The Nation Newspaper

Tag: subscription

  • N361b T-Bills subscription raises market liquidity

    The Treasury Bills (T-bills) has recorded improved performance for the second consecutive week as market liquidity and buying interests  rise, financial market analysts have said.

    The market recorded an allotment of N130 billion against a total subscription of N361 billion, analysts at Afrinvest West Africa said. The 91, 182 and 364-day bills were fully oversubscribed at the last Primary Market Auction.

    Also, stop rates across all tenors declined due to improved system liquidity and higher subscription as the 91, 182 and 364-day rates dropped to 11.85 per cent from 11.95 per cent; 13.50 per cent from  13.65 per cent and 13.50 per cent from 13.70 per cent respectively.

    The Federal Government has also paid off about N130 billion worth of T-Bills which matured last week instead of rolling over the debt as was the previous practice, traders said.

    Director-General of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Patience Oniha, confirmed the payment last Friday and said a treasury auction calendar for March would be released this week. Nigeria issued a $2.5 billion Eurobond last month to help redeem portions of its T-Bills portfolio to lower costs.

    It has been working to lower its costs, particularly as inflation fell for the 12th time in a row in January. Treasury yields have been falling on expectations that the government will sell less debt at its second quarter auction after it sold the Eurobond. Traders expect rates to fall further after the pay off.

    Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun last month said the country would redeem N762.5 billion worth of T-Bills. Nigeria has a T-Bill portfolio of N2.7 trillion ($8.6 billion). It paid off N198 billion worth of bills in December, leading to rates dropping by around 300 basis points.

  • StarTimes’ daily subscription rises

    Pay TV provider, StarTimes Nigeria says it has recorded a rise in the number of new and existing subscribers who opted for its daily or weekly subscription package tagged “pay-per-day”.

    The company made this known in a statement issued yesterday, adding that it was happy to have been able to ease the financial burden associated with monthly subscription in the country prior to this time and gradually fulfilling its promise to deliver affordable quality entertainment to every African home.

    In a statement, its Brands & Marketing Director Qasim Elegbede said: “Our subscriber base continue to soar fast and statistics have revealed that most of our new subscribers come in asking to be placed on the pay per day plan, which is the latest package that allows you pay only for the number of days you wish to watch.”

    He added: “Being the only pay TV operator that offers daily subscription package, it is not surprising that this has been in our favor as most people no longer want to pay for TV subscription they hardly watch.”

    StarTimes had  last year announced the take off of daily, weekly subscription, saying that subscribers could watch as many as 30 channels for N60 daily and over 40 TV channels with just N300 weekly on Nova bouquet.

    For Basic bouquet subscribers, daily subscription was at N90 daily and N450 weekly while classic bouquet subscribers will pay N180 daily, N900 weekly and Unique bouquet N240 daily and N1800 weekly on DTT Platform.

    On the other hand, subscribers on the DTH Nova bouquet is N60 per day, N300 per week and 900 per month; N120, N600 and N1, 900 for the subscribers on Smart bouquet.  However, the Super Bouquet subscribers will enjoy low rate of N240, N1, 200 and N3, 800.

    StarTimes owns a featured content platform, with 440 authorised channels consisting of news, movies, series, sports, entertainment, children’s programs, fashion, and religion and broadcasts to over 10 million homes across Africa.

  • StarTimes offers 50% discount on subscription

    StarTimes has announced   the commencement of its 2017 Christmas promotion, in a bid to entice new and existing subscribers across the country beginning today to January 31, 2018.

    Speaking on this development, the company said it’s Christmas promotion was starting earlier this year, to give its esteemed subscribers the chance to enjoy their favourite channels for an extended period and also allow new subscribers get the best from its service offerings.

    Its Brand and Marketing Director, Mr. Qasim Elegbede, said: “Subscribers who renew their subscription for at least one month automatically gets 50 per cent discount on their second month subscription. We are entering into the festive season with lots of promotions in store for our subscribers. I believe this will allow our subscribers watch all of their favourite programmes already lined up for the Christmas and New Year season without any form of interruption.”

    StarTimes has in the last one month upgraded its channel list on the digital terrestrial platform, allowing customers who use the antenna watch as much as 80 exciting channels cutting across movies, news, sports, series, kiddies, animal documentary, religious channels and lots more.

    “As at today, there are more than 80 fantastic channels where we show Bollywood movies, series and Telenovelas 24hours a day. It gets better; we will be broadcasting the FIFA 2017 Club World Cup live and exclusively on StarTimes. Subscribers should watch out for more offers to come during this period,” he concluded.

  • Guinness Nigeria’s N40b rights issue records full subscription

    Guinness Nigeria Plc has secured additional N39.7 billion new equity funds from its existing shareholders as shareholders picked up the entire rights offered by the brewer.

    Guinness Nigeria had offered 684.49 million ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at N58 per share to existing shareholders on the basis of five new shares for every 11 shares held as at the close of business on March 15, 2017. Application list for the rights issue opened on July 24, 2017 and closed on August 30, 2017.

    Listing documents at the weekend showed that 684.49 million ordinary shares of 50 kobo each were added to shares outstanding in the names of Guinness Nigeria. With the listing, total issued and fully paid up shares of Guinness Nigeria has now increased from 1.5 billion shares to 2.19 billion shares.

    Diageo Plc, United Kingdom (UK), the majority core investor in Guinness Nigeria, was expected to inject additional N21 billion in Guinness Nigeria by subscribing for its rights. The rights issue provided another window for Diageo to inject capital into the Nigerian subsidiary after the multinational backed down from its earlier proposal to acquire additional equity shares in Guinness Nigeria.

    Diageo had withdrawn from its plan to acquire additional shares of up to 15.7 per cent in Guinness Nigeria from minority shareholders, citing the challenging market conditions in Nigeria. Diageo had in September 2015 announced that it was considering acquiring 15.7 per cent equity stake in Guinness Nigeria through its wholly owned subsidiary, Guinness Overseas Limited.

    Managing Director, Guinness Nigeria Plc, Peter Ndegwa, said the net proceeds of the new capital raising will support the company in executing its strategy in the context of ongoing external economic challenges.

    According to him, the rights issue will allow the company to deliver on its strategic objectives and give all its shareholders a unique opportunity to increase the number of shares they hold.

    “Our expectation is that funds raised will help mitigate the impact of increasing finance costs, optimise our balance sheet and improve the company’s financial flexibility,” Ndegwa said.

    Chairman, Guinness Nigeria Plc, Babatunde Savage, said the supplementary new issue is part of the company’s long term plans to continue to invest in its business in Nigeria.

    “We have been here in Nigeria for 67 years and, while it has been challenging in recent times for many Nigerian businesses, we remain committed to this market as evidenced by our decision to offer this Rights Issue. We are grateful for the support that we have received from our shareholders and other stakeholders up to this point,” Savage said.

    Last year, Guinness Nigeria became the first total beverage alcohol company in Nigeria by acquiring the rights to distribute international premium spirits like Johnnie Walker whisky and Baileys liqueur in Nigeria and later commissioning a N4.7 billion spirits line for locally manufactured spirits at its Benin plant.

  • GOtv offers free subscription

    GOtv offers free subscription

    GOtv subscribers who connect from now till September 30 will enjoy one month free  subcription in October, according to its Public Relations Manager, Efe Obiomah.

    She said the special promo titled: GOtv Plus and GOtv Value, is being offered customers who renew their subscription between June 18 and  July 18, this year, and  are connected from July 1 till September 30.

    Obiomah added that customers must be connected on the same bouquet to qualify for the reward.

    GOtv Value customers may also upgrade to GOtv Plus, but those who downgrade or disconnect will forfeit the reward.

    She, however, said while the Euro 2016 tournament reaches a climax this weekend, GOtv will air the semi-final and final matches of the tournament live on SuperSport Select 1.

    On the offering, she said, “At MultiChoice, we place our customers first. We know what our subscribers want, and deliver it to them.

    ‘’Furthermore, we are offering all our GOtv Plus and Value subscribers October at no extra cost if they stay connected non-stop from July 1 to September 30, 2016.”

  • Firstmonie subscription now one million

    Firstmonie subscription now one million

    Subscriptions to First-Monie, the mobile payment solution of First Bank of Nigeria Limited has crossed the one million customer mark.

    In a statement, the bank said the feat is coming less than two years of its operations in the country, adding that the product is aimed at enhancing service delivery for the unbanked and under-banked within the population.

    Its Head, Marketing and Corporate Communications, Folake Ani-Mumuney, said surpassing the one-million mark on the FirstMonie platform, shows the extent the bank will go to ensure that our customers have more choices of accessing banking services from any location they find themselves.

    “We are pleased by this achievement, which signifies the level of Firstmonie’s acceptance amongst subscribers. We believe that the tremendous growth it has recorded so far illustrates the important role it plays in providing easy access to financial services for customers on the go,” she said.

    She noted that the Firstmonie platform which was created to align with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s policy to promote a cashless or cash-less economy in Nigeria offers an excellent medium for subscribers to disburse funds efficiently and securely to their loved ones across the nation.

    FirstMonie was launched in September 2012 as part of the lender’s innovative drive to enhance financial inclusion and reduce the rate of unbanked adults in Nigeria. The  solution was created to provide convenient and safer banking for the under-banked and unbanked to access their bank account and transfer funds with the use of their mobile phones.

    This enables subscribers to send and receive money, pay bills, buy airtime and make sundry purchases in Nigeria without owning a bank account. The transaction on the platform has no time barriers and can be carried out at any time of the day.

    The platform also supports wealth creation by providing opportunities for thousands of entrepreneurs across the nation and has been involved in several notable initiatives worthy of note are The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Grant, The UNICEF Fund Disbursement Scheme among others.