CAPITAL MARKET
Stock Market Appreciates by N100bn to Sustain Positive Momentum
The stock market segment of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) yesterday sustained the bullish momentum with N100 billion gain, following bargain hunting in MTN Nigeria Communications (MTNN) and 14 others. The overall market capitalisation value gained N100 billion to close at N28.719 trillion, while the NGX All-Share Index (ASI) grew by 184.42 basis points or 0.35 per cent to close at 53,270.88 basis points.The market upturn was driven by price appreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks amongst which are; MTNN, UAC of Nigeria (UACN), GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria (Glaxosmith), Global Spectrum Energy Services and Nigerian Exchange Group (NGXGroup). This Day
Investors Shun 38% Listed Companies as Prices Traded Flat
As the stock market added 6.23 per cent in All-Share Index in May 2022, investors dumped 38 per cent or 53 out of 152 listed stocks on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) as they do not provide much opportunity for price appreciation and dividend payout. The market indicator, NGX All-Share Index hits over 15-year high in May 2022, driven by low yield in fixed income securities, impressive corporate earnings by listed companies posit-covid-19, and steady increase in global oil prices that has improved liquidity in the system. According to capital market stakeholders, these stocks in May lacked fundamentals to attract investors demand and supply, leaving their prices flat, stressing that most of them have remained unchanged over the years. This Day
BANKING
Titan Trust Bank appoints Amray as new CEO
Mudassir Amray has emerged as the new chief executive officer of Union Bank. He became the CEO after Titan Trust Bank Limited, a subsidiary of TGI Group, completed the acquisition of the majority shareholding of Union Bank. Many have lauded the brain behind Titan Trust Bank Limited, leading one of the biggest deals in the Nigerian banking industry that involved a two-year-old bank acquiring an over a century-year-old bank. The banker has experience across foreign and local banks which helped to strengthen his hold on leadership and in decision-making. He obtained his Bachelor of Commerce from National College, University of Karachi, and then went further to get an MBA from the University of Santo Tomas. Punch
UBA, Zenith Bank, GTCO Others Maintains Strong Liquidity, Capital Adequacy Ratios in 2021
On the backdrop of a sound and resilient financial system despite challenges, Zenith Bank Plc, Guaranty Trust Holding Plc (GTCO), and 10 other banks in Nigeria maintained stronger Liquidity and Capital Adequacy Ratios (CAR) in 2021. Liquidity ratio is used to measure a company’s capacity to pay off its short-term financial obligations with its current assets, while CAR is a measure of how much capital a bank has available, which is reported as a percentage of a bank’s risk-weighted credit exposures. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 2021 required all banks to maintained liquidity ratio of 30 per, while other banking groups with international authorisation and those that have been categorise as being Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs) to maintain a minimum CAR of 15 per cent, while a minimum CAR of 10 per cent will be applicable to all other banks. This Day
ECONOMY
Nigeria’s public debt climbs by N2.04tn in Q1 – DMO
The Debt Management Office said on Tuesday that Nigeria’s total public debt stock increased to N41.60tn in the first quarter of 2022 from N39.56tn as of December 2021. This shows an increase of N2.04tn within a period of three months. The public debt stock covers the total domestic and external debt of the Federal Government and state governments and the Federal Capital Territory. This was disclosed in a statement on Tuesday on the DMO’s website. It read in part, “The total public debt stock as at March 31, 2022, was N41.60tn or $100.07bn, according to the Debt Management Office. Punch
High-grade lithium discovered in Nigeria attracting investors – FG
The Director-General, Nigerian Geological Survey Agency, Dr Abdulrazaq Garba, has said that high-grade lithium discovered in Nigeria has been attracting foreign investors. He said this while briefing journalists on mineral exploration activities in Abuja. Lithium is a highly reactive metal that is used for making energy-dense rechargeable batteries for electronics, such as laptops, cell phones, electric vehicles, and grid storage. Garba said, “Nigeria lithium is hot cake now, the mineral was discovered in several parts of the country in the course of the National Integrated Mineral Exploration Project during exploration and we did investigation and came up with analysis and discovered that Nigeria lithium is of high grade. Punch
World Bank, IMF advocate freer trade as stagflation fear spreads
The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) see prospects in the removal of trade barriers and incentives for higher production as the risk of stagflation spreads across the global community. This comes as the World Bank raises Nigeria’s 2022 economic growth prospect to 3.4 per cent – 0.9 percentage points higher than 2.5 per cent contained in its January Global Economic Prospect. The growth is expected to slow down to 3.2 per cent next year through 2024, which is also higher than its earlier position by 40 basis points. Nigeria’s growth projection for the year deviates slightly from sub-Saharan Africa’s 3.7 per cent and it is also a moderate top-up of Q1’s 3.11 per cent growth rate. Guardian
FG investigates bank, BetNaija for data privacy breach
Nigeria Data Protection Bureau (NDPB) says it has commenced investigations into reports of breach of data privacy involving Wema Bank PLC and KC Gaming Networks (Bet Naija). According to the Bureau, the investigations are based on complaints received from Wema Bank’s customers alleging use of their personal data to open accounts. NDPB also said it was investigating report of breach of data privacy at KC Gaming Networks involving alleged external attack on the KC Gaming Networks. This was contained in a statement issued on Tuesday, by NDPB Head, Legal, Enforcement and Regulations Lead, Babatunde Bamigboye. The Sun