Nigeria equities market decreases further as investors’ sentiment remains low
The negative return seen this year at the Nigerian stock market increased to -2.65 percent on Wednesday September 8 as investors chose to remain on the sell side of the bourse.
The market defies expectations that half-year corporate earnings and interim dividend proposals in the Tier-1 banking space will fuel positive sentiments in the market. Rather, investors are consolidating their cautious stance in the broader market.
The market’s negative return widened amid 0.12 percent dip recorded at the close of trading session on Wednesday. Investors lost about N24billion at the close of trading.
The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All-Share Index (ASI) and Market Capitalisation decreased from preceding trading day’s highs of 39,251.29 points and N20.450trillion to 39,204.52 points and N20.426trillion.
SCOA led the laggards after its share price moved down from N1.44 to N1.30, down by 14kobo or 9.72percent, while Recency Alliance increased most, from 47kobo to 51kobo, up by 4kobo or 8.51percent.
FBN Holdings Plc, Access Bank Plc, Universal Insurance Plc, GTCo Plc and Transcorp Plc were most traded stocks Wednesday on the NGX Limited. In 4,095 deals, investors exchanged 354,061,015 units valued at
N3.202billion.
Nigerian investors account for highest equity deals in 10yrs
In the first six months of 2021, local investors accounted for the biggest share of equity transactions on the Nigerian Exchange Group since 2011, as appetite from foreigners dropped
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Nigeria’s private sector credit expansion struggles to catch up with peer South Africa
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Nigeria’s National Broadband Plan set a supposedly ambitious target for the country to attain 70 percent broadband penetration by 2025. However, African peers South Africa and Egypt currently record 113 percent and 74 percent penetration rates respectively, according to data from the International
Mobile phone subscribers expected to shrink by 3% in 2021 amid NIN complexity
The complexity of the Federal Government’s policy that affects the acquisition of new SIM cards as well as the linkage of National Identity Number (NIN) to phone numbers is expected to reduce the mobile phone subscriber base, according to Agusto & Co. 2021 Telecommunications Industry report.
Electronic transmission of Kaduna LG result shows possibilities for 2023
The Kaduna State Independent Electoral Commission (KADSIECOM) has put a lie to the insinuation that Nigeria is not ripe enough for electronic transmission of election results, contrary to the claim by the National Assembly
Why Companies Should Patronize Nigeria’s Capital Market
Investors support and show huge interest in long-term financing that is geared towards specific projects that cover areas like electricity, housing and infrastructure amongst others. The statement was made by the President of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers Mr. Olatunde Amolegbe, FCIS, in a conversation on “Assessing the FGN Partnership with Stockbrokers to Deepen the Capital Market”.
According to him Nigeria is facing a challenge of infrastructure shortage which can be best supported through long-term financing. He said in the past states and even local governments used to access the capital market to mobilize capital for critical socio-economic projects.
At the turn of the millennium there was a shift to a quicker way of raising funds through the money market, but for longer-term projects the capital market was more suitable, he noted.
Amolegbe urged the governments at different levels to give priority to financing projects through the capital, which he saw as more sustainable while citing the instance of the popular Sura market in Lagos that the Lagos Island Local Government built through capital market funding.
Considering that Nigeria has a housing deficit estimated at 17 million units, Amolegbe urged the States and Local Governments to explore the capital market to raise funds to finance housing projects. He added that the capital market offers transparency, which builds investor confidence.
Speaking on the prospects for pension fund investments, he said present guidelines were concerned with safety, according to him the market regulator was striving to find a balance between risk and returns.
The CIS President also noted that the pension funds has been tiered in a way that retirement savings account (RSA) holders, that were relatively young could explore riskier assets to improve investment returns.
Expressing his views on the way in which policies and regulations can incentivize greater market business, he cited the example of the Bank of Industry (BOI) whose Managing Director, Mr. Kayode Pitan at a recent investiture, said the BOI had approved concessional lending rates to companies listed on local equity exchanges.
Amolegbe stressed the need for growth companies in Nigeria to use the capital market for financing. He called on the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) to insert clauses for the privatization of companies, that would ensure that they list on a local exchange after a certain period.
He gave the examples of the National Aviation Holding Company (NAHCO) and the Sky Aviation Handling Company Limited (SAHCOL) as corporations that have been privatized and listed on a local stock market.
On the CIS “Honour Roll” he said it was an opportunity to appreciate all the prominent individuals, institutions and corporations that contributed to the completion of its secretariat building in Lagos.
FIRS Becomes Desperate Over a Clear Justifiable Matter, Writes NASS for Exclusive Powers
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) in an effort to retain the collection of Value Added Tax (VAT) has written to the National Assembly (NASS) seeking the inclusion of VAT collection in the exclusive legislative list.
The FIRS also sought the need to take the opportunity of the ongoing constitutional review and amendment by the NASS to recommend the establishment of a special court called Federal Revenue Court.
The revenue service agency is seeking the establishment of the special court as a superior court of records to handle all Federal tax-related matters to the exclusion of any other court and equally remove such from the exclusive jurisdiction of the Federal High Court (FHC) under Section 251 of the 1999 Constitution.
This move by the FIRS is happening following the judgement given by a Federal High Court Judge in Rivers State in the case AG. Rivers v. FIRS where the Judge declared that Rivers State Government and Not FIRS is entitled to collect VAT-related taxes in Rivers State.
Subsequent motion filed by the Federal Government on the judgement was dismissed. A Federal High Court in Port Harcourt dismissed the application for stay of execution.
