Author: Julius Alagbe

Naira Falls Softly as CBN Keeps Tab on FX Supply The naira fell softly at the Nigeria Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM) against the US dollar on Monday as the Central Bank (CBN) FX intervention sales became the norm in the currency market. The CBN has already pumped more than $1.3 billion to support the local currency in April, with analysts saying the authority has doubled down on its aggressive dollar intervention sales to ease pressure in the FX market. At the close of trading, the naira slipped slightly, depreciating by 2 basis points to finish at N1,599.9452 from N1,599.54 on…

Nigeria’s Non-Oil Export Receipt Hits $1.79 billion in Q1 The Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) says the country’s non-oil products exported in the first quarter of 2025 were valued at 1.791 billion dollars, reflecting government efforts to diversify the country’s revenue sources. Dr Nonye Ayeni, Director-General of the NEPC, said this on Monday in Abuja while presenting a First Quarter Progress Report on the non-oil export performance for the year 2025. Ayeni said that the figure showed a 24.75 per cent increase above the 1.436 billion dollars reported in the first quarter of 2024. She said that the volume also…

Nigerian Bonds Yields Steady as DMO Opens N350bn Offer The Nigerian bonds traded quietly on the secondary market before the Debt Management Office (DMO) opened its April auction for subscription on Monday. Traders said in separate updates that the Nigerian government bonds market traded quietly throughout last week, with steady but cautious interest in mid-curve papers. Investors showed interest in FGN bonds maturing in 2031 and 2034. Ahead of the auction, market participants largely adopted a wait-and-see approach with cautious optimism given the mixed spot rate outlook. The Central Bank of Nigeria cut spot rates on Nigerian Treasury bills on…

International Breweries Hits 52-Week High, Value Rises by N368bn International Breweries Plc breached its key resistance for the first time in a long time following a 4-day monster rally in the equities segment of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) last week. The brewer stock hit a fresh 52-week high and crossed N1.2 trillion in market value as its share price appreciated by a whopping 40% to close at N7.70, from N5.5 at the beginning of trading sessions. The uptick was driven by strong rally in the relatively closely held stocks ahead of its first quarter of 2025 earnings release, with foreign…

CBN Sells $1.3bn to Defend Naira, FX Reserves Hit 6-Month Low To keep the exchange rate stable, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has sold a little less than $1.31 billion to defend the local currency in the foreign exchange market. Steep FX volatility experienced in April triggered aggressive interventions in the official market. The monetary authority sought to achieve naira stability at the time foreign portfolio investors began to rotate out from the markets. FX intervention sales to banks surged, up by 83% in April compared with $714.65 million sold to boost FX liquidity in the official window last…

Oil Prices Drop as Market Price US-Iran Talks Optimism Crude oil price movements tightened in the global commodity market amidst supply and demand imbalance with geopolitical unease, optimism surrounding US-Iran talks, and a shift in global trading directions. Oil prices posted a weekly decline on Friday, weighed down by increased production from the OPEC+ alliance and the potential for a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. The market also priced in renewed optimism surrounding a US-Iran nuclear deal and concerns over escalating US-China trade tensions. The price of international benchmark Brent crude stood at $66.87 per barrel at Friday’s trading close,…

Naira Rate Closed at N1599 as CBN Keeps FX Tap Open The naira popped higher against the US dollar to close at N1598.54 in the official window acknowledged by the Central Bank of Nigeria for daily FX spot rate. The Nigeria Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM) opened quietly after the holidays but turned bullish on the US dollar, prompting the CBN to intervene with an estimated $50 million sale at $/₦1598.85–1605.00. Throughout the week, liquidity improved with inflows from oil and gas exporters, alongside consistent CBN intervention, AIICO Capital Limited said in its investor update this week. Analysts said FX volatility…

CBN Hikes Interest Rates on OMO Bills to Keep Foreign Investors To keep foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has increased spot rates on OMO bills by more than 300 basis points across two tenors, details from its late primary market auction conducted on Friday revealed. As part of its monetary authority programme, the CBN opened N500 billion worth of OMO bills for subscription, having scaled back supply to once per month since the beginning of the year. The offer was split into N250.00 billion for OMO bills with 298-day maturity and N250.00 billion for bills…

CBN Rejects 53% of Nigerian Treasury Bills Auction Bids Due to robust demand for the naira assets, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) rejected a huge part of excess subscriptions submitted by investors at the primary market auction and still went further to cut discount rates. At the main auction conducted on Wednesday, the Apex Bank offered N400 billion, but investors’ appetite was stronger, and this resulted in total subscriptions of N1.54 trillion – reflecting increased demand for the naira assets. The authority raised above its standard offers, though more than 53% of aggregate subscriptions submitted by investors was rejected.…

Lafarge Grows Profit by 837% in Q1, Declares Interim Dividend Lafarge Africa Plc grew profit by more than 836% to N48.64 billion in the first quarter of 2025, the cement company said in a regulatory filing. As a result of the cement company’s monster earnings growth in the first three months, the board has proposed an interim dividend of N4.00 per share. The amount translates to a 5.1% dividend yield based on the closing price of N79.20 as of 24 April. Details showed that Lafarge Africa’s revenue surged by 80.3% in Q1, underpinned by strong growth across all business segments—cement,…