The Nation Newspaper

Tag: capital

  • Sterling Bank seeks N50b in new capital issues

    Sterling Bank seeks N50b in new capital issues

    Holds EGM tomorrow

    Sterling Bank Plc plans to raise about N50 billion in a new round of capital raising aimed at further deepening the bank’s balance sheet and increase its lending capacity.

    Sterling Bank would be raising about N20 billion through a special placement to identified strategic investors and more than N30 billion in another yet-to-be-specified instrument.

    Shareholders of the bank are expected to meet tomorrow in Lagos to approve new capital raising.

    Shareholders are expected to approve a resolution authorizing the board of directors of the bank to issue about 7.472 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at N2.65 per share to Messrs. Silverlake Investments Limited or such other identified strategic investor.

    In another resolution, the board of the bank is seeking to raise additional capital up to $200 million or its equivalent in Naira. The fund could be raised through any or a combination equity, global depository receipts, quasi equity, convertible loans, medium term notes, bonds and any other debt instrument.

    Besides, the bank plans to explore public offering, rights issue, private placement either as a standalone transaction or by way of a programme, in such tranches, series or proportions, at such coupon or interest rates, within such maturity periods, at such dates and time subject to such terms and conditions, including through a book building process or other processes as the directors may deem fit and subject to the approval of the regulatory authorities.

    The meeting is expected to empower the directors to take any action required to give effect to the resolutions on the capital raising.

    Managing director, Sterling Bank Plc, Mr. Yemi Adeola, said the bank plans to complete its new capital raising before the end of the year.

    “Following our extra-ordinary general meeting billed for November 11, we plan to conclude the ongoing private placement before the end of the year. This will put us in a strong competitive position to achieve our growth plans in coming quarters. In the meantime, we remain focused on efficiency and are optimistic that the full year returns will be in line with our earlier management guidance,” Adeola said.

    According to him, as part of the initiatives to support its retail banking proposition, the bank has re- aligned its business by market segments for a more focused market reach while it has continued to increase its transaction channels and it is on track to deliver additional 21 branches and 500 Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) by the end of the year.

    The new capital is expected to strengthen the bank’s performance, which has successively improved over the periods. Interim report and accounts of the bank for the third quarter ended September 30, 2014 showed that while gross earnings grew by 12.1 per cent, net interest income rose by 32.8 per cent. This further bloomed into 41.3 per cent and 39.2 per cent in pre and post tax profits respectively.

    Gross earnings closed September 2014 at N73.01 billion as against N65.12 billion recorded in comparable period of 2013. Net interest income rose from N24.22 billion in third quarter 2013 to N32.1 billion in third quarter 2014. Profit before tax jumped to N8.50 billion in 2014 as against N6.02 billion in 2013. After taxes, net profit rose from N5.07 billion to N7.06 billion.

    The bank’s pre-tax profit margin rose from 9.24 per cent in third quarter 2013 to 11.6 per cent in September 2014, underlying the improving profitability of the bank.

    Adeola said the performance of the bank was driven by increasing brand acceptability as shown in its growing revenues and reduction in impairment charges.

    He noted that the 41 per cent growth in profit before tax despite pressures on earnings arising from monetary policy changes was driven by improvements in revenues and a 30 per cent reduction in impairment charges.

    According to him, interest income increased by 15 per cent, while interest expense declined by three per cent resulting in a 32 per cent growth in net interest income. The bank recorded a 20 per cent growth in total assets to N847 billion and a 19 per cent growth in deposits to N679 billion with a 100 basis points reduction in cost of funds to 4.9 per cent.

     

  • EU’s finance chief to unveil capital market plan

    The EU’s new financial services chief has pledged to set out his plans for a pan-European capital market by the middle of next year, aiming to reduce companies’ reliance on banks and help revive the bloc’s fragile economy.

    Jonathan Hill, the European Commissioner for financial services, said he was seeking to create an integrated capital market over the next fives years and would develop a plan by next summer following a public consultation.

    “We still do not have a fully functioning single market for capital,” Hill told a conference of EU officials and business leaders. “I will be bringing forward proposals to deliver a capital markets union; a project for all 28 EU Member States.”

    Channeling more money into small companies is seen as crucial for Europe’s efforts to avoid economic stagnation because small and medium enterprises provide two out of every three private sector jobs in the European Union.

    Following the worst financial crisis in a generation, banks are reducing riskier lending, a problem in a continent where banks account for 80 percent of corporate loans.

    A capital markets union would mean the EU moving beyond public subsidies and loans to coordinate financing for companies and infrastructure through project bonds, public-private partnerships and infrastructure funds.

    Hill said his first steps would be to push a proposal for European long term investment funds for infrastructure and businesses, to develop a framework for securitisation and to carry out analysis of private placements – the sale of securities to a small number of chosen institutional investors.

    “I am interested in ideas for more market finance instruments – but not just in safe short-term debt, but in longer term stable debt that encourages long term investment, and in real risk capital that encourages innovation.”

    The European Central Bank is at the heart of wider efforts to create a capital markets union by trying to revive securitization, or the bundling of loans into bonds to raise cash for companies to invest.

  • Uduaghan: why I oppose capital punishment

    Uduaghan: why I oppose capital punishment

    •Okei-Odumakin honoured in Delta

    Delta State Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan has said he has refrained from signing death warrants for condemned criminals because of his belief in the sanctity of the human life.

    Uduaghan, who had opposed capital punishment, spoke at the weekend in Warri, the state capital, at a reception in honour of rights activist, Dr. Jeo Okei-Odumakin, and the inaugural lecture of LITE-Africa Leadership Institute.

    Represented by the Commissioner for Agriculture, Misan Ukubeyinje, the governor expressed confidence in the Judiciary to always deliver fair judgment.

    He extolled the virtues of Okei-Odumakin, adding that without the agitation of people like her, who stood against military dictatorship and civil rights abuses, he would not have become a governor.

    LITE Africa’s Executive Director Joel Bisina said the event marked a milestone in the organisation’s history.

    He promised to sustain the annual lecture, which attracted top personalities, including the academia, civil society groups, government functionaries, among others.

    According to him, the organisation places high values on leadership and persons who have served selflessly the needs of the society.

    He hailed Okei-Odumakin, adding that “society cannot be what it should be if the youth are not encouraged to promote social change”.

    Bisina said: “We are honoured to have her on LITE Africa’s board. Her life is what LITE Africa stands for. So, this event is our token, our own little way to appreciate somebody who has struggled for the betterment of the society.”

    The chairman of the occasion Femi Aborisade described the event as worthwhile.

  • In search of new capital market investment

    In search of new capital market investment

    The biting economic crunch has made it almost impossible for many companies listed on the Nigeria Stock Exchange to go for new initial public offerings (IPO). Bukola Afolabi in this report looks at the issues

    The flurry of activities and otherwise of any stock exchange remains one of the cardinal fundamentals for gauging investors’ confidence, market pulse, liquidity and health of the market as regards to its primary responsibility to the economy as a whole.

    However, since the Nigerian capital market witnessed a downturn in 2008, companies have not been making initial public offerings (IPOs) for a number of reasons, chief among which is the fear that such venture might fail due to low investor confidence in the market as against rights issues and bonds.

    Hitherto, many investors preferred investing in IPOs because of their capital gain potential just as it is believed that shares offered through IPOs are under-priced and have the potential to rise after listing. Hence, investors always swoop on such shares. However, the IPO market has been dormant since 2008.

    Sadly, a cross-section of financial experts who spoke with The Nation said the Nigerian market will remain inactive until second half of 2015.

    For instance, Head, Equity Primary Markets, Africa, India and Middle East at the LSE, Mr. Ibukun Adebayo, told The Nation  that the driving force for capital raising across Africa now is debt, explaining that equity IPO raising, will become active in 2015.

    “It (IPO) is a question of time. The driving force for capital raising, not just Nigeria but across Africa now is debt. Companies are inherently underleveraged in Nigeria so we are going to see more debt issuance before you see equity issuance. Companies have to come because the balance between the interest of the investors and the company moving forward. So we expect   more of   IPOs taking off from the second half of next year,” Adebayo said.

    A stockbroker, Mr. Ayo Oguntayo, said the return of retail investors would encourage companies to issue IPOs in the very near future.

    The primary aim of the Nigerian capital market is to mobilise long-term funds. The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) is the centre point of the capital market while the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) serves as the apex regulatory body. It provides a mechanism for mobilising private and public savings and making such funds available for productive purposes. The exchange also provides a means for trading in existing securities. To enable small as well as large-scale enterprises gain access to public listing, the NSE operates the main board for relatively large enterprises and the Second-Tier Security Market (SSM) where listing requirements are less stringent for small and medium-scale enterprises. The exchange which started with only 19 securities traded on its floors in 1961 now has about 198 equities with a total market capitalisation of more than N13 trillion.

    The major instruments used to raise funds in the market include equities, debentures, bonds and stocks. The capital market is classified into two segments, namely primary and secondary. The primary market is for new issues of securities. The mode of offer for the securities traded in this market includes offer for subscriptions, rights issues, offer for sale, private placement etc; while the secondary market is a market for trading in existing securities. This consists of exchanges and over the counter deals where securities are bought and sold after their issuance in the primary market. Activities in the secondary market have increased substantially over the years. The number of stock brokers trading on the exchange increased from 110 in 1991 to 140 in 1994.

    NSE and the economy

    However, the key drivers of the Nigerian economy hardly feature on the exchange; Agriculture, oil and gas, power and telecoms each constitute less than five per cent of the market capitalisation of the NSE.

    According to data obtained from the CEO of NSE, Oscar Onyema’s keynote on “Re-awakening the capital market through participation of key players in the economy’ in February 2012 showed that agriculture contributed nearly 44 per cent to GDP, yet was less than 0.3 per cent of market capitalisation; oil and gas was over 14 per cent of GDP but a mere three per cent of market capitalisation; power (specifically, electricity), at just over 3 per cent of GDP, is not represented on the market at all; while telecoms, with 5.5 per cent of GDP (not to mention almost 90 million GSM subscribers), was a meager 0.5 per cent of market capitalisation.

    With the rebasing of the GDP, the director -general of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Ms Arunma Oteh recently said “Our market capitalisation to the GDP which is very low at 30 per cent has now declined further to 16 per cent after the exercise, compared in ratio to some of our peer countries like South Africa with market capitalisation to GDP being at 230 per cent, Malaysia 159 per cent, United States of America 118 per cent, China 75 per cent and India 69 per cent. So we have got our work cut out for us. Rebasing should wake us up to the urgent need to ensure that more companies list, so that market capitalisation can indeed better reflect our GDP.”

    Oteh however projected that the Nigerian Stock Exchange would  target 500 companies for initial public offerings over the next five years to reach a $1 trillion market capitalisation by 2016.

    She pointed out that the bourse needs oil and gas, power and telecommunications companies to list stocks to meet its market-value objective. “There are a number of large, significant companies that are preparing to come to the market,” Oteh said.

    She said that talks are being held with telecoms companies on encouraging them to trade their shares.

    Going back in the history, and particularly of IPO’s in the NSE, the primary market section experienced the strongest initial public offering activity between 2006 and 2008, which helped boost investment appetite from the retail end of the market, with the NSE recording 88 transactions from IPO activities.

    During this period, retail investors and institutional investors increasingly felt confident in the capital market.

    New listings in 2014

    In 2014 so far, two new listings have been witnessed, as Seplat Petroleum Development Company listed its 543.28 million ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at N567 after a successful IPO on April 14, 2014 while Caverton Offshore Support Group became the second firm to get listed in 2014 specifically on May 20, 2014, with 2.35 billion units at N9.50 which it issued through private placement since 2008

    Capital market performance

    According to some market analysts, the inability of the exchange to inspire primary market activities can be seen in the performance of the secondary market as illiquidity persist in the market. The secondary market indicator, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index, which is the barometer of the market movement gained for the first five months in the year 145.21 basis point or 0.35 per cent from the 41,329.19 points it opened the year to close at 41,474.40 on May 30, 2014.

    The market capitalisation, which opened the year at N13.226 trillion closed on May 30, 2014 at N13.694 trillion, gaining N468 billion. However, in 2013 Nigeria capital market gained 47.2 per cent but market analysts are still optimistic that the market in 2014 will close higher than 2013.

    Although, the primary market has shown, sign of rebound through the rights issue as quoted, substantial major investors’ holdings are falling back on the existing shareholders to bridge equity financing gaps and reduce dependence on short-term loans.

    Not less than six companies have initiated plans to float rights issue in the past three weeks. Shareholders of Diamond Bank, Sterling Bank, UBA Capital, Africa Prudential and May & Baker have approved plans by their companies to raise new funds through rights issue. Shareholders of Oando Plc have also mandated their board to float a rights issue while Consolidated Breweries has informed the NSE of its intention to access funds through rights issue.

    Unity Bank is currently running a right issue of N19 billion. Unity is issuing 38.45 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at N0.50 per share. The right issue is expected to close on June 18, 2014. While Evans Medical has concluded a rights issue of 486.47 million ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at N2.50 per share in April, raising N1.22 billion from the market

    According to analysts, rights issue implies significant financial commitment by the core investors as expectation of more companies filing for rights issue as the years go by remain high.

    Analysts’ views 

    Analysts are of the view that companies recourse to raising additional capital from existing shareholders (Rights Issue) who are members of the company rather than going to the primary market appears to be the thing to do.

    “What they have been doing is to raise money through right issues. You have to understand why this is so. You will recall that the market went through a very distressing phase for the past four years when we all witnessed the downslide of most of the share prices listed companies,” said an analyst who asked not to be named.

    He added that while the primary market remained in limbo, many listed companies explored the already saturated option of sourcing cheap funds through right issues.

    He maintained that it is only when activities in the primary market of the Nigerian capital market are rejuvenated that the Nigerian capital would be said to have started to breathe again.

    The General Manager of Lambeth Trust & Investment Company Limited, Mr. David Adonri, noted that the crisis of confidence in the secondary market arising from the global financial meltdown of 2008/2009 had contagion on the primary market, noting that the door’s becoming dormant due to massive erosion of investors’ confidence.

    He also observed that the restoration of investors’ confidence in the secondary market will automatically lead to revival of the primary market.

    Managing Director of Dependable Securities Limited, Mr. Chineye Ayanwu, said investors are not keen on investing in the primary sector because investors who bought into public offers earlier have not gotten returns on their investments and the bearish market had eroded the share value of their stocks.

    He also noted that the secondary market determines what happens in the primary market, although the secondary market is recovering, investors’ confidence in the primary market is still low due to investors’ scare of investment due to financial turmoil.

    Another investment expert who asked not to be named observed that the low activities in the primary market is also a reflection of development in the secondary market.

    He urged the capital market regulators to put more effort towards the rebounding of the market and when the market rebound then every stock will now reflect true value and that will attract investors to price the new stock appropriately.

    “The primary market is hinged on the market rebounding, right now the value of most of the stocks is considered to be below their book values,” he added.

    In an attempt to restore investors’ confidence in the primary segment, he said that the NSE had set up a new department to encourage companies that have done private placement in the past to come and list as this will give leverage to the primary market.

    Shareholders’ views

    Shareholders have called on the companies that raised private placement during the boom in the market to come and list as they promised.

    The President of Association of Avid Shareholders, Mr Abayomi Obabolujo, said, “there are myriads of primary market activities without anyone asking questions on what happened to the initial funds raised by the companies and private placements that had not been listed.”

    General outlook of the market

    Market analysts are optimistic that the new issues recently approved by the NSE would revive the primary market and the successful IPO carried out by Seplat in January, 2014.

    According to the General manager of Compass Investment & Securities Limited, Mr Sam Ndata, the new issues would deepen the market and revive the primary market.

    He advised shareholders to prove to new investors that there was still hope in the nation’s capital market by taking up their shares in the rights issue exercise.

    While, the head, international primary markets, South Asia, Middle East, Africa at the London Stock Exchange (LSE), Mr Ibukun Adebayo, recently said the volatility in the Nigerian stock market has eased to a level that would attract more local firms to raise fresh capital through IPO.

    “The market has become wider and more diversified. We have the small capital market launched which is the alternative securities market. And we also have series of different measures that have been put in place by the regulator to strengthen the market,” he said.

  • Unity Bank boosts capital with N39.2b

    Unity Bank boosts capital with N39.2b

    Unity Bank Plc has listed the supplementary shares from its recent combined rights and special placement offers, adding N39.22 billion in new equity funds to its capital base and similar amount to its market capitalisation.

    Unity Bank listed a total of about 78.45 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at par value at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), conclusively rounding off its rights issue of 38.45 billion ordinary shares and special placement of 40 billion ordinary shares, both of which were offered at par value. The supplementary listing significantly impacted on the capital base of Unity Bank and its market capitalisation.

    Speaking at the NSE, managing director, Unity Bank Plc, Mr. Henry Semenitari, noted that the bank’s offers were oversubscribed, an indication of the investing public’s confidence in the bank and its growth agenda.

    He pointed out that the rights issue went across the shareholders of the bank and the entire rights were taken by local investors as there were no foreign investors.

    He said the bank decided on the new equity funds in order to accelerate expansion and create value for shareholders.

    According to him, the new equity funds would be used for branch expansion, investing in human capital, and the development of information technology.

    He said the bank would undertake share reconstruction given the size of its current outstanding shares. Yesterday’s listing brought the bank’s total outstanding shares to 116.90 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo.

    Semenitari said the bank would explore all avenues to recover debts including the use of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

    He also noted that the bank’s capital adequacy ratio was in compliance with regulatory guidelines adding that all the branches that the new management met when it came on board are operational and plans are ongoing to open more branches.

    In his remarks, managing director, APT Securities and Funds Limited, Mr. Garba Kurfi said Unity Bank has a bright future citing the third quarter result recently released by the bank.

    According to him, with the additional capital and the ongoing debt recovery by the bank, and with the bank’s results so far, the bank may likely reward its shareholder in the next two years.

    The third quarter result for the period ended September 30, 2014 showed that Unity Bank made a profit after tax of N11.05 billion, an increase of 856.83 per cent on N1.15 billion recorded in comparable period of 2013.

  • Capital Bancorp restates commitment to enterprise risk management

    FOR the Chairman, Capital Bancorp Plc, Mr. Olutola Mobolurin, the chief reasons the company has remained committed to enterprise risk management is the desire to imbibe the best practices in corporate governance.

    Addressing the company’s shareholders at the26th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos recently, Mobolurin explained that the current global recess is a clarion call to captains of industry to address all risks that can threaten the going-concern status of their companies in view of the harsh operating environment. He explained that as part of the strategy to ensure global competitiveness, the board, management and staff of Capital Bancorp had undergone intensive enterprise risk management training.

    “The board on your behalf made extensive investments in fortification of our company by the implementation of an Enterprise-wide Risk Management System. This project involved a holistic training of the members of the board and all members of staff. The investment was made towards making our company risk compliant and in entrenching and improving corporate governance,” Mobolurin said.

    Mobolurin who lamented the security situation in Nigeria and the impacts on corporate performance explained that it might moderate projections for all operators in the financial market. But he stated that Capital Bancorp was upbeat about the inherent opportunities in the other lines of businesses such as Bureau De Change and leasing.

    According to him, the profits realised from these business lines would boost whatever shortfall from the capital market and enhance shareholder value.

    The company’s performance was moderated by the inclement operating environment and this affected payment of dividend.

    But Mobolurin assured the shareholders that under the company’s new strategic direction, dividend would be paid next year.  The company has expanded its operations with the introduction of e-Trading platform which is now being deployed as a major on-line trading device.

    Echoing similar sentiments, the company’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Aigboje Higo expressed optimism that the company would outperform the current position next financial year.

    Higo noted that the company is blessed with human resources who are highly committed towards innovation. “We have a long tradition of integrity and excellent performance.  We deploy some of the latest technologies to do our business. This has made us highly competitive and we shall continue to leverage on these for global best practices,” said Higo.

    The shareholders passed a vote of confidence on the board and management and urged them to sustain the new strategic direction in order to operate profitably irrespective of the vagaries in the operating environment. The recent annual general meeting was the first after the company celebrated its 25th anniversary with pomp and pageantry and it came on the heels of its compliance with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

  • UBA Capital inaugurates trading portal

    UBA Capital inaugurates trading portal

    UBA Capital at the weekend , launched an online trading platform with real time investment account funding role.

    The platform, investnow.ng,  allows investors to fund their investment accounts directly and instantly, without going through an account officer in the option of a client-company funds lodgment.

    It also provides a live price feed (intra-day) for listed stocks, enabling investors to make informed decisions based on the latest data.

    Speaking at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), UBA Capital Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Oluwatoyin Sanni praised the milestone, saying “since UBA Capital was founded our mission has been to develop the capital markets in Nigeria in order to give the investing public the confidence to invest actively. The  platform combines world class technology with a robust client data protection and security framework in order to give our clients a seamless experience when processing transactions. Our clients will have access to research materials to make informed investment decisions.”

    He said UBA Capital’s clients will be able to manage their portfolios online on mobile devices, tablets, laptops and desktop computers.

    By making investing in Nigeria quicker and simpler, Sanni said, the platform will unite it with its customers.

    Managing Directors such as Wale Shonibare (UBA Capital Investment Banking); Tokunbo Ajayi (UBA Capital Trustees); Modupe Mujota (UBA Capital Asset Management) and Jude Chiemeka (UBA Capital Securities Trading) also supported the platform.

    They said innovation remains a key driver for all the businesses within the group to continue to provide outstanding quality of service and value to customers.

  • ‘Nigeria’s capital market literacy rate still poor’

    KNOWLEDGE of the capital market is still abysmally low in the country. This was the verdict passed by a cross-section of experts at different fora recently.

    According to some of these analysts, the level of capital market literacy among Nigerians plays a major part in determining the number of retail investors that participate in the capital market.

    Capital market literacy is the level of education, learning, articulacy, proficiency and scholarship of a country’s population about capital market activities.

    Interestingly, to ensure a more vibrant capital market, the capital market operators have engaged in a lot of investors’ education to attract retail investors, with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) taking the initiative by setting up a committee to look into literacy in Nigeria capital market and to draw up a 10-year Capital Market Literacy Master Plan.

    Recently, at the quarterly Capital Market Committee (CMC) meeting, the chairman, SEC’s Literacy Committee, Mr. Ariyo Olushekun disclosed that research had shown that the level of capital market literacy in Nigeria stood at 16 per cent.

    According to Olushekun, much as the numerous efforts being made to enhance capital market literacy is laudable, the capital market literacy programmes in the country currently “lacks strategic direction and proper coordination.

    “There should be an increase in public awareness as the committee has suggested that capital market literacy programmes to be included in curriculum of professional bodies, schools and universities. Others are exhibitions, road shows and annual public lectures and so on,” he stressed.

    Echoing similar sentiments, the chairman of Capital Market Master Plan Committee, Mr. Dotun Suleyman, said that capital market education level was still below par, considering the nation’s population.

    Suleyman said that the poor literacy level contributed to the little impact the market made on the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in terms of relevance and active participation in key sectors of the economy, saying that the Nigerian capital market was underdeveloped and needed to be much more robust if it was going to play significant role in the national aspiration of being part of 20 top economies in the world by 2020.

    While commenting on the issue, the Chief Relationship Officer of TFS Securities & Investment Limited said: “One of the core functions of SEC is to develop and create awareness about the capital market, saying that over the years, SEC has tried on their own part in ensuring that the capital market education gets to the grass root.”

    He noted that investors’ education on the capital market could not be achieved by SEC and the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) alone but collective responsible of stockbrokers, adding “since the stockbrokers are the one dealing with the investors directly, they should take it upon themselves to ensure that they don’t only concentrate in the urban area, they should go to the hinterland in educating them on the importance of capital market investment.”

    He noted that there are a lot of companies in rural area that can be listed on the small scale subsector of the NSE, if they are properly enlighten.

    He pointed out that the capital market literacy should be taken to schools, calling for an overhaul of the curriculum of higher institutions to address the shortage of skills and poor financial literacy level.

    Lending credence to the foregoing, the Managing Director, Dependable Securities Limited, Chinanyem Anyanwu, SEC and NSE has being doing a lot in improving the capital market literacy of individuals. The more the people know about the potential in the capital market, the better for the market.

    “When it comes to investor education, every stakeholder in the capital market is supposed to be a part of this education. The most protected investor is the most educated investor. Right now the Capital Market Committee is putting together a 10-year master plan on improvement capital market literacy which is going to cover all investors, the entire capital market. And all the initiatives that will come under that literacy arrangement will ensure that people begin to know what the capital market is all about: why they should invest, how they should invest, who to go to, and issues like that,” he said.

    He pointed out that the Stock Exchange has its Investors Clinic, just as the Security and Exchange Commission, the Chartered Institute of Stock Brokers and other stakeholders have their own investor education initiatives.

    He added that a lot of reforms and initiatives would have to be put in place towards achieving increase in the number of participants in the market.

    According to the domestic and foreign portfolio participation Investment report for July, 2014 by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) showed that domestic participation at the nation’s bourse increased to N167.77 billion in July, up 81.77 per cent from January 2014, while Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPI) ceded about 49.66 per cent of trading to domestic investors as foreign transactions decreased significantly from 49.28 per cent to 25.17 per cent over the same period.

    Meanwhile, the NSE has said that more investors are returning to the capital market, increasing domestic participation, however, operators have said that despite the improved investor confidence on the capital market, the Exchange still has work to do.

  • Group kicks over Oghiadomhe’s senatorial ambition

    A social group, ‘Safe Afenmai Group’ has condemned the purported senatorial ambition of the immediate past Chief of Staff to President Goodluck Jonathan, Chief Mike Oghiadomhe, as he is yet to officially declare his interest for elective offices in the Edo North Senatorial on any platform ahead of the 2015 general elections.

    In a release made available to The Nation in Benin City, the state capital, the initiator and leader of the group, Mr. Blessing Agbomhere, warned that any political party that is desirous of winning any senatorial election must avoid fielding the former presidential aide, who allegedly achieved little for his people while at the corridors of power.

    Accusing Oghiadomhe of lobbying Edo State political leaders and courting traditional rulers, Agbomhere said: “While we await his declaration, which we are ready to resist, we will refute and rebuke him with every weapon of our intellectual arsenal.”

  • IEI-Anchor Pension raises share capital to N3b

    IEI-Anchor Pension raises share capital to N3b

    Shareholders of IEI-Anchor Pension Managers have voted to raise the company’s share capital from N2.222 billion to N3 billion in a move to accommodate increasing strategic partners’ interests that could help expand the business further.

    Its Managing Director, Solomon Okoli told shareholders that the  the ‘storm is over’, assuring that the firm has overcome its teething problems and is now positioned for sustainable growth and profitability.

    Okoli who spoke at the firm’s maiden annual general meeting (AGM) in Abuja that the firm has extended operations to 30 states of the federation, servicing over 75,000 customers and managing a couple of states’ staff pension.

    He said the firm grew shareholders’ funds more than eight folds from N150 million in 2005 to N1.240 billion last year, stressing that expansion efforts so far have repositioned the company for better performance even as the half year results have shown.

    The CEO said the long term plan of the company is to be among tier one PFAs in Nigeria, with the threshold of a minimum of N100billion of assets under its management.

    He explained that the cost of expansion had eaten into the firm’s revenue and consequently, profit assuring however of its bright future outlook.

    He said: “Our expansion may not be profitable immediately, but as we scale up over time, we will get through this and we are already seeing this in 2014. We are already seeing a lot of improvements.

    “We are seeing some of the locations that we opened last year being more profitable now. We are expanding our customer base, and the contribution level is beginning to yield and adding to the bottom line.”

    According to him, part of the expansion strategies is to raise the company’s share capital to N3 billion in order to be positioned for possible acquisition moves.

    Of its new share capital, Okoli said: “People outside are beginning to see the opportunities out there and they are getting interested in what we are doing and want to come in to be part of us. If we do not increase our share capital, cannot accommodate such people to be part of the company. So we want to have the flexibility and use the capital to expand the business.