CAPITAL MARKET
Lafarge Africa Announces N16.1bn Interim Dividend
Lafarge Africa Plc has announced an interim dividend of N16.1billion with a pay-out of N1 per 50 Kobo ordinary shares for nine months ended September 30th, 2021. This dividend to be paid out of the pioneer profits, will be made to shareholders whose names appear in the Register of Members as at the close of business on November 10th, 2021. CEO of Lafarge Africa, Khaled El Dokani, in as statement said: “We are pleased to announce the payment of an interim dividend to our esteemed shareholders. This reiterates our commitment to ensure that we continuously deliver value to all our stakeholders. This Day
UBA’s $300 Million Eurobond Oversubscribed
Amid global and domestic challenges, the United Bank for Africa Plc’s (UBA) $300 million Eurobond attracted 1.7 times oversubscription from investors across the globe. The Pan-African bank had on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) announced plans to raise a five-year fixed rate benchmark USD-denominated Regulation S/144A Senior Unsecured offering under its Global Medium Term Note Programme subject to market conditions. The lender in a statement yesterday revealed that the targeted $300million Eurobond attracted an order book of $520 million, representing 1.7 times oversubscription. This Day
ECONOMY
Libya overtakes Nigeria as Africa’s biggest oil producer
Nigeria has lost its Africa’s top oil producer status to Libya as its crude oil production fell further last month amid lingering supply disruptions, according to a new report by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. Nigeria told OPEC that its oil output fell to about 1.23 million barrels per day in October from about 1.25 million bpd in the previous month, the cartel’s latest report released on Wednesday revealed. Libya, which overtook Angola as the second-biggest producer on the continent in December last year, saw its oil production rise to 1.24 million bpd in October from 1.16 million bpd in September, based on direct communication, according to OPEC. Punch
Naira Sustains Gains on Parallel Market, Now N535/$
Following improved dollar supply by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for legitimate transactions, the naira has appreciated to N535 to a dollar as of yesterday, stronger than the N560 to a dollar it was previously. Some parallel market forex dealers told THISDAY that in recent times they have been recording reduced demand for the greenback. Analyst predicted that the momentum would be sustained for the rest of the year and could possibly strengthen further to N520 to a dollar. This Day
FG planning to replace fuel subsidy with transport palliative – Minister
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, has described fuel subsidy as a major waste and a drain on the Nigerian economy, saying the government plans to replace it with transport subsidy to assuage the effect of its removal on the masses for a short period. Ahmed said this on Thursday while speaking on the Channels Television’s Politics Today show. She said, “The Petroleum Industry Act that has been passed has a provision that says petroleum products should be deregulated, which means there should be no subsidy of any petroleum product. In making our plans, we assume that this deregulation would take effect from July 2022. Punch
