CAPITAL MARKET
Profit-taking Persist as Stock Market Commences Week on Negative Note
The Nigerian equities market yesterday closed on a negative note, to halt the two consecutive days of positive sentiment trading by investors at the close of business the previous week. At the close of trading yesterday, the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All-Share Index (ASI) declined by 8.12 basis points, representing a drop of 0.02 per cent, to closed at 39,252.89 basis points. Similarly, the overall market capitalisation value shed N5 billion to close at N20.451 trillion. The market loss was driven by price depreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks amongst which are; Flour Mills of Nigeria, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria, Stanbic IBTC Holding, Dangote Sugar Refinery and May and Baker Nigeria. This Day
BANKING
Equity investor injects $75m investment into Ecobank
Ecobank Transnational Incorporated has announced the receipt of a $75m perpetual non-cumulative additional tier-1 capital investment from Arise B.V. ETI announced this on Monday in a statement released to the Nigerian Exchange Limited and the investing public. It said the investment from the private equity firm would be used for its general corporate purposes including loan growth and strengthening the capital buffers of profitable subsidiaries in two of the group’s cornerstone regions, namely Francophone West Africa and Anglophone West Africa. Arise is a fund based in sub-Saharan Africa with operations in over 10 African countries and assets under management in excess of $960m, according to the statement. It is an institutional investor in ETI. Punch
ECONOMY
Naira weakens to 532/dollar despite rising forex reserves
The Nigerian currency weakened further against the dollar at the parallel market on Monday despite the rise in the country’s foreign exchange reserves. The forex reserves, which fell to a record low of $33.09bn on July 12, have risen to the highest level in more than three months. The PUNCH had reported on Friday that the naira plunged to a fresh record low of 530 against the dollar on Thursday amid the lingering scarcity of forex in the country. The value of the naira fell further to 532/$1 at the parallel market on Monday. The local currency has lost more than five per cent of its value since August 4, when it closed at 506/$1. The naira dipped to 723 against the British pound sterling at the parallel market from 722/£1 on Friday, while the euro rose to N625 from N622. Punch
NNPC to begin sale of shares in 2024 – Kyari
The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mele Kyari, has said that the earliest the corporation can issue its Initial Public Offer to investors is in the next three years. The NNPC boss disclosed this on Monday during an interview on Bloomberg TV Global Financial News monitored by our correspondent. The announcement is one of the outcomes of the Petroleum Industry Act recently signed on the state-owned corporation in the global market. Speaking on the impact of the PIA on the NNPC, Kyari said the corporation would now be operated in line with the Companies and Allied Act. However, he stated that the NNPC may not be able to offer its shares to the public by 2022 or 2023 due to certain bottlenecks that had lingered over the years. Punch
Nigeria’s foreign trade deficit narrows to N1.9 trillion
Nigeria’s foreign trade deficit narrowed by 110.9 per cent to N1.87 trillion in the second quarter (Q2) compared with the first quarter on account of an increase in the value of oil export. According to foreign trade data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the value of trade for the quarter stood at 12.03 trillion with exports accounting for 42.2 per cent or N5.08 trillion. The export value is 75 per cent higher than the N2.91 billion recorded the previous quarter (Q1). The improvement came from sharp increase in crude export, which rose by 111.3 per cent, from N1.93 trillion posted in Q1 to 4.08 trillion. Oil sales accounted for 80.3 per cent of the country’s exports, narrowing the non-oil margin to less than 20 per cent. The current administration has embarked on an aggressive campaign aimed at increasing the contribution of non-oil exports to reduce the concentration risk caused by crude dominance. Guardian