Weekly Investment in Equities Shrinks to N10.4bn

By Adedapo Adesanya The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a 0.18 per cent gain to open the week in positive territory on Monday, December 4, with the unlisted security index rising by 1.59 points to end the day at 862.40 points compared with last Friday’s closing value of 860.81 points. The improvement recorded by the bourse yesterday raised the value of the unlisted stock exchange by N2.5 billion to close at N1.169 trillion, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1.166 trillion. The gain posted by the bourse was driven by the N13.70 added to the share price of 11

By Aduragbemi Omiyale An application and proprietary solution for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria, known as Aleph Express, has been launched by Aleph Group. A statement from the firm explained that Aleph Express provides a platform for MSMEs to create and maintain a free e-commerce website, create a product catalogue, set local delivery options, manage, record and process orders while gaining meaningful insights to drive growth. The platform also provides one unified inbox that integrates WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram, to enable businesses to efficiently engage and sell – all in one place. In addition, Aleph Express provides

By Dipo Olowookere In one week, investors bought and sold 2.543 billion shares worth N38.644 billion in 36,138 deals on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited. In the preceding trading week, a total of 2.425 billion shares valued at N22.665 billion were transacted by investors in 33,230 deals. It was observed that financial stocks led the activity chart as usual with 1.721 billion units worth N18.281 billion in 17,151 deals, contributing 67.68 per cent and 47.30 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively. Conglomerates equities trailed with 200.584 million units valued at N1.546 billion in

By Bliss Okperan Nigeria recorded an improvement in its trade surplus in the third quarter of 2023, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which was analysed by Business Post. The agency disclosed that in the period under review, the total value of exports stood at N10.347 trillion, while imports stood at N8.458 trillion, leaving the total value of trades at N18.802 trillion, 60.78 per cent higher than the N6.435 trillion achieved in the second quarter of 2023. Analysis showed that between July and September 2023, the country, which prides itself as the biggest economy in

By Nneka Okumazie Some Africans often say that when some Africans go abroad, they act better than they do in Africa. Some others say some Africans excel abroad than when they are at home. There is something obvious in these observations that is hardly stated, which is that those Africans are simply doing what others are doing wherever they are, having nothing original of themselves. There are several things that have been adopted in Africa that are meaningful elsewhere but are meaningless in Africa because it was simply copied, then many others in the same era copied, and other generations

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Senate President, Mr Bukola Saraki, has led the National Assembly to the Presidential Villa in Aso Rock for the signing of the 2017 budget. Acting President, Mr Yemi Osinbajo, is expected to sign the appropriation bill any moment from now. He is being awaited by the Senate President; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Yakubu Dogara; Mr Femi Gbajabiamila; Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Abba Kyari; Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun; among others. https://twitter.com/i/videos/tweet/874284930813091840?embed_source=clientlib&player_id=0&rpc_init=1&language_code=en-gb&use_syndication_guest_id=true    

By Dipo Olowookere Tier-1 Nigerian lender, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) Plc has announced a pre-tax profit of N109.7 billion for the first half of 2020. The company revealed this information in its financial statements for the period ended June 30, 2020, released to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday. A brief analysis of the results by Business Post showed that the profit before tax in the period under review was, however, lower than what was achieved in the same period of last year, N115.8 billion and this can be attributed to higher operating expenses and lower net fee and

By Dipo Olowookere Transactions on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) further declined on Wednesday as investors continue to take profit. The market continued its downward trend in the absence of any positive news to trigger a buying pressure at the nation’s bourse. At the close of business yesterday, the stock market lost 0.59 percent, leaving the year-to-date loss at 4.87 percent. During trading on Wednesday, the All-Share Index lost 177.69 points to finish at 29,898.31 points, while the market capitalisation decreased by N67 billion to settle at N11.236 trillion. Despite the loss, the market breadth was positive,

By Modupe Gbadeyanka There are strong indications that the number of job loss in Nigeria under the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari may further increase anytime soon. This is because owners of the popular Oriental Hotel in Lagos, Western Metal Products Company Limited (WEMPCO) Group, are planning to leave the country after over four decades doing business in the Africa’s largest economy. Few days ago, there were reports that WEMPCO was offering to sell its flagship hospitality business, Oriental Hotel for $250 million (about N90 billion). In a report posted a moment ago, Business Day said WEMPCO wants to

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The value of 28 equities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) increased in the four-day trading session of last week. This was higher than the 25 equities in the previous week, which had five sessions. Also, in the week, a total of 20 stocks depreciated in price, lower than 33 equities in the previous week, while 115 shares remained unchanged, higher than 105 shares recorded in the preceding week. Business Post reports that Ardova was the best performing stock, gaining 20.94 percent to close at N11.55 per share. LASACO Assurance gained 12.50 percent during the week to

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Mr Abubakar Malami (SAN), has disclosed that the war on corruption by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration has led to the recovery of N57.9 billion as well as $666.7 million. The Minister noted that this recovery was engineered by his Ministry, explaining that N50 billion was from the fine paid by MTN company, while N7 billion and $10 million was recovered from private residence. He explained further that N40 million and N50 million were voluntarily returned, $250 million under interim forfeiture was alleged proceeds of oil bunkering

By Dipo Olowookere The absence of an OMO auction by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Tuesday saw the secondary market for treasury bills closing bearish. It was observed that the apex bank failed to sell OMO bills to investors since the last exercise held on July 4 despite the significantly buoyant system liquidity levels yesterday. However, investors are anticipating an OMO exercise tomorrow as treasury bills worth N92 billion on that day. Business Post reports that at the close of business, the average yield rose by 0.08 percent to settle for the day at 11.53 percent. Only the