (ETH) depreciated by 1.4 per cent to $3,233.27, Litecoin (LTC) lost 1.3 per cent to finish at $103.62, Dogecoin (DOGE) shed 0.5 per cent to sell at $0.3315, Bitcoin (BTC), waned by 0.2 per cent to $94,154.43, and Binance Coin (BNB) went south by 0.1 per cent to $693.30.

On the flip side, Ripple (XRP) jumped by 1.5 per cent to settle at $2.34, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) sold flat at $1.00 each.

Economy

Customs Street Crumbles by 0.08% as Profit-Takers Take Charge

Published

2 days ago

11/01/2025

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

Profit-takers took control of Customs Street on Friday, plunging it by 0.08 per cent at the close of trading activities.

The sell-offs were across all the key sectors of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on last trading session of the week.

The insurance space went down by 1.53 per cent, the banking index depreciated by 0.41 per cent, the consumer goods sector weakened by 0.16 per cent, and the energy counter slumped by 0.08 per cent, while the industrial goods sector closed flat.

At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) tumbled by 79.68 points to 105,451.06 points from 105,530.74 points and the market capitalisation retreated by N48 billion to N64.303 trillion from N64.351 trillion.

Yesterday, investors traded 1.5 billion shares worth N19.4 billion in 12,877 deals compared with the 489.5 million shares worth N13.1 billion transacted in 13,010 deals in the preceding day, indicating a decline in the number of deals by 1.02 deals and a rise in the trading volume and value by 203.14 per cent and 48.09 per cent, respectively.

Wema Bank was the busiest stock with 976.2 million units valued at N9.8 billion, Tantalizers traded 53.0 million units worth 129.6 million, Universal Insurance sold 34.8 million units for N26.8 million, Access Holdings exchanged 33.9 million units valued at N843.8 million, and Nigerian Breweries traded 27.3 million units worth N873.3 million.

The heaviest loss was suffered by Sunu Assurances with a decline of 9.99 per cent to trade at N7.30, Eunisell shed 9.96 per cent to N17.35, SAHCO crumbled by 9.87 per cent to N30.15, DAAR Communications plunged by 9.28 per cent to 88 Kobo, and Sovereign Trust Insurance went down by 7.04 per cent to N1.32.

On the flip side, C&I Leasing gained 10.00 per cent to close at N4.51, Honeywell Flour appreciated by 9.99 per cent to N10.02, Trans Nationwide Express jumped by 9.89 per cent to N2.00, RT Briscoe rose by 9.83 per cent to N2.57, and Secure Electronic Technology grew by 9.46 per cent to 81 Kobo.

Business Post reports that the bourse ended with 33 price gainers and 25 price losers, indicating a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.