The Nation Newspaper

Category: Equities

  • Forte Oil suspends N20b offer

    Forte Oil suspends N20b offer

    The board of directors of Forte Oil Plc has decided to suspend the energy group’s bid to raise new equity funds. Forte Oil had earlier secured regulatory approval to float a supplementary capital raising through a book building.

    Company Secretary, Forte Oil, Akin Olagbende, in a statement released at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), stated that the board had taken a strategic decision to put the offering on hold pending the conclusion of an ongoing corporate restructuring.

    According to him, the company is currently exploring opportunities to maximize emerging opportunities in the Nigerian energy sector, which will be to the ultimate benefit of all stakeholders.

    Forte Oil had started the book building for its N20 billion offer for subscription with main consideration for qualified institutional investors and high net worth individual investors.

    Forte Oil had planned to raise N20 billion in new equity funds under its new capital raising, after it successfully raised N9 billion in debt issue. The indigenous energy company has approval to raise up to N71 billion under a N100 billion capital raising programme approved by the shareholders of the company.

     

  • Equities lose N46b as investors await CBN’s decisions

    Nigerian equities started this week on a downtrend as investors await the decisions of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which is scheduled to meet next week. Most price changes ended on the negative while volume of activities hovered around average at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

    Benchmark indices for the equities market ended the five-hour trading session with average day-on-day decline of 0.38 per cent, equivalent to net capital depreciation of N46 billion. The decline further moderated the average year-to-date return to 29.76 per cent.

    Aggregate market value of all quoted equities at the NSE dropped from its opening value of N12.068 trillion to close at N12.022 trillion. The All Share Index (ASI)-the main price index for the equities market, declined from its index-on-board of 35,005.57 points to close at 34,873.07 points.

    The decline was driven by profit-taking transactions and portfolio readjustments, especially within the oil and gas and consumer goods sectors. The NSE Oil & Gas Index declined by 3.0 per cent. The NSE Consumer Goods Index dropped by 1.2 per cent while the NSE Industrial Goods Index dipped by 0.8 per cent. However, the NSE Banking Index rose by 0.9 per cent while the NSE Insurance Index inched up by 0.2 per cent.

    There were 18 losers against 14 gainers yesterday. Seplat Petroleum Development Company led the losers with a drop of N24.03 to close at N456.76. Nigerian Breweries followed with a loss of N5 to close at N170. Presco lost N2.49 to close at N58. Lafarge Africa dropped by 97 kobo to close at N49. Oando slipped by 30 kobo to close at N5.75. FBN Holdings dropped by 19 kobo to close at N5.41 while Access Bank lost 17 kobo to close at N9.73 per share.

    On the upside, Guaranty Trust Bank led the gainers with a gain of N1 to close at N38. Cadbury Nigeria rose by 49 kobo to close at N11. Newrest ASL appreciated by 32 kobo to close at N6.82. Stanbic IBTC Holdings rose by 30 kobo to close at N39.50. Ecobank Transnational Incorporated added 20 kobo to close at N18 while Dangote Sugar Refinery chalked up 7.0 kobo to close at N13.72 per share.

    Total turnover stood at 162.7 million shares valued at N1.5 billion. Access Bank was the most active stock with a turnover of 35.39 million shares valued at N354.24 million. Meyer Paints followed with 18.9 million shares worth N13.24 million while Fidelity Bank ranked third with 18.61 million shares worth N23.99 million.

    Most analysts expected the apex bank, which will meet between Monday September 25 and Tuesday September 26, 2017, to retain its key rates. The apex bank is expected to retain the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) at 14.0 per cent, the Cash Reserve Ratio at 22.5 per cent, Liquidity Ratio at 30.0 per cent and the asymmetric corridor around MPR at +200 and -500 basis points.

    “Given our medium-term positive outlook on the equities market, the continuous downtrend in performance presents opportunities for investors who were unable to partake in the April-led rally; hence we expect to see an uptrend in market performance as investors source for bargains,” Afrinvest Securities stated in post-trading review.

     

  • Fidelity Bank’s Get Alert in Millions Savings Promo returns

    Fidelity Bank Plc has re-launched its “Get Alert in Millions Savings Promo” meant to reward its customers and promote financial inclusion.

    The bank unveiled its reloaded version tagged “Get Alert in Millions Savings Promo Reloaded” to boost its commitment to its customers in the face of the present economic realities.

    The promo is expected to end in March 2018 and would reward over 200 winners. The grand prize is N10 million in a pool of N110 million to be won. There will also be consolation prizes.

    The bank’s Managing Director/CEO Nnamdi Okonkwo said the promo, the seventh in the series in the last 10 years, has not only raised the customer base of the lender, but has remained a win-win situation for all lenders in the country adding that more unbanked persons will patronise the banks.

    Represented by the bank’s Executive Director, Shared Services and Products, Chijioke Ugochukwu, the bank CEO said the promo remains the biggest from the lender, insisting that many millionaires will be created.

    “This is the reloaded version, which is to say it is bigger than the first one and it is an opportunity for those who didn’t participate in the previous one to do and also get more customers to embrace the savings culture”, he said.

    He said the bank will always support its customers, adding that the first “Get Alert in Millions Savings Promo” was executed when the economy was on recession, yet the lender gave out over N100 million and other consolation prices to the winners.

    The bank’s Chief Operations Officer, Gbolahan Joshua said though people sometimes wonder if the promo is achieving anything, but they believe in it as various indices reported an upward swing in the finances of the bank.

    He said the bank has been on the path of profitability over the past four years as they are “pleased with the strategy, seeing the results and encouraged to do more as we did promo in recession and also doing another after recession”.

    The Divisional Head, Retail Banking, Richard Madiebo, who doubles as the promo head, said the bank is setting the pace in promos and want all Nigerians at home and in the diaspora to key into the reward scheme.

  • ISAN chief: Protesters at Oando AGM were not shareholders  

    Contrary to some media reports, the protest that occurred outside the venue of Oando’s Annual General Meeting held in Ibom Hall, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, on Monday,  was carried out by non-shareholders.

    National Coordinator of the Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), Sir Sunday Nwosu, who attended the AGM alongside other members of ISAN, and stakeholders in the capital market including representatives of the Securities and Exchange Commission, stated that no genuine shareholder of Oando Plc was among the protesters.

    Nwosu noted that the protesters, who chanted outside Ibom Hall for about 15 minutes, dispersed after he engaged them and advised that they write officially to Oando’s Company Secretary if they had genuine complaints.

    Nwosu said: “The AGM was very successful, nothing more. We discussed all the issues that needed to be discussed and we voted to keep the management and the Board. The protest that happened outside the venue was carried out by non-shareholders who did not have any business being there in the first place. I went out and spoke with the protesters and it turned out that there was no shareholder amongst them and therefore they could not gain access into the meeting. I told them that if they were shareholders, they would have known that the right way to raise their concerns about Oando is to officially write to the company secretary. The protest did not disrupt the meeting in anyway.”

    There is some speculation that these protesters may have been paid to disrupt Oando’s AGM, as their protest was short-lived and achieved nothing. A representative of Oando mentioned that these protesters were invited into the AGM to raise their concerns directly to management and the Board, but were unable to show the relevant shareholder accreditation that would give them access to the venue.

    This paid protesters stunt is in line with recent activities that seem determined to damage the Oando brand, evict Wale Tinubu and destroy the Company merely for the personal reasons of one shareholder.

    Meanwhile, a new video has appeared online showing shareholders of the company queueing to enter the venue, while the protesters stood outside highlighting that there was no disruption inside the venue.

    Despite the short-lived protest, the protesters failed in their attempt to disrupt Oando’s AGM; it was concluded successfully with all resolutions unanimously passed. The shareholders voted to retain Wale Tinubu, the Oando management team and the board or directors.

  • Shareholders call for truce as Oando holds AGM

    shareholders of Oando Plc have called on aggrieved stakeholders and other dissenting voices to avoid undue sensation and media trial and channel their complaints through the appropriate dispute-resolution mechanisms to avoid unintended damage to the indigenous group’s corporate brand and shareholders’ investments.

    At the 40th annual general meeting yesterday in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, shareholders of Oando voted in favour of all resolutions while expressing their confidence in the management team, led by the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Wale Tinubu. The meeting also retained the company’s board of directors.

    Shareholders called for a quick resolution of the issues raised in two petitions against the management of the company in order to enable Oando’ management focuses on building the brand.

    Two petitioners-Alhaji Dahiru Mangal and Ansbury Inc, had petitioned Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), alleging gross abuse of corporate governance and financial mismanagement. They subsequently requested for a postponement of the company’s 40th annual general meeting pending the close of full investigation by SEC. However on conclusion of its initial finding, SEC stated that it saw no material evidence that would warrant a postponement of the meeting, a position that aligned with the company’s position that the petitions lacked merit.

    Speaking at the meeting, a shareholder, Mrs. Bisi Bakare, called on shareholders to resolve their disputes with the company in private to avoid unnecessary sensationalism which would in turn result in loss of money for the company and shareholders.

    Another shareholder, Mr Adeleke Oladimeji, noted that undue negative publicity which has greeted the petitions was subconsciously doing more damage than good to the investment of many Nigerians.

    Other shareholders called on the management of the company to reconcile with the aggrieved stakeholders so as not to jeopardize the future of the company.

    National Coordinator, Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria (PSAN), Mr Boniface Okezie, said the directors of the company should open up discussions with the petitioners.

    “We demand that the management reconcile with them and give them the three vacant positions on the board. This will save this company from collapse,” Okezie said, referring to the two petitioners who had laid claims to majority shareholdings in the company.

    A group under the aegis of “Oando Shareholders Solidarity Group” meanwhile staged a protest outside the venue of the meeting, with various placards calling on Tinubu to resign. Oando stated that those outside were not shareholders as all shareholders were allowed into the venue of the meeting as verified by the registrars and regulatory agencies at the meeting.

    The protesters whose aim was to stop the meeting from holding accused the company’s management of mismanagement and lack of full disclosure.

    According to the leader of the group, Mr. Francis Michael, the group was protesting in order to change the management of the company over what they described as gross mismanagement and abuse of   corporate governance.

    He said they have read several reports on the gross mismanagement of Oando by the present management of the company.

    “We are also calling on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to commence immediate investigation of the company to determine the true state of the financial position and corporate practice. We also demand the rejection of proposal concerning the remuneration of the CEO and directors of Oando Plc and rejection of 2016 annual report and accounts and the need to convene an Extra-ordinary General Meeting within the shortest possible time to address the issue of current mismanagement and abuse of corporate governance of the company,” Michael said.

    Tinubu however said that the protests were uncalled for as SEC had approved that the AGM should go ahead after examining the petition.

    He called on shareholder to have faith in the company as management is doing what it can to turn the company around.

    Key representatives of shareholders’ associations who also addressed the protesters urged them to raise their concerns through legitimate way by either writing to the company or by attending the AGM.

    “As a reputable company, our approach is not to respond to every allegation in the media; allegations need to be delivered to the company in a particular format before we can respond. The petitioners requested a postponement of our AGM, but we provided the SEC with all the information required and we were cleared to hold the AGM,’’ Tinubu noted.

    He outlined that the company had reacted to the 2014 fall in oil price by providing a detailed restructuring plan which saw it reducing its overall debt by over 40 per cent.

    “Following the completion of our strategic deleveraging initiatives, we have evolved into a leaner but more focused organization with two core dollar earning entities,” Tinubu said, assuring shareholders of returns in the near future.

    He expressed appreciation to the shareholders for their continued support for the company in the challenging times.

    He assured shareholders that Oando management team will focus on sustaining the company’s profitability and ensuring returns to shareholders.

    “As your management team, we assure you that our main focus will continue to be geared towards sustaining your company’s profitability and ensuring adequate return for you our esteemed shareholders. Our story has always been one of resilience, innovation and growth, and I assure you that we are fully committed towards positioning your company towards sustained growth moving forward,” Tinubu said.

  • Ecobank gets $250m credit line

    Ecobank gets $250m credit line

    Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) Plc-the pan-African parent company of Ecobank Group, has signed a five-year $250 million senior unsecured loan facility from Deutsche Bank AG.

    The Public Investment Company (PIC) of South Africa, one of the major institutional shareholders of ETI, is providing full credit support to Deutsche Bank on the transaction through a sub–participation of risk.

    In a statement yesterday, ETI stated that the new facility of $250 million, equivalent to N76.5 billion, will be used primarily to refinance maturing facilities.

    Shareholders of ETI had recently authorised the board of the financial services group to raise up to $400 million through a convertible bond issue. At the annual general meeting and extraordinary general meeting held in Lomé, Togo, shareholders voted in support of the convertible bond issue, which will be undertaken by way of rights issue. As a rights issue, the units will be pre-allotted to shareholders on the basis of their existing shareholdings. As a convertible bond, it means shareholders can exchange the bond unit for other instrument or cash.

    Ecobank had confirmed to The Nation that the convertible bond issue will include equities option that allows unit holders to convert their bonds to equities in a middle-of-the-road debt-to-equity financial structure that has become a regular feature of the pan-African group.

    ETI, which is also listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange in Accra and the West Africa Stock Exchange (BRVM) in Abidjan, will use the net proceeds of the $400 million bond issue to repay the bridging finance required to create a resolution vehicle to manage Ecobank’s legacy loan portfolio and to optimise the maturities of the group’s debt portfolio.

  • SEC clears Oando, AGM holds as scheduled

    SEC clears Oando, AGM holds as scheduled

    Nigeria’s apex capital market regulator, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has given Oando Plc the green light to conduct its annual general meeting (AGM) as scheduled after interim report by the special task team of the Commission found no substantial evidence in allegations filed against the oil and gas group.

    Oando plans to hold its annual general meeting on Monday September 11, 2017 in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

    SEC had constituted a special task team to review petitions filed against Oando by Alhaji Dahiru Bara’u Mangal and Ansbury Inc, alleging gross abuse of corporate governance and financial mismanagement. In its interim report, the special task team stated that it has found no material evidence indicting the company of such allegations.

    On the basis of the interim report, SEC, in a letter to the Group Chief Executive of Oando, dated August 31, 2017, gave Oando the nod to hold its AGM as scheduled. SEC in its report noted that it was unable to identify any material findings that would warrant the postponement of the company’s 40th AGM.

    The interim report and the confirmation of the company’s AGM came amidst reports that Ansbury and Mangal, who had claimed substantial shareholdings in Oando, had pressed their cases and were pushing for the resignation of the group chief executive of Oando, Mr. Wale Tinubu.

    The SEC’s preliminary report appeared to align with the position of Oando, which has consistently affirmed that the allegations lack merit.

    Oando had insisted that the petitions have no merit as the issues raised have received board, shareholder and where required SEC approval.

    The company had specifically noted that Ansbury Inc, a petitioner, is not a shareholder of Oando but a shareholder in a company domiciled in a jurisdiction outside Nigeria which in turn holds shares in a Nigerian investment company that is a shareholder in Oando.

    Oando also noted that Mangal, an individual shareholder, placed the cart before the horse by requesting for clarification from the SEC on issues which he could easily have obtained from the company. This is against the SEC’s complaint resolution framework for the capital market, which requires complainants to raise complaints and seek for clarifications, in the first instance, with the issuer or operator.

    Mangal had indicated in his petition that he holds a 17.9 per cent equity stake in Oando. However, based on the company’s register of members maintained by First Registrars & Investor Services Limited, Mangal owns approximately four per cent of Oando’s shares in his personal capacity. Oando pointed out that Maangal has not disclosed any beneficial ownership of 13.9 per cent in accordance with Section 95 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA). Failure to declare substantial beneficial ownership is a violation of CAMA, as pointed out by Oando in writing to Mangal and SEC since Wednesday, May 24, 2017.

    “From the SEC’s initial correspondence to the company to date, we have availed them with all documents requested, provided clarification on, and rebuttals to, the issues raised and await a speedy conclusion to the enquiry. The company will continue to fully co-operate with the SEC in the discharge of its duties as the capital markets regulator. As a public company listed on both the Nigerian and Johannesburg Stock Exchanges we will provide full disclosure of the outcome as soon as the SEC enquiry is completed,” Oando had stated in earlier rebuttal.

  • Fed Govt seeks capital market support for tech firms

    The Federal Government has called for a more concerted effort to use the capital market as a growth platform for technological companies and start-ups.

    Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, said the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) should consider ways to encourage listing of more technological firms in order to help in the development of the Nigerian technological know-hows.

    Onu, who spoke at the commissioning of a N500 million data centre at the NSE yesterday in Lagos, said the government is working to redirect Nigerian economy from dependence on oil to a more diversified economy driven by innovations.

    He said the government has already launched many initiatives to position science and technology as the fulcrum of the national economic development including the development and use of domestic research to meet the emerging needs of Nigerian private and public sectors.

    He said the ongoing efforts to ensure utilization of local raw materials for manufacturing will save Nigeria about N3 trillion by 2021.

    He commended the NSE for its contributions to the development of the Nigerian economy noting that the Exchange has all it takes to compete with other global stock exchanges.

    Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Oscar Onyema, said the N500 million data centre was designed to tier 111 standards, within the highest global standards adding that this has further enhanced NSE’s leading advantage over other African stock exchanges.

    According to him, the data centre was designed not only to support the activities of the NSE but also other firms that may want to host their data services at the Exchange.

    “We are very happy with the quality of the data centre,” Onyema said.

    He pointed out that the Exchange will primarily devote the data centre to the services of its broker-dealer community and then, it may extend the services to quoted companies and other stakeholders.

  • UK’s Prudential becomes majority investor in Zenith Life Assurance

    Prudential Plc, one of the world oldest and largest insurers, has acquired majority equity stake in Zenith Life Assurance Limited as the United Kingdom’s multi-national seeks to deepen its African businesses.

    Prudential acquired the majority stake in Zenith Life in July 2017. Prudential’s entry into Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, with a population of over 180 million, demonstrates its commitment to Africa following the launch of businesses in Ghana and Kenya in 2014, in Uganda in 2015 and Zambia in 2016.

    Zenith Life, incorporated in Nigeria in 2001, has grown its gross written premium at a compound annual growth rate of 22 per cent over the last five years, making it one of the fastest-growing Life insurance companies in Nigeria.

    Prudential was founded in London in 1848 and enables families to protect themselves against life’s misfortunes and save for aspirations such as paying for school or university fees. The company has £599 billion of assets under management, 24 million insurance customers and has operations in the UK, the US, Africa and 14 markets in Asia.

    Managing Director, Zenith Life Assurance Limited, Chuks Igumbor, who confirmed the acquisition of the majority equity stake while hosting the August edition of the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB) Member’s evening, said the business combination will lead to improvements in the perform-ance of Zenith Life.

    “Zenith Life is proud to be part of an international brand and is looking to deepen insurance penetration in Nigeria by continuing its existing relationship with the broker community whilst also launching its retail proposition,” Igumbor said.

    President, Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB), Mr Okunoren, praised Zenith Life for the level of service that it has displayed in its dealings with brokers to date and looked forward to working with the stronger entity.

    Prudential Plc is incorporated in England and Wales and is listed on the stock exchanges inLondon, Hong Kong, Singapore and New York. Prudential Plc is not affiliated in any manner with Prudential Financial, Inc, a company whose principal place of business is in the United States of America.

    Zenith Life was incorporated in 2001. At the end of 2016, it had N6.6 billion of assets under management and gross written premium of N3.3 billion.

  • Stock Exchange locks up N807m as Avon Crowncaps prepares for delisting

    The suspension of trading on the shares of Avon Crowncaps & Containers (Nigeria) Plc has locked in more than N807 million in market valuation of shareholders’ holdings. The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) had on August 31, 2017 suspended trading on the shares of Avon Crowncaps.

    The full suspension implies that there will be no trading and price change on the shares of the packaging company, locking up the N807.09 million market value of Avon Crowncaps. Avon Crowncaps has total issued and outstanding shares of 683.97 million listed on the main board of the NSE. The closing price for the company was N1.18 per share.

    The NSE stated that the suspension was “in compliance with the approved scheme of arrangement between the company and holders of its fully paid ordinary shares which will lead to the voluntary delisting of the company from the official list of the Exchange”.

    More than 80 per cent of Avon Crowncap’s equities are held by foreign core investors. Avon Crowncaps manufactures and sells drums, crowncaps, pilfer-proof caps, containers, metal printing, inks, colourants and pigment pastes amongst others.

    The decision to delist capped a long period of poor performance by the Avon Crowncaps, which had blamed inclement macroeconomic condition and cheap imports from Asia and Europe for its declining performance.

    The company had rued extremely difficult situation that was orchestrated by competitive threat to the company’s products from cheaper substitutes in the form of rigid as well as flexible plastic packaging.

    The company also blamed cheap imported products from Asia and Europe for the downtrend in the Nigerian market, adding that the operating environment was worsened by sluggishness in the economy on account of tight liquidity and high interest rates.

    Avon outlined that structural problems afflicting the macro economy and security situation prevailing in certain parts of the country as well as delays in receiving payments from customers compounded its poor performance during the period.