Author: Julius Alagbe

Julius Alagbe is a senior financial journalist and Editor at MarketForces Africa with nearly two decades of experience in finance, accounting, and economics reporting.He is one of Nigeria's most prolific financial market reporters, covering capital markets, monetary policy, corporate earnings, banking, telecoms, and macroeconomic developments across Africa.Julius has built a strong footprint reporting on Nigeria's leading corporates and financial services sector, including coverage of the Nigerian Exchange Group, Central Bank of Nigeria monetary operations, MTN Nigeria, GTCO, and major investment banking transactions.He regularly monitors the CBN’s open market operations, interbank FX markets, and equity market movements, providing readers with real-time intelligence on Nigeria’s financial landscape.His reporting draws on direct access to institutional research from firms including Moody’s Ratings, CardinalStone Securities, Fitch, and other leading African investment houses.Julius brings analytical depth and editorial rigour to every story, making complex financial data accessible to professionals, investors, and policymakers across Africa.Julius Alagbe is based in Lagos, Nigeria.

PZ Cussons Boosts Earnings, Profit Rises by 246.5% PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc has significantly improved its earnings in the first nine months of the financial year 2026, achieving a remarkable 246.5% year-on-year increase in profit. Its financials revealed that pretax profit rose to ₦68.2 billion in 9M 2026, up from ₦15.0 billion in 9M 2025, a 355.5% increase. This was supported by significant top-line growth. The company’s revenue expanded substantially in the period, up by 27.7% year on year to ₦197.2 billion, compared to ₦154.4 billion in 9M 2025. The cost of sales rose in tandem with revenue, increasing by…

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GTCO Gains as 2025 Dividend, Payout Ratio Attract Investors GTCO Plc surged by more than 7% on Wednesday, barely 24 hours after the financial services company declared a surprise dividend for the financial year 2025. According to trading data from the Nigerian Exchange, GTCO’s share price rose by 7.37% to N120.95, as 73.660 million units of its outstanding shares, valued at N8.967 billion, were executed on Wednesday. Traders’ volume transaction actions surged multi-fold after the board of directors announced a proposal to pay shareholders N11.76 per share following the earnings release. The board’s decision to sharply increase dividend payments came…

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NGX Index Rises by 21bps as FCMB, VFD Group List Shares Nigerian Exchange (NGX) All-share index (ASI) rose by 21 basis points as FCMB and VFD Group listed additional shares in the local bourse on Wednesday. The local bourse opened the new month in positive territory, as key performance indicators showed mixed outcomes. The NGX-ASI increased by 0.21%, while the market cap rose 0.46% due to a new listing. The market welcomed the additional listing of 5,067,396,400 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each of VFD Group, as well as the listing of 23,182,887,000 Ordinary Shares of 50 Kobo each arising…

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Renaissance Hails NUPRC As Company’s Gas Production Hits 2.2bcf Renaissance Africa Energy Company Nigeria Ltd has commended the regulatory reforms of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), praising the Commission for driving its recent production growth, including a record 2.2 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas output. The company’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Chief Tony Attah, made this known during a courtesy visit to the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja to mark its one-year anniversary. Specifically, the CEO of Renaissance expressed appreciation for the Commission’s regulatory support, noting that the enabling environment has been critical to the company’s…

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