CAPITAL MARKET
Airtel Africa, 14 Other Blue Chip Stocks Contributes 88.8% to NGX Market Cap
Airtel Africa Plc and 14 others listed stocks on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) as of July 8, 2022 contributed about 88.8 per cent or N24.7 trillion out of the overall NGX N27.80 trillion market capitalisation, THISDAY findings have revealed. The 15 out of 161 listed stocks dominated the market on the backdrop of stronger fundamentals that continued to attract local and foreign investors’ surge interest. Airtel Africa, a telecommunication giant throughout first half (H1) of 2022 remained most capitalized stock on the NGX, followed closely by Dangote Cement Plc. Others most valued stocks are: MTN Nigeria Communications Plc, United Bank For Africa Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, Access Holdings Plc, Seplat Energy Plc, Lafarge Africa Plc., FBN Holdings Plc and Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc.. This Day
Amid uncertainty, investors urged to explore market opportunities
Association of Securities Dealing Houses of Nigeria (ASHON) has urged investors to take advantage of opportunities in the Nigerian financial market and expand their investment portfolio despite the lingering uncertainty in the country. Chairman of the association, Sam Onukwue, was reacting to some media reports that investors are facing bleak future in the second half of 2022, following continuous macroeconomic vagaries, supply chain disruptions arising from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, drop in production and trade growth, rising higher energy, food prices, and inflation among others. Onukwue said there would always be investment opportunities, adding that investors that take sound investment advice from stockbrokers can enjoy superior return on investment on a constant basis, regardless of the state of uncertainties in the global financial markets. Guardian
ECONOMY
Fuel price halts at N200/litre, high fares linger
Motorists and commuters in Lagos and Ogun states on Tuesday again, lamented the biting consequences of the lingering fuel scarcity as the situation remained unchanged from the trends experienced over the past two weeks. Checks by our correspondents showed that the price of Premium Motor Spirit, commonly referred to as petrol, seemed to have stalled at N200/litre, about the same price the product has been selling in Lagos, Abuja and some states over the past week. It was also observed that a number of filling stations in Lagos remained closed for business, ostensibly due to the unavailability of the product. Also, the few outlets dispensing the product in the cities had long queues as motorists jostled to buy the product. Punch
FG plans 3,863mw to boost power grid – Report
An additional capacity of 3,863 megawatts of electricity is to be made available to boost power supply to customers across the country in the next 24 months, the Federal Government has said. It also stated that it had identified solutions with the Transmission Company of Nigeria and electricity distribution companies on addressing key interface challenges confronting the different power firms. The government disclosed this through its Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission in a June 2022 document on the current state of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry obtained by our correspondent from the Federal Ministry of Power. Nigeria’s peak power generation as of Monday, July 11, 2022, was 4,022.2MW, while off-peak generation on the same day was put at 3,521.3MW. Power generation on the national grid as at 6am on Tuesday, July 12, 2022, was 3,941.1MW. Punch
Oil falls below $100, Nigeria’s production hit 1.158mb/d
Brent, the international benchmark for crude, fell below $100 per barrel on Tuesday as the latest figures released by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries showed an increase in Nigeria’s oil production from 1.024 million barrels per day to 1.158mb/d. Industry data indicated that Brent dropped in price by $7.72 or 7.21 per cent to close at $99.38 per barrel as at 7.45pm Nigerian time on Tuesday. This came as figures from the OPEC Monthly Oil Market Report for July 2022 showed that Nigeria’s oil production increased by 134 million barrels per day in June 2022, according to crude oil production data obtained by OPEC from direct communication. Punch
With 614,000bpd June Underperformance, Nigeria’s Oil Losses Exceed $2bn
Out of the 1.772 million barrels per day crude oil allocated to the country by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in June, Nigeria was only able to produce 1.158 million bpd, the latest Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) by the organisation has indicated. At a conservative average price of $110 per barrel for the month, a THISDAY analysis showed that Nigeria’s daily underperformance pegged against the OPEC quota yielded a whopping 614,000 bpd and 19.034 million barrels’ deficit for the month. A further breakdown revealed that valued against the daily oil price for the period, Nigeria may have lost as much as $2,093,740,000 due to its inability to, for months, increase the country’s production level. This Day
Report: Nigerian Businesses Turn to Solar as Diesel Costs Bite
Nigeria’s solar companies are seeing a surge in demand for mini-grids and equipment as businesses in Africa’s biggest oil producer look for alternative power sources, a Reuters report disclosed. The increased demand became even stronger after the cost of diesel soared locally due to rising global oil prices, it noted. But it added that supply constraints could hamper their ability to capitalise on the trend, with some saying they had begun to turn away customers because they had been unable to meet demand. Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy with a population of more than 200 million people, has an installed electricity capacity of 12,500 megawatts but the national grid only provides 4,000 MW at peak, leaving businesses and citizens heavily reliant on diesel-powered generators. The price of diesel,
which is not subsidised like petrol, has nearly tripled to N800 a litre ($1.93) or even higher in some areas in the country. Most of that increase came in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This Day
Experts: FG’s Appetite for Eurobond May Likely Move Nigeria to Debt Distress
A Member of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Monetary Policy Committee, Asogwa Robert has warned that the federal government appetite for debts through Eurobond is likely to steer Nigeria towards debt distress in the near future. Robert, in his personal statement in the just-released communiqué of the May 2022 meeting, stressed the worrisome state of Nigeria’s debt profile. Another MPC, Adenikinju Adeola Festus also alluded to Nigeria’s debt standing and FG’s budgetary performance also being worrisome. As of July 07, 2022, Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserve stood at $39.3 billion and as of March 31, 2022, Nigeria’s public debt stock stood at $100.07 billion dollars. Robert stated: “The escalating fiscal sector deficits with the attendant rising debt ratios are part of the weak links in the domestic economic environment. This Day