Author: Marketforces Africa

Naira Mixed as FX Interventions Hit $1 Billion The Nigerian Naira mixed across the foreign exchange (FX) markets as the monetary authority’s US dollar intervention sales crossed $1 billion in March while data showed external reserves at $38.303 billion. On Tuesday, Naira declined to N1532 against the US dollar despite sequence of FX interventions in the foreign exchange market. The local currency lost N1.20 to close at N1,532.39 in the official market. In the first two trading sessions this week, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) injected US dollar into the official market, while authorised dealer banks also maintained $25,000…

Nigerian Exchange Rises as Investors Gain N26bn Nigerian Exchange (NGX) market capitalisation rose as equities investors’ portfolio value rose by more than N26 billion on Tuesday. For the second trading sessions, the local stock market closed on a positive note on Tuesday, as the All-Share Index edged up by 0.04% to 105,593.28 points. The slight gain recorded on Tuesday lifted market capitalisation by 0.04% to N66.21 trillion, adding N26.27 billion to investors’ portfolios, stockbrokers said. As a result of this, year to date return advanced to 2.59% and month to date loss moderated to -2.07%. Trade metrics showed mixed performance, as total…

Share Price Sticky as PZ Cussons Navigates Debt Challenges Share price of PZ Cussons sticky as the company navigates debt challenges, with shareholders rejecting debt to equities conversion offered by its majority shareholders. The consumer goods company faced distasteful financial developments that have shaped its market performance and shareholder relations. At the heart of these events was the company’s Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM), where a proposed debt-to-equity conversion was put to a shareholder vote. During the EGM, the Board of Directors proposed converting $31 million of an outstanding intercompany loan from PZ Cussons (Holdings) Limited (PZCH) into equity. This move…

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) All-Share index is trending lower during the intraday trading session on Tuesday. The sell pressures seen in banking and oil and gas names dragged market index lower by 10 basis points.

BlackRock Launches Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Product in Europe The world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, has launched a Bitcoin exchange-traded product in Europe, according listing details on iShares’ website. The iShares Bitcoin ETP will trade on Xetra and Euronext Paris, according to its latest filing. The move is in a bid to tap growing demand for cryptocurrency. The company venture into Europe after attracting more than $50 billion into similar products in the United States. BlackRock was one of the first institutional investors to offer exchange-traded products in the U.S. to track the spot price of bitcoin after the Securities and Exchange Commission…

Geregu to Pay Dividend on Friday, Amperion Takes 78.05% With two major owners taking 83.05% of total payment, Geregu Power Plc will pay shareholders N8.50 as final dividend on Friday per number of shares. A total of N21.250 billion will be paid to eligible shareholders who have shares in the company at the close of business on Thursday, March 13, 2025. Amperion Power Distribution Company Limited, owned by Femi Otedola, controls 78.05% of shares outstanding in the Genco and 5% credit to Libreville Power Limited. Hence, Amperion is expected to receive N1.658 billion as dividend income, and Libreville is expected…

Interbank Rates Diverge as Bonds Inflows Reduce Banking Deficit The interbank rates or the short-term benchmark interest rates diverge as N600 billion inflows from Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) bonds maturities and coupon payment reduced total deficit in the banking system. The Nigerian Interbank Offered Rate (NIBOR) declined across all tenors, indicating improved liquidity in the banking system, though the balance closed negative, Cowry Asset Limited said. The financial system liquidity saw some improvement but stayed in negative territory, even with inflows from FAAC disbursements, FGN bond maturities ₦562 billion and coupon payments totalling ₦38 billion. Despite these inflows, the…

NigComSat Now Commercially Viable, Says DG The Director-General, Nigerian Communication Satellite Limited (NigComSat), Jane Egerton-Idehen, says the agency has become commercially viable. Egerton-Idehen said this at the March edition of the monthly DevsInGovernment organised by the Federal Ministry of Communications Innovation and Digital Economy on Monday in Abuja. The event was to commemorate the International Women’s Day in honour of women in tech within Ministries, Departments, and Agencies of Government. This event was tagged: “Women in Tech and Leadership”. According to the D-G, every limited liability company should generate revenue for government and not rely solely on government for funds.…

FCMB Jumps as Investors Price 42.5m Block Trade FCMB Group Plc saw about 6% increase in its market value following a huge block trade priced at N9 outside the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) trading platform on Monday. Data from the local bourse revealed that FCMB share price increased by 5.56% as more than 49.586 million shares valued at N449.084 million exchange hands. This lifted the financial services group market value to N376.251 billion, tracking at a huge discount to its 52-week high in the equities market. “We did see a block trade in FCMB (+5.56%) of 42.5 million units at N9.00…

Upbeat on Earnings: Afrinvest Raises Airtel, MTN Nigeria Target Price Afrinvest Limited has increased target price of telecom stocks Airtel Africa and MTN Nigeria Plc., citing upbeat earnings expectations. In its weekly stock recommendation report, the investment firm increased target price for Airtel Africa to N3,458 per share from N1,988.87. Also, analysts raised target price for MTN Nigeria to N304.26 from N254.87 per share. “We have revised upward our 12-month target price for AIRTELAF and MTNN to N3458 from N1988.87 and N304.26 from N254.87, respectively, in reflection of its 2024/25 performance and our upbeat earnings projections for the 12 coming…