Author: Marketforces Africa

Access Bank to Raise N125bn from Debt Market – Ratings Note Nigeria’s largest commercial lender by total asset, Access Bank Plc, plans to raise N125 billion from the debt capital market after its successful recapitalisation. The bank, which recently raised more than enough for its N500 billion new capital requirement for lenders with international authorisation, will be in the market to raise additional funds in 2025. In a note, GCR Ratings has assigned an indicative long-term issue rating of AA (NG) (IR) to Access Bank Plc’s proposed N125 billion series 1 fixed rate senior unsecured bonds, with stable outlook. “Indicative…

Equities Investors Lose N284bn as MTNN, Banks Stocks Fall The Nigerian Exchange, NGX, market capitalisation shrank by more than N284 billion as sell-side actors offloaded more stocks in the local bourse. The Nigerian equity market closed trading session in the red, with key market performance indicators dropping by 0.43% following a mild recovery yesterday.  The sell pressure marks a reversal of the previous day’s gains, driven by profit-taking activities in some medium- and large-cap stocks. According to trading records from the local bourse, the All-Share Index decreased by 454.16 basis points to close at 106,167.75. Equities market activities declined on…

Universal Insurance Slides as Investors Exit Positions Universal Insurance Plc bumped as price stands at ₦0.58, marking a 1.69% decline from its previous close of ₦0.59 on March 10, 2025. This drop extends a week-long bearish movement that has seen the stock lose 10.77% of its value in seven trading sessions. Despite this, the company’s financial fundamentals suggest that it remains a low-debt, value-priced investment option compared to industry peers. The stock opened at ₦0.59 but failed to hold its ground, sliding down to ₦0.58. The decline follows a pattern observed over the past week, where the price has consistently…

Veritas Kapital Sees Price Decline over Sell Pressure Assurance company Veritas Kapital Plc.’s market value declines during early trading hours in the equities market as investors trim stock portfolio holdings. Trading data from the Nigerian Exchange, NGX, showed that the insurance stock fell by 3.57% during the intraday session to ₦1.08, from ₦1.12 the previous day. The price decline may indicate a short-term pullback. The stock has been on a general downward trend since February 28, when it was trading at ₦1.20. The company’s price-to-sales ratio of 1.4x, is more than double the industry average of 0.7x, indicating that investors…

Treasury Bills Yield Hovers at 19% Ahead of Auction The average yield on Nigerian Treasury bills hovered around 19% in the secondary market due to mild buying interest ahead of the midweek auction. While trading activities were generally on calmer note, it had a bullish undertone as some investors picked bet across the short, belly and long end of the curve. Hence, the average yield retreated by 1 basis point to close at 18.98% in the secondary market. Across the curve, the average yield declined at the mid (-3 bps) segment, driven by demand for the 164-day to maturity (-3…

Nigerian Bonds Yields Steady on Soft Demand The average yield on Nigerian government bonds was relatively steady in the secondary market as demand softened. According to fixed income market analysts, the investors traded cautiously ahead of the midweek auction of the Central Bank. However, analysts observed some activity at the mid-segment (-5bps) of the curve, particularly on the Jan-35 (-26bps), Feb-31 (-8bps), and Jul-30 (-6bps) papers. The average benchmark yield remained unchanged at 18.4% on Monday amidst expectation of steep yield repricing. In the secondary market, the 2031 FGN bond saw mild buying interest; however, this was offset by moderate…

Interbank Rates Rise amidst Liquidity Shift in Banking System Interbank rates increased as cash reserve ratio (CRR) debit kept banking system liquidity in deficit. The financial system closed at N1.32 trillion negative on Friday following the debit of N1.68 trillion to the financial system for OMO bill auction settlement. At the beginning of the week, liquidity levels remained tight in the absence of significant inflows from maturing debt instruments. Demand for liquidity forced some banks to borrow from the Central Bank borrowing window. But some cash-rich lenders were seen demanding higher rates as over sustained liquidity pressures in the money…

Naira Depreciates Despite CBN’s $112m FX Intervention The naira depreciated against the US dollar in the foreign exchange (FX) market despite intervention by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Increasing demand for the US dollar and other foreign currencies for settlement of international payments has forced the naira to give up gains posted. Analysts expect the CBN to keep a night watch on exchange rate movement amidst the final settlement of Covid-19 borrowings in 2025. Latest spot FX data revealed that the local currency depreciated by 0.84% in the official window, closing at ₦1,530.15 per US dollar from N1,517.24 at…

Equities Investors Gain N52bn as Transcorp, Eterna, FCMB Rally Equities investors gained more than N52 billion as Transcorp, Eterna, FCMB and other stocks saw positive price movements in the market. The local bourse commenced the new trading week on a positive note, as key performance indicators posted a modest gain of 0.08%. The market’s positive momentum was driven by investor reactions to corporate earnings releases, sparking bargain hunting in fundamentally strong stocks trading at attractive prices. The Nigerian Exchange All-Share Index added 83.31 basis points in today’s trading session, reflecting a 0.08% increase to close at 106,621.91. In the market,…

Transcorp Spikes by 10% after Bumper Earnings, Dividend Transcorp Plc’s market value spiked by about 10% on Monday as investors’ price in its 2024 bumper earnings. The company’s net income surged by 188% year-on-year to N94.1 billion in 2024, from N32.6 billion in the same period last year. The push has lifted the conglomerate market value higher to about N524 billion on the Nigerian Exchange, trading data tracked by MarketForces Africa revealed. Hence, its earnings per share climbed by 263% year on year to N1.45 after share reconstruction in 2024 from N0.40 in 2023. The significant improvement in its bottom…