Nigeria’s equities market furthered its movement southwards as more investors took sell positions on Tuesday.

The market decreased further by 0.24 percent or N132 billion at the close of trading on Tuesday as more investors exited long positions in some stocks. This week, the market has decreased by 0.77percent.

Stocks like PZ Cussons, Dangote Sugar, and NEM Insurance saw the highest decline on the Bourse. Gains in stocks like Tantalizer, Learn Africa and Cutix could not reverse the record negative on the Bourse.

PZ Cussons decreased most, from N25 to N22.50, losing N2.50 or 10 percent. It was followed by Dangote Sugar which dropped from N45 to N40.50, losing N4.50 or 10 percent and NEM Insurance which was also down from day-open high of N10.35 to N9.35, losing N1 or 9.66percent.

The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All Share Index (ASI) and equities market capitalisation decreased further from preceding day’s 97,708.74 points and N55.264trillion respectively 97,473.98 points and N55.132 trillion.

In 7,951 deals, investors exchanged 306,596,536 shares worth N5.813billion. Access Holdings, GTCO, Nigerian Breweries, UBA and Royal Exchange were actively traded stocks.

The market’s year-to-date (YtD) return also decreased to 30.36 percent.

Nigerian Exchange Group Plc realised N6.959 billion from transaction fees and treasury investment income in the 2023 financial year ended 31 December 2023.

This/ was contained/ in the group’s 2023 annual financial report.

The amount represents a 34.19 percent growth over N5.187 billion reported in 2022 by the group and also cumulatively accounts for 83.85 percent of the total revenue/ of/ N8.299 billion.

Further checks show that the/ key/ driver of the group’s revenue in the 2023 financial year emanated from the transaction fees, accounting for N4.818 billion as against N3.157 reported in 2022/ representing/ a growth of 52.6 percent. The segment contributed to 58 percent of the total revenue of N8.299 billion./

Also, treasury investment income includes income from Bonds, Treasury bills, and fixed/ deposits/ followed by N2.141/ billion/ an increase of 5.47 percent compared to the N2.030 billion generated the previous year, 2022. The income from the investment also contributed 25.79 percent of the total revenue achieved by the group./

Transaction fees or charges represent/ a basic/ cost of investing/ and/ they/ are typically charged anytime your bid or offer goes through. All charges are a percentage of the purchase or sales consideration. /

Treasury investment income includes income from bonds, treasury bills, and fixed deposits with banks.

The decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to increase the interest rate by 24.75 percent,/ is expected that the NGX and other investment institutions will continue to reap more income from treasury investment.

The CBN’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)/ increased the benchmark interest rate by 200 basis points from 22.75 percent to 24.75 percent.

This/ was disclosed/ by the Governor of the CBN/ who/ doubles as the Chairman of the MPC/ at/ the end of the 294th MPC meeting held in Abuja.

Furthermore, the ‘apex bank retained the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 45 percent- unchanged from its last meeting but increased the CRR of merchant banks from 10 percent to 14 percent while retaining the liquidity ratio at 30 percent.

/ The present Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) of 24.75 percent is unusually high, reflecting the bank’s strong commitment to tackling inflation and exchange rate fluctuations.

While this 200-basis points hike is steep, it still doesn’t surpass the substantial 400 basis points rise implemented by the bank in February.

According to investment experts, when the interest rate is low, speculators tend to move their funds from money market instruments to the stock market for higher yield, just as they move from stocks to other asset classes, especially money market instruments/ when/ the interest rate is high.

NGX Group Plc’s full-year 2023 financial result showed a profit after tax of N5.250 billion amidst economic headwinds./

The disclosure/ was made/ in the group’s financial report,/ which was/ officially released to the Nigerian Exchange Limited and made available to the investing public.

The group’s profit after tax experienced a substantial surge, marking an impressive 788 percent increase from N591.509 million recorded in the previous year of 2022.

Additionally, NGX reported a pre-tax profit of N5.271 billion, indicating a remarkable 636 percent/ rise./

The group’s total income rose to N11.803 billion, representing a 57.39 percent increase from the N7.499 billion posted in FY 2022.

Unilever Nigeria Plc and its shareholders have approved the dividend of 75 kobo per share, an increase from the 25 kobo declared in 2022.

A statement by Unilever said during the Company’s 99th Annual General Meeting, which was held in Lagos on Monday, it declared a dividend of N4,308,753,750 for the year ended December 2023.

The declaration follows an impressive growth in revenue of N103.9bn, representing a 51.3 per cent increase compared to N68.6b recorded in 2022. The shareholders appreciated this growth and reaffirmed their belief in the company’s leadership to grow the business in the coming year.

The financial statement of the Company said profit after tax for the year under review grew to N16.4bn from N5.4b in 2022.

Speaking at the AGM, the Acting Chairman of the Board of Directors at Unilever Nigeria Plc, Mr Michael Ikpoki, expressed appreciation to all shareholders for their support throughout the year despite the challenging environment in the last year.

He promised that the Board and Management would continue to put in their best in fostering growth and navigating the tides as the Company steers toward more success.

“Our resolve as a business is to continue to make strategic decisions that will improve our operational efficiencies to meet citizens’ needs through our brands, our people, and our operations,” he said.

On the improved performance of the business, the Managing Director of Unilever Nigeria Plc, Mr Tim Kleinebenne, said, “The achievement in the year under review is reflective of a collaborative effort from all key stakeholders and improved operational performance and greater investment in our brands, supply, and distributions, to ensure we meet the needs of consumers across channels.

“We are pleased with the results for 2023. It speaks to the impact of the strategic choices we make daily about our operations to better serve the consumers with our best locally produced brands that contribute to improving their health and hygiene.”

Kleinebenne added that Unilever had reached its 100-year milestone in Nigeria in 2023, becoming the longest-serving manufacturing company in Nigeria.

“We believe in Nigeria and reaffirm our long-term view of the opportunities that outweigh the challenges. With our resilience, agility, partnership, and commitment of the government on the ongoing reforms through strategic choices, policy formulation, and implementation, gradually a better Nigeria will emerge,” Kleinebenne said.