capital market

FG commits to growing commodities trading ecosystem

Published

1 year ago

February 7, 2023

NewsDirect

By Philemon Adedeji

The Federal Government has expressed its commitment to continue to improve the diversification of the economy by steadily growing other sectors particularly the commodities trading ecosystem.

The assurance was given by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed during the presentation of Gold coin to her by the Lagos Futures and Commodities Exchange in Abuja, weekend.

Ahmed expressed her pleasure at the presentation as she stated that it is one of the results of the Federal Government’s commitment in continuing to improve efforts at diversifying the economy.

She said, “This is really very pleasing for me because we have been trying to improve the diversification of the Nigerian economy. People say we need to diversify the economy, but the Nigerian economy is truly diversified. Our GDP today has 6.4 per cent contribution from the oil and gas sector, so 94.6 per cent of the Nigerian economy is from other sectors. One of the sectors that we have been trying to activate the full potentials is the mining sector.

“The mining sector today is still very small, but that is on the side of government. But in the private sector and now I am glad in the states, there are very active mining activities taking place. Unfortunately, until now, we have not been getting the full value of the mining activities. Mining activities have been largely artisanal, there are a lot of participants that take out our minerals without reporting it, without government or even the miners getting full value for it.”

The Minister stated that in a bid to get the full value of mining activities in the country, the President approved and set up the Presidential Gold Mining Scheme with the Solid Minerals Development Agency leading.

“They had set up a pilot that started from Kebbi State where they supported the artisanal miners to be able to practise better mining practices and also to off take the minerals that they mine, and do some first level refining. Then the Central Bank offtakes this and sends it out of the country for proper mining.

“The essence for us is to begin to hold our reserves in minerals like gold so that our reserves are not all in US dollars. We know what happens to US dollars and what can happen to it. We are beginning to have our reserves in gold.”

She disclosed that the scheme, even though it was started by the Federal Government has seen refineries beginning to actually work in Nigeria adding that there is one in Ilesha, Segilola which was the first refinery that was licensed in Nigeria.

According to Ahmed, “This gold is now being mined in Nigeria, refined in Nigeria up to the point of producing bullions and then off taken by the CBN and other organisations like the LCFE. They are also coming forward to facilitate the trading of gold in the commodities exchange in Nigeria. That’s what we want, we wanted to be able to activate the full circle. What was missing was the off taking, now the off take is being addressed and this will help to drive demand.

“Once there is demand in the market end, the producers will be encouraged to produce more, there will be more employment, we will begin to see more banks supporting this mining sector. Before now the banks were not too interested in supporting the mining sector because of the long gestation period. The investment is actually worthwhile and we will encourage these businesses to grow and produce more. I want to congratulate the LFCE for being the first of its kind in Nigeria to achieve this.”

Ahmed congratulated the SEC for pushing the milestone, and expressed the hope that more commodities exchanges will come up as a result. She therefore charged the SEC to enable these companies to be able to operate because it is needed in the market to drive the kind of volumes that Nigeria hopes to get.

In his remarks, Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr. Lamido Yuguda commended the Minister and the Federal Government on their determination to bequeath a vibrant commodities sector.

He stated that “LCFE is into a number of commodities and gold is just one of them. They have worked hard in this gold sector. This gold is 100 per cent Nigerian gold, mined and refined in Nigeria and I am happy that we have your support in this. Thank you very much for making this possible, we appreciate all the guidance and support you have provided so far.”

Also speaking, Managing Director of LCFE, Mr. Akin Akeredolu-Ale expressed appreciation to the SEC for all the regulatory support the Commission has provided in recent times.

Akeredolu-Ale stated that Nigeria is a commodities country, but has a large potential that is untapped so far and solicited the support of the National Assembly in passing the Investments and Securities Bill which he said will bring about massive development in the sector.

“I thank the SEC for pushing the Investments and Securities Bill because that is the legal and regulatory framework that is supposed to support the capital market and by default the commodities trading ecosystem.

“We are hoping that the bill is approved so that we are able to have a hold on the commodities space and the revenues that are slipping out of Nigeria. We need that bill passed to be able to function more effectively,” he added.

capital market

Stock market weekly review: FBN Holdings leads 41 others, as investors gain N811bn

Published

14 hours ago

May 6, 2024

NewsDirect

FBN Holdings Plc has topped 41 other advanced equities to pull the Nigerian Exchange Ltd.(NGX) market indices up by 1.46 percent, week-on-week, making investors gain N811 billion.

The market, having opened for four days in the week, following the May Day holiday, had FBN Holdings leading the gainers’ table by 32.68 percent to close at N27 per share.

Sterling Financial Holdings followed by 27.75 percent to close at N4.88, while UACN gained 24.60 percent to close at N15.45 per share.

Julius Berger added 23.76 to close at N72.40, while Flour Mills rose by 20.66 percent to close at N36.80 per share.

Conversely, Nascon Allied Industries Plc led the losers’ table by 17.03 percent to close at N43.60, University Press trailed by 16.67 percent to close N2.05 per share.

Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals shed 14.14 percent to close at N1.70, Berger Paints Plc declined by 9.87 percent to close at N13.70 and Vitafoam Nigeria lost 9.81 percent to close at N17 per share.

Meanwhile, 42 equities appreciated in price during the week, higher than 27 equities in the previous week.

Thirty-six equities depreciated in price, lower than 43 in the previous week, while 76 equities remained unchanged, lower than 84 recorded in the previous week.

Consequently, the All-Share Index and Market Capitalisation appreciated by 1.46 percent to close the week at 99,587.25 and N56.323 trillion, respectively, in contrast to 98,152.91 and N55.512 trillion posted last week.

Similarly, all other indices finished higher with the exception of NGX Consumer Goods, NGX Oil and Gas and NGX Industrial Goods which depreciated by 0.26, 0.68 and 0.36 percent, respectively, while NGX ASeM and NGX Sovereign Bond indices closed flat.

Meanwhile, a total turnover of 1.941 billion shares worth N32.644 billion in 35,807 deals was traded this week by investors on the floor of the Exchange, in contrast to a total of 1.839 billion shares, valued at N34.258 billion, that exchanged hands last week in 37,528 deals.

The financial services industry measured by volume led the activity chart with 1.496 billion shares valued at N22.453 billion traded in 19,225 deals, thus contributing 77.08 and 68.78 percent to the total equity turnover volume and value, respectively.

The consumer goods industry followed with 144.722 million shares worth N5.063 billion in 4,966 deals.

In third place was the conglomerates industry, with a turnover of 109.978 million shares worth N1.539 billion in 2,064 deals.

Trading in the top three equities, namely Abbey Mortgage Bank Plc, Guaranty Trust Holdings Company Plc and Access Holdings Plc, measured by volume, accounted for 898.940 million shares worth N14.314 billion in 5,518 deals.

These contributed 46.31 and 43.85 percent to the total equity turnover volume and value, respectively.

capital market

Trading on NGX increases by 28%, investors gain N467bn

Published

15 hours ago

May 6, 2024

NewsDirect

The Nigerian Exchange Ltd. (NGX) on Friday recorded 28.14 percent increase in the value of equity transactions, resulting in investors gaining N467 billion.

Specifically, 446.57 million shares valued at N7.10 billion were exchanged in 9,297 deals, in contrast to 665.20 million shares valued at N5.54 billion in 8,446 deals on Thursday.

Consequently, the market capitalisation which opened at N55.856 trillion, gained 0.83 percent or N467 billion to close at N56.323 trillion.

The All-Share Index also added 0.83 percent or 825 points to close at 99,587.25, as against 98,762.78 recorded in the previous session.

As a result, the Year-To-Date (YTD) return rose to 33.18 percent.

Renewed interest in MTN Nigeria, alongside Tier-one banks, Presco Plc, UACN, United Capital, among other leading stocks, sustained the market’s positive trend.

Also, market breadth closed positive with 27 advanced equities outnumbering 20 declined ones.

On the gainers’ chart, Presco led by N22.90 to close at N252.80, Dangote Sugar followed closely by N4.25 to close at N47, while Ellah Lakes Plc gained 30k to close at N3.32 per share.

Jaiz Bank also advanced by 21k to close at N2.35 and Flour Mill rose by N3.25 to close at N36.80 per share.

Conversely, Conoil and Tantalizers led the losers chart by N10.80 and 4k each to close at N97.20 and 36k per share, respectively.

McNichols Plc lost 12k to close at N1.14, Linkage Assurance trailed by 9k to close at 86k and Guinea Insurance shed 3k to close at 30k per share.

Meanwhile, Access Corporation led the activity chart in volume and value with 151.80 million shares worth N2.68 billion, followed by Veritas Kapital with 49.88 million valued at N30.91 million.

United Bank of Africa (UBA) traded 32.89 million worth N845.74 million, Universal Insurance sold 27.14 million shares valued at N9.76 million and Transnational Corporation transacted 21.82 million shares worth N310.32 million.

capital market

NGX-ASI grows by 0 35%, as GTCO stocks trade high

Published

6 days ago

May 1, 2024

NewsDirect

The NGX All-Share Index (ASI) advanced by 0.35% on Tuesday to close at 98,225.63 basis points.

This is compared to the previous day’s loss of 0.28% to close at 97,879.94 basis points.

Generally, the Nigerian stock market closed positively, gaining 345.69 basis points, reflecting a positive market breadth.

The total volume traded advanced by 99.18% to close at N552.21m, valued at N14.92bn and traded in 9,350 deals. GTCO was the most traded stock by volume and value, with N245.46m and N7.95bn units traded, respectively.

At the close of trading, the market recorded 28 gainers, 18 losers, and 81 unchanged. CAP topped the gainers’ list, while DANGSUGAR topped the losers’ list.

Meanwhile, GTCO had the highest volume, contributing 44.45%, while FBNH and ACCESSCORP followed closely.

The value chart also revealed that GTCO contributed the most, with a 53.26% share.