CAPITAL MARKET
Hunting for Value in Stock Market
Goddy Egene writes that the decline recorded by the stock market in the first half of 2021 provides an entry opportunity for investors to gain in the second half of the year. The loss of N1.303 trillion in value recorded by the Nigerian stock market in the first half (H1) of 2021 is likely to discourage many risks averse investors from patronizing the market and make others to reduce their exposure. While the market had recorded a positive performance in 2020, profit-taking, shift to fixed income (FI) market by local investors due to uptick in yields and low participation by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) led to a negative performance in H1 of 2021. This Day
CWG, International Brewery, others lead stock market’s N71b loss
Following losses suffered by most blue-chip stocks, especially CWG, International Breweries and Champion Breweries, the nation’s equities market reopened on a negative note yesterday, causing market capitalisation to plunge by N71 billion. Yesterday, the All-Share Index (ASI) declined by 136.30 absolute points, representing a loss of 0.36 per cent to close at 37,857.89 points. Similarly, the overall market capitalisation value shed N71 billion to close at N19.725 trillion. Guardian
BANKING
FCMB appoints Edun managing director
The board of directors of FCMB Group Plc has appointed Yemisi Edun as the managing director of First City Monument Bank Limited. A statement on Tuesday said the announcement was subsequent to the end of service of the bank’s former managing director, Adam Nuru. The bank said the board had earlier reviewed media allegations made in late 2020 against the former managing director and did not establish any contravention of its policies. Punch
ECONOMY
Vaccination, key to economic recovery, says Okonjo-Iweala
The Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has urged nations across the globe set aside $50bn to vaccinate 40 per cent of the world population, a development she said was key to economic recovery. Okonjo-Iweala spoke at a panel interview with the Atlantic Council on Tuesday. She said the supply chain scarcity of vaccination could be solved. Punch
Credit to economy rises to N44.7trn
Credit to the economy grew by five percent to N44.7 trillion in five months, January to May, this year, driven by increased lending to the private sector. This was as currency outside banks and currency in circulation fell by 7.6 per cent and 4.1 per cent during the same period reflecting the impact of increased usage of electronic payment channels. The CBN disclosed this in its updated Money and Credit data, which also showed a three per cent growth in current account deposits of banks. Sun
Emefiele: N15tn Infrastructure Company to Take off Third Quarter
The N15 trillion Infrastructure Company Limited (InfraCo), created by the federal government to bridge the nation’s huge infrastructure gap is to take off in the third quarter of the year, the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has said. Emefiele spoke yesterday at an investors’ webinar designed to showcase the investment opportunities in Nigeria’s privatisation and economic reforms programmes, organised by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) in collaboration with the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) and the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX). This Day
Govt sets mid 2022 target for Lekki port operations
The Federal Government has urged the management of Lekki Port LFTZ Enterprise Limited and other stakeholders, to work tirelessly to ensure that the port becomes operational by mid-2022. Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, during an inspection visit to the port, expressed satisfaction with the level of progress recorded on the construction of the Lekki Deep Sea Port project. Amaechi inspected the facility in the company of other government agencies like the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the Nigeria Shippers’ Council (NSC) and the Nigerian Maritime Administrative and Safety Agency (NIMASA). Guardian
