The Nation Newspaper

Tag: NSE

  • NSE lifts Fidson to medium-price stock

    The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) yesterday reclassified Fidson Healthcare Plc from low-priced stock to a medium-price, enhancing the price discovery and trading liquidity for the healthcare company. The reclassification took effect from August 1, 2018.

    As a medium-priced stock, stockbrokers could move the share price of Fidson with a minimum volume of 50,000 shares as against 100,000 minimum shares required for low-priced stocks. Also, the tick size for Fidson will change from one kobo to five kobo, enabling the share price of the healthcare company to rise faster.

    The NSE had recently classified quoted companies into three categories-high-priced, medium-priced and low-priced stocks, based on their market price.

    The high-priced stocks consist of large-cap equities that are priced at N100 per share or above for at least four of the last six trading months, or new security listings that are priced at N100 or above at the time of listing on the Exchange.

    The medium-priced stocks  consist of medium-priced equities that are priced at N5 per share or above but less than N100 per share for at least four of the last six months, or new security listings that are priced at N5 per share or above but less than N100 per share at the time of listing on the Exchange.

    The low-priced stocks, where majority of listed companies fall, consist of equities that are priced at one kobo per share or above but below N5 per share for at least four of the last six months, or new security listings that are priced at one kobo per share or above but below N5 per share at the time of listing on the Exchange.

    Stocks under high-priced group shall have price change with minimum of 10,000 units; stocks under medium-priced group shall have price movement with a minimum of 50,000 units while stocks under low-priced group shall have price change with minimum volume of 100,000 units.

    According to the Exchange, Fidson gained above the N5 mark on March 21, 2018 and traded above N5 up till close of business on July 25, 2018, which indicates that Fidson has traded above N5 in at least four out of the last six months and therefore should be reclassified from low price stock to mid-price stock.

     

  • PenOp, NSE strategise on multi-fund structure

    The Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOP) members have met the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to discuss how the capital market can be developed, especially in light of the Multi-Fund Structure that was  kicked off by the pensions industry recently.

    PenOp President, Mrs Aderonke Adedeji made this known when she led a delegation of PenOp members to ring the Closing Gong on the Trading Floor.

    She said the two organisations who are among the strongest players in the Nigerian financial sector also discussed other partnership opportunities.

    The meeting was attended by members of PenOp’s Executive Committee led by the President, Mrs. Ronke Adedeji and members of the NSE’s Senior Management Team led by Ms. Tinu Awe, Executive Director, Regulations.

  • NSE lifts suspension on Royal Exchange

    The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has lifted suspension on trading in the shares of Royal Exchange Plc, after the insurance and investment holding group submitted its full-year audited report for the 2017 business year.

    The NSE had on July 5 suspended trading on shares of eight companies for failing to adhere to best corporate governance and extant post-listing requirements that require quoted companies to submit their periodic financial statements and reports within stipulated timelines.

    The suspended companies included seven insurance companies and an auto company, namely African Alliance Insurance, Cornerstone Insurance, RT Briscoe, Royal Exchange, STACO Insurance, Standard Alliance Insurance, Universal Insurance Company and Veritas Kapital Assurance.

    Post-listing rules at the NSE require quoted companies to submit their audited earnings reports, not later than 90 calendar days, or three months, after the expiration of the period. The rules also require quoted companies to submit interim report not later than 30 calendar days after the end of the relevant period.

    Not less than 83 per cent of quoted companies use the 12-month Gregorian calendar year as their business year.

    The business year thus terminates on December 31. While March 31 is usually the deadline for submission of annual report for companies with Gregorian calendar business year, the deadline for the quarterly report is a month after the quarter.

     

  • NSE opens market to non-interest debt securities

    The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) will today begin the implementation of a regulatory framework for listing of non-interest debt securities on the stock market.

    The move will further deepen the market and open up alternative avenues for companies to raise more capital.

    A regulatory document obtained at the weekend by The Nation indicated that with the commencement of the regulatory framework, governments at all levels, companies and other quasi-government and corporate entities will be able to float Sukuk and other non-interest debt securities and list such securities for trading on the Exchange.

    With the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) already providing wide-ranging frameworks for primary issuance of non-interest debt securities, otherwise known as alternative issues, the launch of the NSE’s listing rules completes the transaction cycle for such securities by providing secondary market for trading in the securities.

    Under the new rules, Sukuk and other non-interest debt securities would be listed as exchange traded bonds on the Exchange like other securities. The NSE opens for trading on listed securities and shares for five hours on every working day.

    In addition to rules and regulations on pre and post-listing requirements, the non-interest debt securities listing framework stipulates that no short-term Sukuk or debt securities with original maturity date of less than one year shall be listed.

    Also, any issue, offer or invitation of Sukuk by a public company intended to be listed on the Exchange shall be subject to the listings requirements of the Exchange.

    NSE Regulation Executive Director, Tinuade Awe, who confirmed the commencement of the listing, noted that the rules had been approved by the SEC.

    The framework requires issuers of listed non-interest debt securities to provide the market with material information, in line with rules on disclosures and transparency.

    Material information in capital market parlance means information that is not available to the market; and if it were available to the market, it would have a material effect on the market price or value of the issuer’s listed securities. Material information consists of both material facts and material changes relating to the business and affairs of an issuer.

    Sources told The Nation that the new rules would, henceforth, serve as benchmark for consideration of application for listing and subsisting listing of non-interest debt securities.

    A source said the Exchange had granted waiver for the April listing of the maiden sovereign Sukuk by the Federal Government.

    The government last April  listed its maiden sovereign N100 billion Sukuk bond on the NSE and FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange.

    The Debt Management Office (DMO), which oversees government’s debt issues, listed the N100 billion, Seven-year, Federal Government’s Ijarah Sukuk with a rental rate of 16.47 per cent on the NSE and FMDQ. Sukuk are bonds structured to generate returns to ethical investors without infringing on the Islamic law which forbids interest payments. It represents an ownership interest in the asset to be financed rather than a debt obligation.

    The net proceeds from the N100 billion sovereign Sukuk would be used to finance construction and rehabilitation of 25 roads across the six geopolitical zones.

    Nigeria has only one sub-national Sukuk bond issued by the Osun Sate Government. In 2013, it raised N11 billion (about $50 million) in Nigeria’s first non-sovereign Sukuk issuance. It was oversubscribed.

     

     

  • NSE lifts Eterna to medium-price stock

    Authorities at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) have reclassified Eterna Plc from low-priced stock to a medium-price, providing additional liquidity that will enhance price discovery for the downstream oil and gas company.

    As a medium-priced stock, stockbrokers could move the share price of Eterna with a minimum volume of 50,000 shares as against 100,000 minimum shares required for low-priced stocks.

    The NSE had recently classified quoted companies into three categories-high-priced, medium-priced and low-priced stocks, based on their market price.

    The high-priced stocks consist of large-cap equities that are priced at N100 per share or above for at least four of the last six trading months, or new security listings that are priced at N100 or above at the time of listing on the Exchange.

    The medium-priced stocks  consist of medium-priced equities that are priced at N5 per share or above but less than N100 per share for at least four of the last six months, or new security listings that are priced at N5 per share or above but less than N100 per share at the time of listing on the Exchange.

    The low-priced stocks, where majority of listed companies fall, consist of equities that are priced at one kobo per share or above, but below N5 per share for at least four of the last six months, or new security listings that are priced at one kobo per share or above but below N5 per share at the time of listing on the Exchange.

    Stocks under high-priced group shall have price change with minimum of 10,000 units; stocks under medium-priced group shall have price movement with a minimum of 50,000 units while stocks under low-priced group shall have price change with minimum volume of 100,000 units.

    According to the Exchange, Eterna gained above the N5 mark on January 8, 2018 and traded above N5 up till close of business on June 29, 2018, which indicated that Eterna has traded above N5 in at least four out of the last six months and therefore, would be reclassified from low-priced stock to mid-price stock with effect from Monday this week.

     

  • NSE demands govt framework on housing delivery

    The Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) President, Mr Kunle Mokuolu, has called on the Federal Government to provide proper framework that would ensure better housing delivery for Nigerians.

    To achieve this, Mokuolu wants the Federal Government to create the enabling environment for private sector initiative and to engage more private sector participants in its mass housing drive. He noted that housing delivery in developed countries fared better because they are run by the private sector.

    The NSE boss, who expressed reservations about government’s disposition so far to the housing sector, argued that housing should be off the hands of government, be completely privatised, while government should provide the policy and laws that would back housing delivery.

    Mokuolu urged government to concern itself with social housing for those who cannot pay rent because they were either out of job or had other financial handicap. He advised that social housing should be restricted to the local government level and that when such economically disadvantaged citizens found their financial footing, they could start to pay rent or buy homes.

    “Federal Government is to provide the framework to ease the delivery of housing. I am not really satisfied with the housing delivery, some things must be in place to achieve this.

    “We must begin to produce our steel ourselves and that is why Ajaokuta Steel Rolling Mill is too important. Whatever it takes to produce steel in this country, government should just do it,” he said, adding that the steel component was important in developing high rise buildings, especially now that the nation’s population was growing geometrically. This will help to accommodate more people in less spaces or land.

    He expressed confidence that Ajaokuta Steel Rolling Mill could “substantially” reduce the housing deficit in the country given that steel accounted for about 25 per cent of the cost of construction of houses.

     

  • NSE adds Oando, Beta Glass to most influential stocks’ group

    The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) at the weekend picked Oando Plc and Beta Glass Company Plc as two of the 30 most capitalised stocks.

    In its half-year review of sectoral indices, the NSE added Oando Plc and Beta Glass to the NSE 30 Index, the influential index that tracks the 30 most capitalised companies at the stock market. Oando and Beta Glass displaced Julius Berger Nigeria and Diamond Bank from the group. Oando also displaced MRS Oil and Gas in the NSE Oil and Gas Index, the sectoral index that serves as barometer for the oil and gas sector.

    There were also major changes in the NSE Insurance Index, which saw the emergence of Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc, Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc and Veritas  Kapital Assurance Plc as part of the influential stocks for the insurance sector. The trio of Cornerstone Insurance Plc, Staco Insurance Plc and Standard Alliance Insurance Plc were removed from the insurance index.

    Also, Africa Prudential and Continental Reinsurance were added to the NSE Pension Index, which tracks stocks specially screened in line with pension investment. Julius Berger Plc and Beta Glass Plc were removed from the pension index.

    The NSE Lotus Islamic Index, which tracks select stocks adjudged to meet the stringent Islamic standards of ethical stocks, saw the exit of heavily leveraged Lafarge Africa and addition of Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (Nahco).

    Three other sectoral indices-the NSE Banking Index, which tracks banking subsector; the NSE Consumer Goods Index, which serves as benchmark index for the consumer goods stocks and the NSE Industrial Index, which underscores the building materials and other industrial goods stocks were unchanged.

    The price indices, which were developed using the market capitalisation methodology, are reviewed and rebalanced on a bi-annual basis – on the first business day in January and in July. The composition of the indices after the review thus becomes effective today, July 2, 2018.

    The NSE 30 Index and NSE Industrial Goods Index are modified market capitalisation index with the numbers of included stocks fixed at 30, 50 and 10 respectively. The numbers of included stocks in the NSE Consumer Goods Index, NSE Banking Index, NSE Insurance Index and NSE Oil and Gas Index are 15, 10, 15 and seven respectively.

    The stocks are picked based on their market capitalisation from the most liquid sectors. The liquidity is based on the number of times the stock is traded during the preceding half year. To be included, the stock must be traded for at least 70 per cent of the number of times the market opened for business.

    The NSE began publishing the NSE 30 Index in February 2009 with index values available from January 1, 2007. On July 1, 2008, the NSE developed four sectoral indices with a base value of 1,000 points, designed to provide investable benchmarks to capture the performance of specific sectors. The sectoral indices comprise the top 15 most capitalised and liquid companies in the insurance and consumer goods sectors, top 10 most capitalised and liquid companies in the banking and industrial goods sector and the top seven most capitalised and liquid companies in the oil & gas sector.

    In July 2012, the NSE launched the NSE Lotus Islamic index (NSE LII), which consists of companies whose business practices are in conformity with the principles of Shari’ah with the aim of increasing the breadth of the market and creating an important benchmark for investments as the alternative non-interest investment space widened. All the companies that appear on the Islamic index have been thoroughly screened by Lotus Capital Halal Investment, in accordance with a methodology approved by an internationally recognised Shari’ah Advisory Board comprising of renowned Islamic scholars.

     

  • NSE demands govt framework on housing delivery

    The Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) President, Mr Kunle Mokuolu, has called on the Federal Government to provide proper framework that would ensure better housing delivery for Nigerians.

    To achieve this, Mokuolu wants the Federal Government to create the enabling environment for private sector initiative and to engage more private sector participants in its mass housing drive. He noted that housing delivery in developed countries fared better because they are run by the private sector.

    The NSE boss, who expressed reservations about government’s disposition so far to the housing sector, argued that housing should be off the hands of government, be completely privatised, while government should provide the policy and laws that would back housing delivery.

    Mokuolu urged government to concern itself with social housing for those who cannot pay rent because they were either out of job or had other financial handicap. He advised that social housing should be restricted to the local government level and that when such economically disadvantaged citizens found their financial footing, they could start to pay rent or buy homes.

    “Federal Government is to provide the framework to ease the delivery of housing. I am not really satisfied with the housing delivery, some things must be in place to achieve this.

    “We must begin to produce our steel ourselves and that is why Ajaokuta Steel Rolling Mill is too important. Whatever it takes to produce steel in this country, government should just do it,” he said, adding that the steel component was important in developing high rise buildings, especially now that the nation’s population was growing geometrically. This will help to accommodate more people in less spaces or land.

    He expressed confidence that Ajaokuta Steel Rolling Mill could “substantially” reduce the housing deficit in the country given that steel accounted for about 25 per cent of the cost of construction of houses.

     

  • NSE okays Custodian Investment

    Custodian Investment Plc has begun to trade under its new brand identity, completing the corporate change aimed at aligning the company’s brand essence with its diversified business structure.

    The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on June 25, 2018 adjusted its trading platform to change the Custodian and Allied Plc name to its new name of Custodian Investment Plc.  However, the company’s trading symbol remains the same-Custodian.

    Shareholders of the insurance-led financial services company had at their annual general meeting in April this year, approved a resolution to change the company’s name to Custodian Investment Plc.

    Meanwhile, Custodian Investment management has assured that the bankruptcy of Abraaj Holdings will not in any way affect Custodian Investment. Abraaj Holdings – a Dubai-based investment firm with operations in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Middle East and Turkey had filed for liquidation on June 12, 2018. Aureos Africa Fund, which is managed by Abraaj Investment Management Limited (AIML), holds minority shares of Custodian Investment Plc.

    A court order on June 18, 2018 appointed executives from PwC and Deloitte as joint provisional liquidators of Abraaj Holdings. In a statement by Abraaj Holdings, “the court-supervised restructuring of Abraaj Holdings would have “minimum impact” on the day-to-day operations of the management of the funds and their portfolio companies”.

    Reacting to the liquidation, Group Managing Director, Custodian Investment Plc, Mr. Wole Oshin, noted that Abraaj is just fund managers not shareholders of Custodian Investment.

    “They manage Aureos Africa fund, who have some shares in Custodian. Our stock market prices have remained steady, and the strength of our company will not be deterred regardless of this event,” Oshin said.

    He pointed out that the vision of Custodian Investment Plc remains the same, noting that the company is being managed by a board of thoroughbred professionals with varied experience.

    According to him, Custodian Investment management is focused on building capacity and shareholder value while ensuring the company’s financial strength and ranking as an eminent player in Nigeria’s other financial services sector of the economy is maintained.

  • Barclays Africa joins NSE in July

    Barclays Africa plans to join the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) as a broker in July and is exploring opportunities in three other African countries.

    The move is to create access for foreign investors looking to tap into markets on the continent.

    Garth Klintworth, head of markets for Barclays Africa Group, said its subsidiary Absa Nigeria had acquired a securities licence in Nigeria, part of a wider plan to increase its presence in West Africa’s biggest economy.

    NSE, the third largest in Africa, has in the last few years said it was reviewing applications from leading global investment banks to join its trading floor to increase foreign investment in one of the world’s least tapped emerging markets.

    “We have acquired a securities licence, stock broking licence and we have already employed people to bring those licences to effect,” Klintworth told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in the commercial capital, Lagos.

    “The firm was also looking at openings in other markets on the continent.

    “We are investigating what opportunities there are in Ivory Coast, Morocco and possibly Angola,” he said.

    Barclays Africa CEO, Maria Ramos, said in March the firm aimed to double its share of the African banking market to 12 percent over the medium term.

    Barclays Africa is changing its name back to South African brand Absa after it split from former parent Barclays, he added.

    The stock market gained strongly in January after rising 43 percent last year. However, some profit taking has depressed equities.

    Klintworth said his firm had not seen foreign investors pull out of Nigeria due to rising interest rates in United States or effects of contagion in Italy. However, he said investors were rotating within emerging markets to tap into higher yields.

    He said Barclays Africa had seen some flows into Nigeria in the first quarter of the year, though most investors had opted to wait as they searched for higher yields.