Author: Marketforces Africa

Zenith Bank Up Near N2trn Ahead of Earnings, Dividend Zenith Bank Plc inched near N2 trillion mark on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) in the latest rally that nudged its market valuation up by 5.7%—ahead of the annual general meeting of shareholders. The market anticipates Zenith Bank will release its first quarter of financial year 2025 earnings scorecard in line with regulatory demand, as the group is set to pay dividends in the new week. According to data from the Nigerian market, Zenith Bank’s share price climbed to N46.50 on Friday after 22.935 million units valued at N1.045 billion exchanged hands,…

GTCO Rises to N2.15trn as Foreign Investors Take Positions The most valuable financial services company, Guaranty Trust Holdings Company (GTCO) Plc, saw its market value surge by about 7% in the equities market after the stock price was marked down for its N7.30 dividend payment. The increase in the financial services holdings company was majorly propelled by significant offshore activity in the stock market with a focus on the orange-branded financial services provider. Foreign investors scrambling for banking stocks increased their positions in GTCO ahead of the group’s first quarter of 2025 earnings release.   Reflecting investors’ positive mood, the…

UBA Drops Hint on N500 Billion Recapitalisation UBA Plc has dropped a fresh hint about the group recapitalization program after its recently completed hybrid offers in the Nigerian capital market ahead of the regulator’s 2026 deadline. Tony Elumelu, UBA Group Chairman, at the weekend assured stakeholders that the bank will meet the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) N500 billion minimum capital requirement for international commercial banks by Q3 2025, ahead of the deadline. The CBN had increased the capital base for commercial banks with international authorisation to N500 billion and for national banks to N200 billion. This sweeping financial reform,…

Cadbury Nigeria Soars by 21% in Anticipation of Q1 Earnings Fast-moving consumer goods company Cadbury Nigeria Plc’s market value soared by about 21% in the equities segment of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) ahead of its first quarter of 2025 earnings release. The consumer goods company’s share price rose from N22 at the beginning of the week to close at N26.6 on Friday after more than 1.342 million units valued at N35.302 million exchanged hands in the local bourse. This pushed the consumer goods producer market value to N60.655 billion, still trading at a significant discount to  its 52-week high in…

Interest Rates on Nigerian OMO Bills Rise by 3.28% As part of efforts to keep the naira assets attractive, spot rates on Nigerian OMO bills rose by more than 3% across standard tenors, details from a primary market auction (PMA) conducted by the Central Bank (CBN) showed. At the OMO auction on Friday, local banks and foreign portfolio investors’ appetite for the naira assets surged sharply, reflecting an untamed appetite for elevated yields. The average yield on OMO bills fell by 109 bps to 27.1% in the secondary market due to bargain hunting on the naira assets. The CBN conducted…

Dangote Cement Grows Profit by 86% to N209bn in Q1 Dangote Cement Plc grew profit by about 86% year on year to N209.2 billion in the first quarter of 2025, according to unaudited financial statement submitted on the Nigerian Exchange. The cement company earnings growth was driven by higher prices in the Nigerian segment, slower cost growth, and lower FX losses, which offset the impact of volume declines, analysts said. Details from the group financial scorecard showed that revenue rose 21.7% year on year to N994.7 billion, driven by a 60.6% increase in average revenue per tonne in Nigeria to…

Plan to Relist FGN Bonds on JPMorgan Index to Boost Demand Demand for bonds to increase as the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) has taken steps to boost the attractiveness of its borrowing notes with a plan to rejoin JPMorgan Government Bond Index for Emerging Markets (GBI-EM), investment experts said in a discussion with MarketForces Africa. On this note, analysts are expecting the next bond auction to be oversubscribed significantly, noting that the latest treasury bill auction results has set market expectations on pricing. The Debt Management Office (DMO) is scheduled to conduct its monthly Federal Government Bond auction on…

Equities Investors Lose N202bn as Dangote Cement Flips Equities investors lost about N202 billion as Dangote Cement flipped, losing 10% of its market value on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) trading platform on Friday. The pause to bullish trend moderated year to date return while key market performance indicators dropped by 0.30% apiece, according to data from the local bourse. Despite a largely positive market breadth, the downturn was triggered by sell-offs in heavyweight stocks such as Dangote Cement, the most capitalised company, and 13 others, stockbrokers said in separate report. The All-Share Index reduced by 321.21 basis points to close…

BUA Cement Bolsters Earnings; Profit Rises by 351% in Q1 BUA Cement Plc bolstered earnings performance strongly in the first quarter of 2025, signaling the previous trend has started to reverse. In the first quarter of 2025, the cement company’s net income rose by 351.4% to N81.124 billion from N17.97 billion posted in the comparable period in 2024. The impressive uptick was driven by strong revenue growth, efficient cost management, and a significant reduction in exchange losses, according to analysts. BUA Cement revenue grew by 80.5% year-on-year to N290.812 billion in Q1, according to the company’s unaudited financial statement, from…

Dangote Cement, Jaiz Bank Drive Intraday Selloffs in Equities Market Dangote Cement Plc, Jaiz Bank, and Transcorp Plc are driving the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) all-share index lower due to intraday sell pressures on the tickers. The most capitalised listed stock, Dangote Cement, has just fallen off the cliff in the equities market. Investors are currently taking profit on some companies stocks amidst the first-quarter earnings festival in the local bourse. The Nigerian Exchange has seen more stocks gaining traction and heading for a strong week close before easy profit-taking on some bellwether stocks on Friday. Dangote Cement Plc, the most…