The Nation Newspaper

Tag: NSE

  • Training for market makers

    Training for market makers

    The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has signed an agreement with J. STREICHER Advisory LLC (JSA), one of the top NYSE-designated market makers to train market makers on the NSE.

    All market makers on the NSE must compulsorily attend the training, according to a directive from the NSE.

    The training, which is scheduled between January 20 and 22, 2014, is expected to cover areas, such as trading industry, orders and order properties, market structures, order driven markets, informed traders and market efficiency, order anticipators, bluffers and market manipulation, market making tools, risk management, best practices and technology among others.

    Market making initiative started on the NSE in September 2012 with the commencement of a hybrid market system that allows market makers to provide two way quotes and licensed brokers.

    The NSE had initially in April 2012 appointed 10 stockbrokers as market makers. These included Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers, Renaissance Capital, Future View Securities, Vetiva Capital, ESS/DunnLoren Merrifield, WSTC Financial Services, Capital Bancorp, FBN Securities, Greenwich Securities and CSL Stockbrokers.

    Market making is a technical term that generally refers to the system of providing liquidity to securities through provision of bid and offer prices in the trading system of a stock exchange.

    Market makers can be categorized according to the level of liquidity supports they provide. A primary market maker is regarded as the foremost liquidity provider of a particular security while the supplemental market maker acts as a supplementary liquidity provider.

     

     

  • NSE introduces uniform accounting year for stockbrokers

    NSE introduces uniform accounting year for stockbrokers

    Henceforth, all dealing members on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) will operate a uniform accounting year.

    A new circular to all dealing members by the management of the NSE stated that stockbrokers and dealers on the NSE will now run the normal Gregorian calendar year as their uniform business year, with every company expected to close its accounts by December 31.

    The new directive, which will take effect no later than December 31, 2014, brings stockbrokers and dealers to the same standards as banks, which also run the Gregorian calendar year as industry-wide accounting year.

    The circular, obtained by The Nation, was signed by head, broker dealer regulation, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Olufemi Shobanjo.

    According to the NSE, the uniform accounting year was in order to ensure consistency and more effective regulatory oversight.

    “Consequently, all affected dealing members should as a first step, pass board resolutions to the effect that their accounting year end will be December 31 and, thereafter, inform the Exchange and other relevant agencies accordingly,” NSE stated.

    According to NSE, during 2014, a maximum accounting period of 18 months and a minimum of six months are allowable, in line with accepted accounting practice. In the circumstances, all dealing members whose accounting year end fall on December 31, should in the usual practice, submit their full year’s financial statements to the Exchange not later than three months after the year end. Firms with year ends between January and May 2014 should submit the normal audited accounts 12-months and thereafter, submit their audited accounts for the pro-rated period to 31 December 2014.

    Also, the audited accounts for the pro-rated period must equally be submitted to the Exchange not later than three months after the period end.

    The circular reminded dealing members of the sanctions for delay and default in submission of their reports. Section 7 (b) and (c) of Policy No. 01 of the NSE made pursuant to Article 15(h) of the Rules and Regulations Governing Dealing Members of the Exchange states that: failure of a dealing member to submit audited financial statements on the date due for submission shall attract a penalty of N5,000 per day of default for a maximum of four weeks and where a dealing member fails to submit annual financial statement after four weeks of default, the dealing member firm shall forthwith be suspended from trading.

    “Regulatory sanctions will be enforced on dealing members that fail to meet the above deadlines,” NSE stated.

     

  • Investors stake N22b on equities

    •Nigeria’s first domestic ETF hits market

    Investors staked more than N22 billion on quoted equities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) as stocks fluctuated between profit-takers and bargain-hunters. In what indicated the cautious mood of the market, the main index closed the week with a marginal gain of 0.07 per cent.

    The modest positive market position was due mainly to gains by cement companies, especially Dangote Cement, which in many instances was the rallying point for the market recovery. Most indices at the NSE indicated widespread declines in share prices.

    The All Share Index (ASI), the main index that tracks prices of all equities on the NSE, inched up from the week’s index-on-board of 41,450.48 points to close the week at 41,480.62 points. Average year-to-date return for 2014 thus increased slightly to 0.37 per cent. Aggregate market value of all quoted equities also increased slightly from opening value of N13.265 trillion to close the week at N13.275 trillion.

    With the exception of cement-driven NSE Industrial Index, all sectoral indices closed on the negative. The NSE 30 Index, NSE Consumer Goods Index, NSE Banking Index, NSE Insurance Index, and the NSE Oil/Gas Index depreciated during the week by 0.56 per cent, 0.49 per cent, 3.20 per cent, 3.0 per cent and 3.08 per cent respectively. The NSE Industrial Goods Index appreciated by 0.85 per cent, driven largely by Dangote Cement and Lafarge Cement Wapco Nigeria. The NSE Lotus Islamic Index- an Islamic law-based index that groups some influential selected Shariah compliant stocks, made the highest gain with an increase of 2.23 per cent.

    Total turnover stood at 1.72 billion shares worth N22.44 billion in 29,600 deals. Financial services sector remained the most active with a turnover of 1.2 billion shares valued at N10.85 billion in 15,134 deals; representing about 70 per cent of total turnover. The oil and gas sector rode on the back of increased demand for Oando to place second on the activity chart, pooling 182.28 million shares worth N2.22 billion in 4,866 deals. Also, conglomerates sector rode on the back of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) to occupy the third position on the activity chart with 124.13 million shares worth N665.14 million in 1,982 deals.

    The three most active stocks were FBN Holdings Plc, Transcorp and Unity Bank Plc, which altogether accounted for 407.95 million shares worth N3.23 billion in 5,007 deals, representing 23.7 per cent of total turnover volume.

    Meanwhile, Nigeria’s first domestic Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) will open for public subscription today following the approval of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

    The ETF-Vetiva Griffin 30 Exchange Traded Fund (VG 30 ETF) is being promoted by Vetiva Fund Managers Limited, a Nigerian investment management firm. Vetiva is offering 100 million units of VG 30 ETF at par in this initial public offering (IPO). Application list for the IPO will open for 15 working days, up till January 31, 2014, in line with extant rule of SEC.

  • NSE market capitalisation hits N37b

    NSE market capitalisation hits N37b

    Weekly activities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) ended on a positive trend on Friday with market indicators appreciating by 0.28 per cent, following recorded growth by highly capitalised companies.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the market capitalisation rose by N37 billion or 0.28 per cent to close at N13.274 trillion, against the N13.237 trillion achieved on Thursday.

    The All-Share Index, which opened at 41,363.05, appreciated by 117.57 points or 0.28 per cent to close at 41,480.62.

    NAN reports that Oando topped the gainers’ chart, appreciating by N2.44 to close at N26.33 per share.

    Lafarge Wapco grew by N2 to close at N115. while Guinness chalked up N1.40 to close at N237 per share.

    Unilever increased by N1.20 to close at N53, while Flour Mill grew by N1.02 to close at N89.06 per share.

    On the other hand, Nestle led the losers’ chart, losing N10.04 to close at N1,160.01 per share.

    Nigerian Breweries followed, dropping N1 to close at N165, while UBN lost 35k to close at N10.10 per share.

    Pharmdeko dropped 8k to close at N1.68, while FBNH dipped 6k to close at N15.45 per share.

    A breakdown of the activity chart indicated that ETI emerged the most traded stock, accounting for 35.00 million shares worth N595.07 million.

    It was trailed by Oando as investors’ staked N900.39 million on 34.62 million shares, while Zenith Bank sold 19.08 million shares valued at N442.96 million.

    FBNH accounted for 18.43 million shares worth N285.67 million, while Transcorp traded 17.55 million shares valued at N70.94 million.

    However, the volume of shares traded dropped by 8.47 per cent as 294.99 million shares worth N6.09 billion were traded in 5,867 deals, compared with 322.280 million shares valued at N3.25 billion achieved in 5,509 deals on Thursday.

  • What stands Dangote Cement out?

    What stands Dangote Cement out?

    Dangote Cement (Dancem) Plc combines size with value. With above-average return and more than a quarter of Nigerian stock market capitalisation, Dancem is unarguably the single most influential stock that has shaped the bullish market outlook at the equities market. Capital Market Editor, Taofik Salako reports that its size and position place Dancem on the watch-list of discerning investors.

    Nigerian equities market opens today with average year-to-date return of 37.96 per cent. This is obviously the most impressive return by any class of regulated and tradable investments in Nigeria. With inflation rate currently at a single-digit rate of 7.8 per cent and the baseline interest rate, as indicated by the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), at 12 per cent, every average investor in Nigerian stock market can still boast of double-digit inflation-adjusted return on investment. Average return on equities in most cases more than doubled average return by fixed-income securities. The current market situation places equities in good stead to set another record, after it delivered a full-year return of 35.45 per cent in 2012.

    The bullish overall market situation underlines widespread price appreciation as well as the impressive performance of several market-determining stocks. The major boosts for market performance come from the sterling performances of building materials stocks, oil and gas stocks and to some extent, fast moving consumer goods companies. With banking and insurance subsectors, the two populous and most active subgroups at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), trailing with below average return of 19.47 per cent and 24.57 per cent, non-financial stocks have been the main drivers of the market performance. Dangote Cement leads these influential stocks.

    Dangote Cement opens today with a market capitalisation of N3.331 trillion, about 26.9 per cent of total equity market capitalisation of N12.390 trillion and the highest by any quoted company. The second highest capitalised stock, Nigerian Breweries, controls about 10 per cent of market capitalisation while Nestle Nigeria accounts for about 7.5 per cent. This implies that the pricing trend of Dancem will most often has a ripple effect on the overall pricing trend at the stock market. The pole position of Dancem as a leader of the primary stocks behind the bullish rally is evident in its above-average performance, which helped to moderate the negative impact of stagnant and depreciating stocks.

    At current market price of N195.50 per share, Dancem opens trading today with a year-to-date return of 52.62 per cent. This is higher than average return of 33.81 per cent for the 30 most capitalised stocks at the NSE. Dancem had traded at a high of N210.01 this year, indicating that it had sustained its momentum in spite of profit-taking trend that had characterised transactions in recent period. NSE indicated that Dancem’s share price had doubled from a low of N102 per share in the past 52 weeks. Since share pricing trend primarily rests on the fundamentals of the company, the company’s upwardly pricing trend appears to illustrate its operational and fundamental position.

     

    Stronger fundamentals

     

    Emerging results have shown improved sales efficiency and cost management in the operations of Dancem. Interim report and accounts of Dangote Cement for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2013 showed that turnover rose to N288.98 billion as against N224.49 billion recorded in comparable period of 2012. Gross profit increased from N135.81 billion to N189.38 billion. Profit before tax stood at N151.73 billion compared with N106.43 billion in corresponding period of 2012. With tax gains, net profit increased to N156.13 billion as against N107.06 billion in the previous comparable period. Sales of Dangote cement had increased by 29.5 per cent in Nigeria to 9.95 million tonnes, more than 62 per cent of the estimated 16 million tonnes of cement sold in the country in nine-month period September 30, 2013.

    The third-quarter earnings report placed Dancem in better stead to surpass its full-year performance for 2012. Key extracts of audited report and accounts for the year ended December 31, 2012 had shown that market share rose steadily during the year, averaging an estimated 57.1 per cent in 2012 compared with the 50.5 per cent achieved in 2011. The company recorded a profit after tax of N151.93 billion in 2012 as against N121.4 billion in 2011, representing an increase of 25 per cent. It subsequently paid a dividend per share of N3. Current net earnings position already indicates headroom for dividend growth.

     

    Analysts’ rating

     

    The PEARL Awards Project, an independent not-for-profit capital market research organisation, has awarded Dancem its most prestigious award of “PEARL of the NSE” for two consecutive years. In adjudging Dancem as the most outstanding stock at the NSE in 2013, PEARL Awards noted that the rating reflected the company’s verifiable performance indices. The PEARL Awards is endorsed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Nigeria’s apex capital market regulator. Having been nominated in almost all the categories and winning more than any other stock in the award categories, the choice of Dancem as the most outstanding stock represented the totality of its profit and loss and balance sheet performances. It had won awards in three other categories including being the winner in the building materials category. Dancem was declared as the winner of the highest profit margin ratio award in the market excellence category while it also won as the company with the highest dividend growth in the capital market.

    President, PEARL Awards Project, Mr. Tayo Orekoya, said the emergence of Dancem as the most outstanding stock for the second consecutive year was a reflection of the company’s fundamental performance.

    According to him, the criteria for the awards are based on verifiable facts and figures, which are usually publicly available in the organisation’s annual stock market publication and brochures.

    “We are very proud to be associated with Dangote Cement and with Dangote Group generally. For the second year running, Dangote Cement is winning the Pearl overall award, emerging as the PEARL of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. This is indeed a thing of joy and a thing to be very proud of,” Orekoya said.

     

    Growth outlook

     

    Chief Executive officer, Dangote Cement Plc, Devakumar Edwin said there is greater potential for the company in the years ahead. According to him, the company’s expansion plan and capacity upgrade significantly increase its sales output and market share not only in the Nigerian cement industry but in Africa.

    Already, Dancem is Nigeria’s leading cement producer with three plants in Nigeria and 13 plants across other African countries. It has moved a step closer to its aim of becoming Africa’s leading supplier of cement with ongoing plans to launch its cement plants in Senegal and South Africa.

    “Our plant in Senegal will soon be producing cement and our South African venture, Sephaku Cement, is well on track to open in the early part of 2014. These two plants will be our first production ventures outside Nigeria as we aim to become Africa’s leading supplier of cement,” Edwin stated in latest review of the company.

    According to him, Dancem ultimate aim is to be able to produce more than 50 million metric tonnes per annum (mta) by the end of 2016. In Ethiopia, Dancem is building a 2.5 million mta plant at Mugher, with production expected early in 2015. In Tanzania, it has begun work on a 3.0 million mta gas-fired plant at Mtwara that is expected to become operational in October 2015. In Zambia, work is underway on a 1.5 million mta plant at Ndola, with cement production expected in mid-2014. In Cameroun, building work is progressing on a 1.5 million mta grinding plant, which is expected to be completed in the first half of 2014. In Congo, Dancem is building an integrated plant of 1.5 million mta, which is expected to begin production in the second quarter of 2016. It also plans to build a 1.5 million mta plant in South Sudan, to become operational in 2016, as well as a 1.5 million mta integrated facility in Kenya.

    In the meantime, Edwin said the group has concluded plans to build import facilities to receive and bag bulk cement produced in Nigeria and Senegal, which will enable the group to synchronise its operations across the major production and distribution centres. Dancem’s Obajana plant in Kogi State, Nigeria, is the largest cement plant in Sub-Saharan Africa with 10.25 million mta across three lines and a further 3.0 million mta currently under construction. Its new 6.0 million mta Ibese plant in Ogun State was inaugurated in February 2012. Building is underway to add 6.0 million mta to the installed capacity of the Ibese plant. Dancem’s Gboko plant in Benue State boasts of 4.0 million mta capacity.

    Dancem is expanding into a growing market. Nigeria has growing demand for cement and other related materials. The largest country in Africa, with some 170 million population and in critical need of development of infrastructure, the need for capital projects especially in housing and roads has continued to grow year-on-year. With steady Gross Domestic Products (GDP) growth, the outlook for the building and construction industry remains bright as it is generally accepted that the level of GDP per capita positively correlates with the level of construction activity. Many initiatives by government and private sector such as the mortgage refinancing scheme are expected to further expand demand for building and construction materials, chiefly cement. This medium-to-long-term outlook appears to be the underlining factor behind Dancem’s pricing trend.

  • NSE’s index rises by 1.88% on N18.8b deals

    NSE’s index rises by 1.88% on N18.8b deals

    Investors earned average return of about 1.88 per cent last week as the Nigerian stock market rode on the back of substantial gains by several stocks to push average year-to-date return beyond the 40 per cent mark.

    In spite of intermittent declines due to profit-taking and yuletide transactions, equities sustained a positive overall market situation. The All Share Index (ASI), the benchmark index that doubles as the common index for equities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and country index for Nigeria, ended the week with a gain of 1.88 per cent to close at 39,562.75 points as against its index-on-board of 38,831.59 points for the week.

    The uptrend added N234 billion in new capital gains to the market capitalization of quoted equities. Aggregate market value of all equities on the NSE increased from N12.427 trillion to N12.661 trillion.

    With 43 gainers to 34 losers, the spread and number of advancers indicated widespread bullish sentiments amidst bargain hunting for low-priced stocks.

    Six out of the eight sectoral indices at the NSE appreciated, underlining the bullish trend across the main sectors. The NSE 30 Index, NSE Consumer Goods Index, NSE Banking Index, NSE Oil and Gas Index, NSE Lotus Islamic Index and NSE Industrial Goods Index appreciated by 1.43 per cent, 0.42 per cent, 1.35 per cent, 0.51 per cent, 1.99 per cent and 2.97 per cent respectively. However, the NSE Insurance Index slipped by 0.98 per cent while the NSE ASeM Index remained unchanged.

    Major stocks that impacted largely on the overall market situation included Dangote Cement and Nestle Nigeria, which share price rose by 5.81 per cent and 5.50 per cent to close at N1,185.10 and N211 respectively. Dangote Cement is Nigeria’s most capitalized stock while Nestle Nigeria holds the lead as the highest-priced stock and third most capitalized stock.

    Market turnover continued to indicate major asset rebalancing trend towards low-priced stocks. Aggregate turnover stood at 2.73 billion shares worth N18.78 billion in 22,228 deals last week. With investors scrambling for shares of FCMB Group and Unity Bank, the financial services sector accounted for 81 per cent of total turnover with the exchange of 2.21 billion shares valued at N11.72 billion in 11,483 deals.

    The trio of FCMB Group, Unity Bank and Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) contributed 1.54 billion shares worth N3.64 billion in 2,655 deals, representing 56.44 per cent of aggregate turnover volume.

    At the over-the-counter (OTC) market, where Federal Government’s sovereign bonds are traded, turnover increased marginally to 99.97 million units valued at N107.56 billion in 570 deals last week as against 91.53 million units valued at N96.48 billion traded in 436 deals in the previous week.

     

  • NSE pledges support for GTI’s trading floor

    NSE pledges support for GTI’s trading floor

    The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has assured that it will give support to the operations of Nigeria’s first trading floor built by GTI Securities.

    The floor was built as part of efforts to deepen the capital market as a catalyst for national development.

    Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr Oscar Onyema, who gave this assurance during a visit to the trading floor at Central Business District, Marina, Lagos, described the initiative by GTI Securities as an exciting and trail-blazing innovation that will complement ongoing efforts to deepen the capital market into a $1 trillion capitalisation market.

    According to him, the NSE will provide supports to GTI because the trail-blazing private trading floor will help to drive NSE’s stated goal of getting to $1 trillion in market capitalisation across five products.

    Situated on Tinubu Street in the Marina axis of Lagos’s main Central Business District, the trading floor built by GTI Securities Limited, a member of the GTI Capital Group; is a 150-seat multi-purpose trading floor. At full installed capacity, some 150 brokers and dealers can trade on all securities listed on any of the securities exchanges including Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and NASD Plc.

    “GTI has really impressed, you are blazing the trail in innovation in the Nigerian capital market. We at the NSE are very supportive of your efforts and applaud you on taking the initiative to invest in this area. We believe that the sky is the limit,” Onyema said.

    The NSE chief executive fficer noted that the market is a whole ecosystem that requires the innovativeness and effectiveness of the regulators but of all other stakeholders reassuring that the NSE will continue to work closely with all stakeholders in the collective effort to grow the market.

    He pointed out that the economy and capital market have the depth to accommodate innovations and expansionary drives such as GTI’s, urging market operators to be creative and innovative.

    “We are very excited about what GTI is doing, congratulations,” Onyema told the management of GTI after listening to presentation and inspecting the state-of-the-art trading floor.

    Group managing director, GTI Capital Group, Mr. Abubakar Lawal, commended the NSE for providing the enabling environment for innovation and global competitiveness to thrive.

    According to him, GTI is positioned as one of the leading investment banking firm in Nigeria with its trading floor being the first in Nigeria and in the Sub-Saharan Africa.

    “We wish to make our trading floor as the vehicle for capital formation in Nigeria and we are committed to actualising this objective by providing necessary risk management and compliance process, investment in information and communication technology and re search and intelligence.

    Lawal said the trading floor will further open up domestic and global access to the Nigerian stock market and the NSE as independent foreign and Nigerian stockbrokers as well as high networth institutional and individual investors can use the GTI’s trading floor to trade directly on the NSE.

    Managing Director, GTI Securities, Mr. Tunde Oyekunle, said the GTI’s trading floor fitted perfectly into the realm of innovations by management of the NSE.

    According to him, the launching of the new trading software – XNet, market data initiative and implementation of FIX Protocol trading network have favourably positioned the Nigerian capital market within the financial global village.

    He said GTI Securities will provide virtual and back-up office to brokers facilitate seamless trading and settlement of transactions at the NSE through GTI’s trading floor.

    Managing Director, Trust Yields Securities Limited, Alhaji Rasheed Yussuf, said the GTI’s trading floor has placed the capital market on the global pedestal.

    According to him, the 150-seat trading floor is an innovation that brings the capital market to the same competitiveness that drive advanced and virile emerging markets across the world.

    “We are very excited about this initiative by GTI, we believe this is the way to go, we believe this is the way it’s being done all over the world,” Yussuf, a former president of the Association of Stockbroking Houses of Nigeria (ASHON), said.

    He also commended the management of the NSE for its continuous efforts to ensure that the capital market operate within the global best practices.

  • NSE queries 53 stockbrokers over dealing status

    NSE queries 53 stockbrokers over dealing status

    •May withdraw operating licence of firms

    The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has commenced the process to determine the propriety of dealing licence of 53 stockbroking firms, a development that may lead to withdrawal of operating licence of erring stockbroking firms.

    A query by the management of the NSE to the 53 stockbroking firms obtained by The Nation indicated that the stockbroking firms have up till December 19, 2013 to show reasons the NSE should not commence final disciplinary proceedings against them for failure to regularise their operating status and other sundry outstanding regulatory issues.

    The query was signed by Head, Broker Dealer Regulation, NSE, Mr Olufemi Shobanjo.

    A source in the know of disciplinary process of the NSE indicated that the Exchange may withdraw the operating licence of some of the stockbroking firms, which failed to provide tangible reasons to show liquidity, continuous operations and compliance with extant rules on dealing member firms.

    The Nation’s check showed that most of the queried firms had in September been suspended for failure to comply with extant operating rule that requires all stockbroking firms to establish compliance department and appoint accredited compliance officers. The suspension by the NSE implies that they will not be allow to trade at the stock market or act in any issue relating to the capital market, especially as it relates to regulatory approval of the NSE.

    The latest query on regularisation of operating status also referred to “all outstanding regulatory issues”, indicating a build-up of the case against the stockbroking firms.

    The queried dealing member firms included Mainstreet Bank Securities Limited, Standard Chartered Securities Limited and First Atlantic Securities Limited, three brokerage firms owned by banks.

    Other were AAA Securities Limited, Alliance Capital Management Company Limited, Al-pina Investment & Trust Company Limited, BBL Asset Management Limited, BFCL Asset & Securities Limited, BIC Securities Limited, CEB Securities Limited, Colvia Securities Limited, Consolidated Investment Limited, Dakal Services Limited, Decanon Investment Limited, Empire Securities Limited, Enabell Capital & Investment Limited, Epic Investment Trust Limited, Equator Stockbrokers Limited, First Equity Securities Limited, First Express Limited, Folu Securities Limited, Genesis Securities & Investment Limited, Ideal Securities Limited, Indemnity Finance Limited, Integrated & Allied Securities Limited, KFF Worldwide Solutions Limited, Kingdom Securities Limited, Lion Stockbrokers Limited, LMB Stockbrokers Limited, Maninvest Asset Management Plc, Mayfield Investment Limited, Metropolitan Trust Nigeria Limited, Midland Capital Markets Limited, Midlands Investment & Trust Limited and ML Securities Limited.

    Others included Monument Securities & Finance Limited, MultiTrust Securities Limited, Omas Investment & Trust Company Limited, Peninsula Asset Management & Investment Company Limited, Platinum Capital Limited, Professional Stockbrokers Limited, Prudential Securities Limited, Regency Financing Limited, RIV Trust Securities Limited, Riverside Trust Limited, Securities Trading & Investment Company Limited, Sikon Securities and Investment Trust Limited, Trans Lux Services Limited, Transglobe Investment & Finance Company Limited, Tropics Securities Limited, Truebond Capital & Asset Management Limited, WT Securities Limited and Zuma Securities Limited.

    The NSE had in September suspended 39 stockbroking firms for failure to establish compliance department and appoint accredited compliance officers.

    The suspended stockbroking firms included Wema Asset Management Limited, Epic Investment Trust Limited, Equator Stockbrokers Limited, First Atlantic Securities Limited, Folu Securities Limited, Genesis Securities and Investment Limited, Ideal Securities Limited, Indemnity Finance Ltd, Mannivest Securities Limited, Metropolitan Trust Nigeria Limited, Midland Capital Markets Limited, Midlands Investment and Trust Limited, ML Securities Limited, Monument Securities and Finance Limited, Omas Investment and Trust Company Limited, PML Securities Limited, Professional Stockbrokers Limited, Prudential Securities Limited and Regency Financial services.

    Others included AAA Securities Limited, Alliance Capital Management Company Limited, BFCL Asset and Securities Limited, BIC Securities Limited, CEB Securities Limited, Colvia Securities Limited, Consolidated Investment Limited, Dakal Services Limited, Dependable Securities Limited and Empire Securities Limited.

    Also suspended were RIV Trust Securities Limited, Riverside Trust Limited, Securities Solutions Limited, Securities Trading and Inv. Co., Sikon Securities and Investment Trust Limited, Transglobe Investment and Finance Company Limited, Tropics Securities Limited, WT Securities Limited, Zuma Securities Limited and Bauchi Investment Corporation Securities Limited.

    Most of the suspended firms were either inactive or struggling to cope with the hangovers of the capital market recession, during which margin loans and unsuccessful trades eroded the capital base of the firms.

     

  • ‘Uncontrolled growth hazardous ’

    The National Chairman, Environment Division of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Mr. Peter Onyeri, has said uncontrolled development could be injurious to lives and the environment.

    He spoke in a paper at the 16th Annual Conference/Annual General Meeting (AGM), with the theme: “Safety in major hazard engineering facilities.”

    Onyeri said: “There is a relationship between development, health, safety and environment, which one can ignore at one’s peril.”

    He said: “Many of these facilities, such as chemical production and processing facilities and petrochemical plants and fuel tank farms can become dangerous and destructive if care is not taken to safeguard the engineering structural components and processes involved in their operations.”

    He said the simplest form of risk analysis was prior analysis, where risk is evaluated, based on statistical information and probabilistic modelling, prior to any decision or activity.

    “This is not a one-off thing. It may require regular monitoring and review due to changes in system needs, increased operating experience and accidents and other new information relevant to system performance.”

    Onyeri stressed two major techniques, which could be applied to identify, manage and prevent hazards: Hazard and operability studies (Hazops) and safety management system (SMS).

    Mr. Babatunde Oshodi, an ex-NSE national chairman, emphasised good sanitary habit, saying: “Good sanitation is essential. It is possible for everyone to have access to decent toilets. People should not die of diseases related to open defecation.”

    Highlight of the conference was the election of a 14-man executive: Mr. Musiliu Odumeru emerged national chairman; Mrs. Igboanugo, national vice- chairman; Mr. Adisa Yinusa, national coordinator and Afolabi Gege, ex-officio 6, among others.

  • CWG plans fundraiser

    Computer Warehouse Group Plc (CWG), a Nigerian technology company, will seek to raise capital on the country’s stock exchange within 18 months after listing existing stock last week.

    The body needs extra cash to refocus the business toward cloud computing from hardware and software, Chief Executive Officer Austin Okere said in an interview at the weekend in Lagos.

    CWG’s goal is to become the biggest cloud-computing provider in Africa by 2015, he said.

    “In 12 to 18 months time, we will approach the market again,” said Okere. “By that time, we would have crystallised our transformation process.”

    The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Africa’s second-largest bourse, is seeking a $1 trillion market capitalisation by 2016 by encouraging more technology and telecoms companies to go public. The exchange is working to make it easier for companies from those industries to list, according to Nigeria’s Information and Communication Technology Minister Omobola Johnson.

    “Our role is to be a trailblazer; to go to the exchange and show to people the value of going to the exchange,” Okere said. “I won’t be surprised if this now opens the path for many more IT companies to come and list.” CWG plans to sell shares on the US technology-dominated exchange Nasdaq in the longer term, he said.

    CWG’s shares have gained 4.5 per cent since they were listed on the NSE on November 15, compared with a 3.2 per cent gain on the all-share index over the same period.

    It has a target to double profit in the year on sales of $132.2 million, according to Okere. The company is considering at least one acquisition, he said.