Category Archives: Market News

NASD Plc has secured approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to commence implementation of its Digital Securities Platform (DSP) under the Regulatory Incubation (RI) programme.

NASD Plc is an Over-the-Counter (OTC) securities exchange that facilitates trading of all securities of unquoted companies, primarily in Nigeria.

The Regulatory Incubation (RI) programme is designed by the SEC to address the needs of new business models and processes that require regulatory authorisation to continue carrying out full or ancillary technology-driven capital market activities.

NASD in a statement described the SEC approval as a positive development for the Nigerian capital market ecosystem that culminates development work spanning approximately two years between NASD and its consortium of partners – Blockstation Inc. USA; T.K. Tech Limited, Nigeria, and Sophus Consulting Limited, Nigeria.

It stated that the digital securities platform would provide an end to end solution for the issuance, trading and settlement of digital assets and also democratize access to the capital market by lowering the barrier to both issuing and investing in securities leveraging blockchain technology to increase accessibility and lower cost.

Commenting, Mr. Eguarekhide Longe, Managing Director, NASD Plc, said: “We are truly excited at NASD to be working with the right partners such as Tk Tech Africa, Blockstation Inc and Sophus Consulting to introduce to the Nigerian capital market this opportunity to adopt innovation through digital securities trading of ‘real’ assets that are securitised by tokens, presenting the capacity to deploy trading solutions to diverse asset classes, revolutionise the trade settlement process (currently T+3; potential T+1), expand trading horizons, automate the process for new issuance and present convenience of accessibility across digital devices”.

Recall that NASD ran a successful pilot of the NASD – DSP with several participating institutions which include Stanbic IBTC Custodian, Stanbic IBTC Bank and several brokers which include Afrinvest Securities Limited, Greenwich Securities Limited and Anchoria Investment & Securities Limited.

The market capitalisation of the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange returned above the N1 trillion mark on Wednesday, May 3.

This happened after the share price of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc improved by 54 Kobo to settle at N74.54 per unit compared with the previous day’s value of N74.00 per unit.
Consequently, the value of the NASD OTC market increased by N1 billion or 0.11 per cent to settle at N1.001 trillion compared with the previous day’s N999.99 billion.

Similarly, the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) also went up by 0.76 points to close at the day at 723.68 points versus the preceding session’s 722.92 points.

There was a 99.1 per cent drop in the volume of securities traded at the bourse yesterday to 109,552 units compared to the previous trading session’s N12.2 million.

However, the value of shares transacted by investors appreciated during the session by 146.3 per cent to N8.2 million from the N3.3 million recorded the preceding day.

These transactions were carried out in eight deals, 27.3 per cent lower than the 11 deals executed by market participants a day earlier.

At the close of business, Geo-Fluids Plc remained the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with a turnover of 820.8 million units valued at N1.3 billion, IGI Plc stood in second place with the sale of 627.7 units valued at N49.4 million, while UBN Property Plc was in third place with the sale of 379.8 million units valued at N321.6 million.

The most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis as of Thursday was VFD Group Plc with the sale of 10.4 million units worth N2.4 billion, followed by Geo-Fluids Plc with a turnover of 820.8 million units worth N1.3 billion, while FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc was in third place with the sale of 4.9 million units valued at N341.1 million.

The domestic stock market was down by 0.17 per cent on Wednesday after investors sold off shares in the mid and large-cap categories to book profit.

The decline in the share prices of MTN Nigeria, Nigerian Breweries, Transcorp and others weakened the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited yesterday, outweighing the gains posted by Ardova, Zenith Bank, GTCO and others.

The consumer goods sector lost 0.49 per cent during the session, eroding the growth recorded by the energy, insurance, banking and industrial goods sectors. They respectively closed higher by 0.78 per cent, 0.51 per cent, 0.17 per cent and 0.07 per cent.

When the closing gong was struck, the All-Share Index (ASI) went down by 88.71 points to 52,207.77 points from 52,296.48 points, and the market capitalisation depleted by N49 billion to N28.427 trillion from N28.476 trillion.

Transcorp topped the losers’ table in the midweek session, losing 9.49 per cent to trade at N2.29. International Energy Insurance fell by 8.87 per cent to N1.13, Union Bank lost 7.79 per cent to finish at N7.10, FCMB shed 7.28 per cent to N3.95, and Nigerian Breweries declined by 6.14 per cent to N32.85.

Leading the gainers’ table yesterday was Ardova, which rose by 9.25 per cent to N18.30, deputised by Academy Press, which appreciated by 8.90 per cent to N1.59. Cutix dropped 8.89 per cent to sell for N2.45, RT Briscoe depreciated by 8.33 per cent to 26 Kobo, and Linkage Assurance slumped by 8.16 per cent to 53 Kobo.

Transcorp was the most traded stock on Wednesday after it sold 276.5 million units valued at N631.3 million, Access Holdings exchanged 174.4 million units worth N1.8 million, Fidelity Bank transacted 31.4 million units worth N175.2 million, Chams traded 18.0 million units valued at N5.9 million, and GTCO sold 15.9 million units worth N365.2 million.

At the close of business, investors bought and sold 670.1 million shares worth N5.0 billion in 6,254 deals compared with the 550.3 million shares worth N5.2 billion traded in 6,250 deals a day earlier, indicating a decline in the trading value by 3.85 per cent, an increase in the trading volume by 21.77 per cent and a 0.06 per cent growth in the number of deals.

The Nigerian Exchange Limited on Thursday continued its upward movement with a N75bn gain for investors.

The All-Share Index moved up by 0.26 per cent or 138.26 base points to 52, 235.88. Similarly, the market capitalisation appreciated by 0.26 per cent to N28.442tn.

Buying interest in Bua Foods (+5.88 per cent), Zenith Bank (+1.11 per cent) and Stanbic (+0.54 per cent) offset losses in Nigerian Breweries (-10.00 per cent), Wapco (-0.83 per cent), and GTCO (-0.40 per cent) and drove the upturn in the market.

Market activities showed trade turnover moderated relative to the previous session, as the volume and value of transactions went down by 63.96 per cent and 9.52 per cent respectively.

A total of 2.33bn units of shares valued at N17.62bn were exchanged in 6,958 deals.

The Chairman of Transcorp Corporation Plc, Tony Elumelu, has increased his stakes in the conglomerate by 9,697,189,979 billion via HH Capital Limited, where he is a director.

In a corporate notice filed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited on Thursday, it was revealed that HH Capital bought the shares at N1.85, N2.45, N2.69 and N2.95 in transactions that took place between April 19 and 25.

This came days after the billionaire businessman, Femi Otedola, bought stakes in the conglomerate and expressed his willingness to work with the management to tap the potential of the organisation.

With this new acquisition, HH Capital Limited now holds a total of 9,991,173,177 units, representing 25.58 per cent of the group’s total shares.

The conglomerate said, “As noted in our previous communication, the company welcomes the continued expression of confidence in its leadership and management by the investing public, as we continue our unwavering commitment to superior stakeholders’ returns, anchored in our ideology of Africapitalism.

“Rest assured, we are committed to remaining resolute in executing our Group’s strategy of making strategic investments in key sectors within the Nigerian economy, transforming

Africa, and contributing positively towards building prosperity for all.”

In its 2022 financial report, Transcorp revealed that as of December 31, 2022, only UBA Nominees Limited-Trading, held five per cent or more of the issued and fully paid shares of 50 Kobo of the company.

Also, Elumelu, who is the chairman of the group directly holds 273,104,04 units of shares while 293,983,193 shares are held indirectly through HH Capital Limited and 273,545,722 shares are held indirectly through Heirs Holdings Limited.

UBA Nominees Limited has UBA Trustees Limited, Mr Emmanuel Nnorom and three others as directors and it is controlled by UBA Group, which has Elumelu as its chairman.

Meanwhile, the NGX had been notified that Otedola had bought additional 228,384,959 units of the shares of the group, bumping his percentage stake in Transcorp higher than 5.52 per cent earlier reported.

Speaking on Otedola’s investment in Transcorp in an interview on Arise TV, Elumelu said, “He’s my very good friend. In fact I only follow two people on Instagram, my wife and Femi Otedola, that shows the level of friendship we have.

“He’s a man I admire and we call ourselves brothers. I welcome Femi, I call him FO or Ote-Dollar. I welcome his investment in Transcorp. We go on international roadshows and talk to investors to invest in our companies. I am happy to see an active indigenous investors community.”