Category: Equities

Lagos Free Zone plans to access the capital market and list on the stock market as part of efforts to provide  investors with the wealth creation.

Chief Executive Officer, Lagos Free Zone, Mr. Dinesh Rathi , said his firm has assisted in creating employment for more than 7,000 people and investment has also gone up by considerably since they commenced operations.

Rathi spoke during a meeting with Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority and the Lagos Free Zone in Abuja yesterday.

Rathi expressed appreciation to the SEC management for the support and progress on the draft regulation to enable the Zone access the capital market.

“We hope the entire regulatory framework on Free Zone listing is completed by April. We solicit your support as this will pave the way for other operators who are having their own free zones to follow suit.

“Listing is not only a financial step, but will also help deepen the market and attracts more investors. Listing creates a lot of positivity. Once the Free Zone is listed, part of the port gets listed too. In future, there is a possibility of the port also coming to the market. It is very crucial in a lot of ways and the faster it is done the better for all. We want to get past the finishing line quickly,” Rathi said.

Director General, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr. Lamido Yuguda enjoined the management of the Lagos Free Zone to step up their investor enlightenment campaign as the company prepares to access the capital market.

He said there were a lot of ignorance among investors in this regard, stating that when companies are planning to access the market there is need for aggressive investor education to enable them make informed decisions.

“When you come to the market to list, you need to massively educate people. The reason why companies list is to be able to have access to a wide range of investors, from small to big. The key thing between companies is cash flow and if you have a positive cash flow over a long period of time it makes your company attractive to investors. If you add this to the fact that you are operating in NEPZA regulated Free Zone, that adds another layer.

“Investors would need to have as much information as possible about the operations of your company, especially since it operates within a free zone. They want to know how the NEPZA Act affects your cash flows, and what is available to investors. These are important so investors can see the value the companies in the free zone have over the ones that are not operating there. They also want to know what the goal of listing is as you need to erase those doubts and scepticism before listing,” Yuguda said.

He said that given the quantum of development and investment domiciled within the free zone, it holds the key to Nigeria’s future and commended the management for already contributing immensely to the economy by attracting international brands like Kellogg’s, Dano, BASF and Colgate to the Zone.

“Lagos Free Zone is enough to give domestic and international business communities the hope and courage to make valuable investments in Nigeria. You can imagine how much we spend travelling to buy goods abroad. With LFZ, I am convinced that we can transfer some of our demand to local production. I believe this is a bold step to bring back Nigeria’s industrial prowess,” Yuguda said. 

He then pledged the SEC’s backing to ensure that the free zone remains attractive to investors and all other stakeholders by providing prompt regulatory backing where necessary.

Managing Director, Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority, Prof. Adesoji Adesugba stated that the aim of the free zone scheme was to bring companies that are faraway to operate within Nigeria where they can build their factories here, employ Nigerians and also export the products using the relevant laws beneficial to them.

“To make it efficient, they are like a country within a country not subject to normal Nigerian laws. Since the SEC is efficient, we can allow you in to regulate these companies. People need to understand that investment into this enclave before now was an FDI, no tax and the investors can take away 100 per cent of their profit.

“They will be able to make reports to shareholders, the governance structure that is being utilized is as stipulated by the SEC. SEC stipulates the rules before listing is done,” Adesugba said.

He said that as a Nigerian, he prefers that Nigerians also benefit from the profits of these companies operating within the country hence his support on the listing desire of the Lagos free zone.

“I would not want people to come here, develop a port and take away profit 100 per cent without Nigerians benefiting from it. We need to design the regulations in such a way that the funds that are coming from the capital market suits our purposes. It is like a foreign country, but it is still in Nigeria and Nigerians should be able to invest and get paid the dividends of their investments. The free zone is more efficient and does not allow those things that affect commerce ordinarily affect it,”  Adesugba said.

He commended the SEC management on their efforts in ensuring the listing process is expedited. We need to finalise this work together and ensure that we meet the timelines.

The Federal Government has raised N770.56 billion from the debt market after demand nearly tripled government’s initial target.

Transactional report for the February 2023 bond auction by the Federal Government obtained yesterday indicated that the bond auction received a total bid of N992.11 billion, about 176 per cent above government’s offer size of N360 billion.

Government had offered to raise N90 billion each across four tenors of bonds but three of the four bonds were overwhelmingly oversubscribed, providing the government headroom to mop up more funds.

The bid-to-cover ratios for the 10-year FGN FEB 2028, 10-year FGN APR 2032, 20-year FGN APR 2037, and 30-year FGN APR 2049 bonds were 3.29 times, 0.87 times, 3.30 times, and 3.57 times.

The Debt Management Office (DMO), which oversees the issuance and management of Nigeria’s sovereign debts, increased allotments across the three oversubscribed bonds, while reducing allotment for the undersubscribed bond.

The government allotted N257.41 billion to investors in the 10-year FGN Feb 2028 bond as against total subscription of N296.214 billion, N51.12 billion to the undersubscribed 10-year FGN Apr 2032 bond, which recorded total subscription of N77.998 billion; N220.56 billion for the 20-year FGN Apr 2037 bond as against total subscription of N296.619 billion and N241.47 billion was allotted to the 30-year FGN Apr 2049 bond, which had the highest subscription of N321.274 billion. The marginal rates for the bonds were 13.99 per cent, 14.90 per cent, 15.90 per cent and 16.00 per cent respectively.

Analysts at Arthur Steven Asset Management noted that the total subscription of N992.11 billion in February was higher than N805.17 billion total subscription recorded in January 2023, an increase of 23.22 per cent.

Analysts attributed the increase in subscription to increase in liquidity and strategic portfolio positioning for the year.

According to analysts, the subscription for the long-tenored 2049 bond showed that more investors still prefer longer maturities despite the downgrade of the country’s credit rating.

The Federal Government had laid out a budget size of N20.51 trillion on a total revenue of N9.73 trillion in 2023, with plans to borrow N10.78 trillion in 2023.    

Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, at the public presentation of the breakdown and highlights of the 2023 budget proposal, said the overall budget deficit of N10.78 trillion for 2023 would largely be financed through domestic loans.

She outlined that the budget deficit would be financed mainly by borrowings including domestic sources, N7.04 trillion; foreign sources, N1.76 trillion; multilateral and bi-lateral loan drawdowns, N1.77 billion and expected N206.18 billion proceeds from privatization of national assets.

“There is a continuing need to exceed this threshold considering the existential security challenges facing the country,” Ahmed said.

She said Nigeria has no plan to restructure its debt as government remains committed to meeting its domestic and external debt obligations.

According to her, government will continue to utilize appropriate debt management tools to streamline the cost and risk profile in the debt portfolio, including through concessional loans, spreading out of debt maturities to avoid bunching, and re-profiling of the debt maturities by refinancing short-term debt using long-term debt instruments.

Nigeria has increasingly relied on borrowings to bridge its dwindling national revenue

Data provided by the Budget Office of the Federation showed that Nigeria has consistently over the past eight years significantly underperformed its revenue target. For instance, while the country had budgeted a revenue target of N7.2 trillion in 2018, it generated only N3.9 trillion, about 54 per cent of revenue target. In 2019, it achieved about 59 per cent with revenue budget of N7 trillion and actual of N4.12 trillion. Revenue target and actual stood at N5.4 trillion and N3.96 trillion and N6.64 trillion and N4.64 trillion in 2020 and 2021 respectively. In the current budget, while the country had set a revenue target of N5.82 billion, it only achieved 63 per cent or N3.66 trillion by July 2022.

Nigeria has been using more than three-quarters of its revenues to service debts. Debt-service to total revenue ratio stood at 61.3 per cent in 2020, rose to 90.9 per cent in 2021 and currently stands at 84.5 per cent. Debt-service-to-total revenue was about 32.7 per cent in 2015.

DMO has expressed concerns that the country now faces the risk of being unable to sustain its rising national public debts unless urgent actions are taken to curtail expenditure and increase the country’s revenues.

DMO warned that while Nigeria’s loans may still be within acceptable range of the country’s economic size, the country’s ability to sustainably meet the obligations on such loans is now under threat.

Director General, Debt Management Office, Ms Patience Oniha, said beyond keeping within debt-to-GDP ratio, it is important that the public debt is sustainable and government is able to service its debt without the risk of distress.

Reviewing revenue budgets and actuals against actual debt service over the past eight years, Oniha said the debt service-to-revenue ratio is “high”. 

She said dependence on borrowing and low revenue base were now threatening debt sustainability.

“Nigeria’s public debt stock has grown consistently over the past decades and even faster in recent years. Consequently, debt service has continued to grow,” Oniha said.

She pointed out that Nigeria’s low revenue base compounded by dependence on crude oil resulted in budget deficits over the past decades, putting pressure on the country’s debt sustainability.

“The outlook shows that both the local and international markets are becoming tighter and interest rates are rising, thus priority should be less on borrowing and more on revenues from oil and non-oil sources,” Oniha said.

She said while efforts at increasing non-oil revenue are yielding positive results, urgent actions are required to moderate the level of new borrowings and ensure that the public debt is sustainable.

She outlined that government should, as a matter of urgency, rationalise expenditure and accelerate the growth in revenues, including implementation of strategic actions to boost tax administration and efficiency.

She said it was unacceptable that Nigeria has the lowest revenue-to-GDP ratio among a list of country sampled by the World Bank noting that an efficient tax administration would ensure greater compliance to remittances devoid of all forms of evasions in the system.

According to her, most countries around the world have placed more emphasis on taxation as a principal source of funding for the government while reverse is the case in Nigeria.

Oniha also advised that “borrowing should be tied to projects and some of the projects should generate commensurate revenues to service loans used to finance them”.

She called for sale of government assets to unlock funding, adding that physical assets such as idle or underutilised properties could be redeveloped for commercialisation to generate revenue.

Access Bank Plc has launched a valentine season campaign to celebrate its customers and reward them for their show of love and loyalty over the years.

The Valentine season campaign, tagged “Love is More,” will run from February 1 through March 11, 2023.The bank is offering several discounts and mouth-watering freebies on its retail products and services to celebrate customers in the season of love.

Senior Retail Advisor, Retail Banking, Access Bank Plc, Robert Giles, who spoke at the campaign’s debut, said the Valentine season provides the bank with another opportunity to demonstrate its love and appreciation to customers for the years of loyalty and support for the bank.

“We are using this opportunity to thank our customers for their commitment to Access Bank. We value our customers and non-customers who rely on our services and products to conduct seamless banking activities, and we wish everyone the best of this season,” Giles said.

Group Head, Consumer Banking, Access Bank Plc, Njideka Esomeju, said the campaign was in the spirit of the season of love and the bank would be giving customers several amazing offers to appreciate them.

“Our customers who sign up for the XclusivePlus annual plan this month of February will not only receive a 10GB of data to share great moments with loved ones but will also get a 10 per cent discount off their total purchases on Konga. Small business owners (SMEs) who open a Diamond Business Advantage Account (DBA) and grow their balance to N1 million (DBA Trader Lite and DBA Basic) or N5 million (DBA Growing to Prestige) and perform at least two transactions on the AccessMore app before February 28 stand a chance to win a free business protection bundle, a gift box, or a one-month fee waiver.

 “This season, when our women use their “W” branded debit card at Beacon Health Diagnostics, they will receive a 20 per cent discount on cervical cancer screening. Ladies, you can get your “W” debit card today from any Access Bank branch close to you.

“Customers who transact five times every week this February on AccessMore or *901# will qualify to win a N500 top-up on *901# and N1,000 worth of data on AccessMore. In addition, we will provide our customers with free vehicle registration when they acquire a brand-new or pre-owned vehicle from one of our registered dealers nationwide.

 “Our salary account holders with Access Bank are not left out, as they can access a bouquet of loan offers and enjoy a 5.0 per cent interest rate reduction in the first month of the loan repayment. We are offering these and so much more to show how much we appreciate our customers’ consistent patronage.

“To join the reward train, dial *901# or download and log onto the accessmore app to open a new account. You can also visit any Access Bank branch near you to reactivate your account, and then start transacting immediately to enjoy the Valentine season campaign benefits,” Esomeju said.

Nigeria’s premier and largest non-interest bank, Jaiz Bank Plc recorded significant growths in incomes and profitability in 2022, with the bank’s pre-tax profit rising by 52.6 per cent to N6.67 billion.

Key extracts of the 12-month results for the period ended December 31, 2022 released at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) showed that gross earnings rose by 29.35 per cent from N25.84 billion in 2021 to N33.4 billion in 2022. Profit before tax grew by 52.63 per cent from N4.37 billion in 2021 to N6.67 billion in 2022. After profit, net earnings per share increased by 27.69 per cent from 13. 8 kobo in 2021 to 17. 62 kobo in 2022.

The balance sheet of the bank also expanded by more than one-third with total assets rising by 35.61 per cent to N378.69 billion in 2022 as against N279.27 billion in 2021.

Managing Director, Jaiz Bank Plc, Dr Sirajo Salisu said the 2022 result was a testimony that Islamic finance is increasingly gaining acceptance in Nigeria with Jaiz Bank leading the market with bouquet of value-adding products and services.

He noted that the bank has continued to make outstanding progress despite the headwinds, including the fluctuating currency rate and the effects of the current Russia-Ukraine war on the entire world.

According to him, the bank has consistently delivered remarkable results in the last four years, which clearly is a reaffirmation of its continuous growth trajectory, being the leader in Nigeria’s non-interest banking space.

Jaiz Bank has projected gross earnings of N9.78 billion for the first three months of 2023 as the management of the bank indicated that it would sustain impressive profit margins while driving top-line performance.

The three-month forecast for the period ending March 31, 2023 estimated that pre and post-tax profits would be N1.40 billion and N1.26 billion respectively. This implies a pre-tax profit margin of 14.3 per cent and net profit margin of 12.9 per cent, within the top-bracket of the industry margins.

Jaiz Bank has already secured shareholders’ approvals to raise not less than N150 billion in new capital through Sukuk issuance and to implement a holding company structure that will see the bank engaging in other ancillary financial services.

Jaiz Bank’s planned N150 billion Sukuk will be the largest non-interest bond issuance in the Nigerian capital market.

Shareholders have also mandated the board of directors to take all necessary steps and transactions that would enable the bank to achieve its short to long-term growth objectives as well as greater competitiveness. These steps and transactions may include acquisitions, new investments, restructuring; expansion, capital raising and other business arrangements that enhance the bank’s growth trajectory.

Nigeria’s economic outlook remains tough but there would be new opportunities to unlock growth this year.

Managing Director, Coronation Merchant Bank, Banjo Adegbohungbe, said the impact of recent global economic shocks on the Nigerian economy were prevalent in 2022 and are expected to persist in 2023.

He however noted that there would be opportunities to unlock new growth, particularly in the second half of the year.

Adegbohungbe spoke against the background of the release of Coronation Merchant Bank’s economic review and 2023 outlook report.

 He said the report was a po’tent tool for decision makers which would assist clients, investors and stakeholders to  better navigate the current economic environment and achieve their respective strategic goals.

The report focuses on trends for core macroeconomic indicators and relevant emerging policy themes that will shape 2023.

Themed ‘Baton Hand-Off: Economic Headwinds and Expected Resilience’, the report covers global economic headwinds and growth trends, inflationary pressures and expectations, dynamics in the domestic oil market, exchange-rate expectations, thoughts around monetary and fiscal policies and sectorial trends, among others.

The report also takes a deep dive into potential implications of the imminent change in administration.

Chief Economist, Coronation Merchant Bank, Chinwe Egwim explained that 2023 brought with it a mix of economic conditions.

She said they expected the current inflation trend to persist in both advanced and emerging economies.

According to her, the resultant effect of monetary policy tightening is also expected to continue but at a reduced pace given the inflation outlook across markets which points towards gradual moderation in second half 2023.

“For Nigeria, foreign exchange liquidity constraints are likely to continue in the near-term. It is an election year, there are concerns around demand-pull inflation on the back of expected spending-naira circulation, associated with electioneering. However, implementation of the recent naira redesign policy could assist with abating this inflation risk.

“There are also concerns around policy continuity post-election, as well as an expected lull in economic activity on the back of the transition phase.  Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth is expected to maintain its growth trajectory but at a relatively slower pace in 2023,” Egwim said.

Nigeria’s apex capital market regulator, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has urged investors to be wary of bogus investment schemes promising huge returns and without any official registration with the capital market regulatory authorities.

Head, Office of the Chief Economist, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Dr. Okey Umeano, said the upsurge in the activities of illegal fund managers in recent times has been a source of worry to the commission and assured investors that the SEC is working hard along with other government agencies to reduce their activities to the barest minimum.

 “This is an area that we are doing a lot and still have a lot to do. If you look at the capital market master plan, you will see that a lot of the things we want to do revolves around investor education. In investor education, what we tell investors is how to know who is genuine and it is very simple.

“Just go to the sec.gov.ng you can just on the search portal type CMO. The search portal comes out and you type the name of the firm marketing to you, if it is not there then it is not registered with SEC that means you are not protected. You are not covered by that investor protection that I am talking about. Those who are marketing financial products, investment related financial products must come to SEC and be registered,” Umeano said.

He said the commission remains committed to educating and enlightening investors in a bid to ensure they make informed investment decisions.

Umeano disclosed that in an effort to further protect investors, the commission has been carrying out enforcement exercises against these illegal fund managers and would continue to do so.

“We have been going around closing Ponzi schemes and all those illegal fund managers and you know we have been on different stations. I personally have been on several TV stations, radio, and newspaper talking about this. We are about to launch a few billboards around the country saying these same things. Nigerians must understand that the money that they are giving people it is difficult to get.

“It is difficult to raise capital and before you give it to someone, it is important to know that person is the right person. This they can easily ascertain by going on our website. That is the message,” Umeano said.

He stated that the commission has a police unit that assists in investigating these entities and carrying out enforcement actions when the need arises, while also collaborating with relevant government agencies like the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

“The problem with Ponzi schemes is they use the money from Mr. A to pay Mr. B and use Mr. B’s own to pay Mr. C and while they are paying all that, they are taking their own so by the time we close them, there’s not enough money again to return to the people whose money they took. You also know they promise outrageous returns and these returns are paid to the first people.

“We have a few now that we are trying to resolve but I must tell you that it is difficult for anyone who has put money in a Ponzi scheme to recover much. It is important that Nigerians understand it is not nice, If anyone promises you a return too good to be true, then it is probably not true,” Umeano said.

He urged Nigerians to be vigilant and carry out their due diligence by visiting the Commission’s website to ascertain registration status of the entities before investing, adding that there is also a need for them to understand the products they are investing in to obtain desired returns on their investments

Nigerian equities witnessed an upsurge in trading momentum yesterday as the release of latest earnings reports by some of the largest quoted companies drove the market to a net capital gain of N271 billion.

Benchmark indices at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) indicated average gain of 0.93 per cent, equivalent to net capital gain of N271 billion.

The All Share Index (ASI)- the value-based common index that tracks all share prices at the stock market, rose by 498.44 points or 0.93 per cent from its opening index of 53,499.68 points to close at 59,998.12 points.

Aggregate market value of all quoted companies also rose simultaneously from its opening value of N29.140 trillion to close at N29.411 trillion.

With more than two advancers for every decliner, the rally was driven by increased positive sentiments, especially within the large-cap groups. Major quoted companies like MTN Nigeria Communications and Airtel Africa Plc yesterday submitted their earnings reports, showing appreciable improvements in performances.

There were 27 gainers against 13 losers. MRS Oil Nigeria recorded the highest gain of 10 per cent to close at N17.60 per share. Northern Nigeria Flour Mills (NNFM) followed with a gain 9.88 per cent to close at N8.90. International Energy Insurance went up by 9.76 per cent to close at 90 kobo. Seplat Energy went up by 9.50 per cent to close at N1,325 while Cornerstone Insurance appreciated by 9.09 per cent to close at 60 kobo per share.

On the negative side, SUNU Assurance led the losers’ chart by 8.11 per cent to close at 34 kobo per share. Mutual Benefits Assurance followed with a decline of 7.69 per cent to close at 36 kobo. Linkage Assurance went down by 6.25 to close at 45 kobo per share. Veritas Kapital Assurance lost 4.76 per cent to close at 20 kobo while PZ Cussons Nigeria shed 4.65 per cent to close at N10.25 per share.

The momentum of activities leapt by 1,331.88 per cent to 2.869 billion shares worth N8.070 billion in 3,940 deals. Universal Insurance topped the activity chart with 2.716 billion shares valued at N543.209 million. AIICO Insurance followed with 13.996 million shares worth N9.168 million. Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) traded 13.931 million shares valued at N349.868 million. Sterling Bank traded 10.245 million shares valued at N17.024 million while Fidelity Bank transacted 9.881 million shares worth N57.489 million.

Most analysts expected the market to continue on the upswing citing the onset of the earnings season.

“We expect positive sentiment to be sustained as investors continue to pile into defensive and financial stocks,” analysts at GTI Securities stated.

•Profit rises to N7.2b

Notore Chemical Industries Plc recorded considerable improvement in operations in 2022 with turnover rising by 29 per cent to N33.2 billion.

Key extracts of the interim report for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2022 released at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) showed that Notore grew its top-line from N25.71 billion in December 2021 to N33.20 billion in December 2022. Group operating profit also rose to N7.2 billion in fourth quarter 2022 as against N6.7 billion recorded in comparable period of 2021, an increase of 7.7 per cent. 

Group Managing Director, Notore Chemical Industries Plc, Mr. Ohis Ohiwerei said the company demonstrated resilience during the year despite maintenance shutdown and gas supply limitations.

According to him, the company’s positive performance was attributable to higher revenues from increased production.

He noted that  during the fourth quarter of 2022, the plant was shut down for preventative maintenance to increase operational efficiencies for financial year 2023, as a result, there was limited production of Urea during the last quarter.

He added that with the company’s maintenance shutdown in January 2023, Notore is committed to continuous improvement and expects an upturn in production output once gas-supply limitations are resolved.

He pointed out that Notore’s market environment remains supportive, with the increase in food and plant production being a top priority in Nigeria.

According  to him, like several developing countries in Africa, Nigeria has great fertiliser market potential as it is a key input to boosting Nigeria’s agricultural productivity and food sufficiency.

“Notore intends to optimise the production of its product offerings including Notore NPK fertiliser, seeds, and rice with a focus on increasing profitability.The company completed phase three of the Notore Rice pilot programme

“With respect to the fertiliser market, the Nigerian fertiliser market will continue to grow as food security is of utmost importance to the federal government.

“A recent report from UNICEF projected nearly 25 million Nigerians are at risk of facing hunger between June and August 2023 if urgent action is not taken. The federal government continues to deepen its investments in the agricultural sector through policies and initiatives to further boost the agricultural value chain.”

“Notore intends to continue to prioritise the domestic market, improve its product offerings and leverage opportunities to meet demand both in the domestic and West African markets,” Ohiwerei added.

Nigerian equities rode on the back of intense bargain-hunting for blue chip stocks to rekindle a month-end rally that promises to leave investors with nearly four percentage returns.

Benchmark indices at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) yesterday indicated average return of 0.95 per cent, equivalent to net capital gain of N273 billion. The rally nudged the average year to date return for the month to 3.7 per cent.

Most analysts expected the bullish sentiment to continue as early results by quoted companies showed a largely resilient performance.

With nearly two advancers for every decliner, the positive overall market situation was driven by widespread demand, especially within the large-cap stocks. The NGX 30 Index, which tracks the 30 largest stocks at the market recorded average return of 0.76 per cent. The blue chip rally was led by Airtel Africa, Cadbury Nigeria and Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO).

The All Share Index (ASI)- the common value-base index that tracks all share  prices at the NGX, rose by 499.95 absolute points or 0.95 per cent to close at 53,157.83 points as against its opening  index of 52,657.88 points. Aggregate market value of all quoted equities also rose accordingly from its opening  value of N28.681 trillion to close at N28.954 trillion.

There were 28 gainers against 15 losers. In percentage terms, John Holt and Geregu Power recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent each to close at N1.21 and N176 respectively. Nigerian Aviation Handling Company followed with a gain 9.62 per cent to close at N8.55 per share.

International Energy Insurance went up by 9.52 per cent to close at 69 kobo while May & Baker Nigeria appreciated by 8.26 per cent to close at N4.85 per share.

On the downside, Coronation Insurance led the losers’ chart by 8.89 per cent to close at 41 kobo per share. Tripple Gee & Company followed with a decline of 8.57 per cent to close at 96 kobo. Royal Exchange went down by 7.14 to close at 78 kobo per share.

Honeywell Flour Mills lost 6.44 per cent to close at N2.18 while UACN Property Development Company Plc (UPDC)  dipped by 5.94 per cent to close at 95 kobo per share.

The momentum of activities also improved as total turnover increased by 17.68 per cent to 201.359 million shares worth N5.666 billion, in 4,332 deals.  Zenith Bank topped the activity chart with 36.763 million shares valued at N924.143 million. GTCO followed with 23.345 million shares worth N578.782 million. Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) traded 17.123 million shares valued at N20.553 million.

United Bank for Africa (UBA) traded 11.451 million shares valued at N93.996 million while Geregu Power transacted 11.123 million shares worth N1.792 billion.

Analysts at United Capital Plc noted that the market has so far defied expectations by maintaining strength despite signs of overstretching.

“Over the medium term, we retain our positive outlook for Nigerian equities, supported by depressed yields in the money market space. However, we express caution that in the coming days, significant profit taking activities could see the market witness a pull back,” United Capital stated.

Cadbury Nigeria Plc, a subsidiary of Mondelçz International, recorded strong growth  in sales and profitability in 2022 with net profit doubling by 110.22 per cent.

The unaudited report and accounts for the year ended December 31, 2022 showed that 

turnover stood at N55.21 billion in 2022, representing an increase of 30.3 per cent on N42.37 billion recorded in 2021. Gross profit grew from N6.48 billion in 2021 to N7.76 billion in 2022, representing an increase of 19.87 per cent. Net profit for the year rose by 110.22 per cent from N450 million to

N946 million. With these, basic earnings per share rose by 108.33 per cent from 24 kobo to 50 kobo.

Managing Director, Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Mrs. Oyeyimika Adeboye, said Cadbury Nigeria has continued to push the boundaries to sustain its growth trajectory in a tough business environment.

She said the company’s recently launched candies-Cadbury Caramel, Cadbury Coffee, and Cadbury Bournvita Biscuit, contributed to its growth profile in 2022.

“We will keep finetuning our strategies to manage these challenges, in line with our mission, which is focused on nourishing and delighting our consumers with the right snacks, while remaining committed to our stakeholders and doing what is right for our environment,” Adeboye assured.