Author: Marketforces Africa

Entain Audit: UK Financial Reporting Council Probes KPMG The Financial Reporting Council, UK accounting watchdog, has launched an investigation into the audit conducted by KPMG on the financials of bookmaker Entain for the year ended December 2022, it said on Monday. The Financial Reporting Council said its investigation would be conducted by its enforcement division under the Audit Enforcement Procedure. KPMG is Entain’s group external audit and in 2023 completed its sixth financial reporting audit of the bookmaker, according to Entain’s annual report. “The Financial Reporting Council has commenced an investigation in relation to the audit conducted by KPMG LLP…

Ecobank Partners CreditCorp to Offer Affordable Financing to Customers         Ecobank Nigeria has partnered with the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation (CrediCorp) to offer affordable and flexible loans to customers. These loans can be used to finance a variety of needs, including paying school fees, rent, maintenance costs, medical bills, car purchase & repairs, asset purchase, and more. The program is available to civil servants and private-sector employees whose salaries are paid through Ecobank. New customers can also benefit upon presentation of an employer undertaking to pay subsequent salaries through Ecobank. Starting this January, the initiative provides flexible repayment options and a…

Sell Pressure in Nigerian Bond Market Provokes Yields Surge Inflation risks triggered selloffs in the Nigerian bond secondary market ahead of fresh supply in the first quarter of 2025. Nigeria’s accelerating inflation rate, which settled at 34.80% in December 2024, has reduced the real return on investment portfolio in the bond market. Hence, the local bond market traded with a bearish sentiment throughout the week, with mid-dated papers such as the February 2031 and May 2033 bonds seeing offers at 22.10% and 21.20%, respectively, traders said in a note. Sell pressures heated up the yield curve as investors focused their…

Oil prices increased in the global commodity market due to supply risks following the U.S. latest sanctions

Banks borrowed about N4 trillion from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) standing lending facility to close

Dangote Cement Lost 16.5%, Now Trading at 48% Discount Dangote Cement Plc settled at about 48% discount to its 52-week high on the Nigerian Exchange on Friday, after the stock fell, rose, and steadied in the local bourse. With production capacity of 52 million metric tonnes annually across various locations on the continent, Dangote Cement has deepened its footprint in African markets. This substantial capacity makes Dangote Cement a vital player in driving infrastructure development in Nigeria and across other African markets. Nigeria’s high interest rate environment has become a pressure cooker for the high-leverage cement company, coupled with its…

UBA Slides Slightly Ahead of 2024 Earnings Results Tier-1 banking name UBA Group Plc. saw a slight decline in market value in the equities market in the just concluded week. Ahead of its fourth quarter and full-year 2024 earnings release, the Pan African lender’s share price declined to N33.90 on Friday from N34.2 at the beginning of the week due to lower investors’ sentiment. With 34.199 billion shares outstanding, UBA’s equities market capitalisation declined to N1.159 trillion on the Nigerian Exchange. The banking group has seen significant demand from buy-side actors in the local bourse in the recent time. This…

UAC of Nigeria Market Value Increased by 12.5% to N105bn UAC of Nigeria Plc (UACN) is now worth N105 billion in the equities market after the conglomerate company’s market value surged by 12.5% on stronger earnings expectations.  According to data from the Nigerian Exchange, UACN Plc share price rose to N36 in the equities segment due to increased positioning in diversified company stocks from N32. In December, when its share price was N23.55, equities analysts at CardinalStone Securities Limited set a 12-month target price of N38.21 for UACN. At the market price of N36, its 2.926 billion shares outstanding have…

Oando Energy Gains 15% on Buy Side Activities Oando Energy Plc’s saw a 15% increase in market value in the stock market as investors started repositioning after December sell pressures. The share price of Oando Plc climbed to N71.80 in the equities segment of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) from N62.50 at the beginning of the week. The positive price movement that followed increased demand for the energy company’s share lifted its market capitalisation to N892.575 billion on Friday. Buy-side activities in the stock market triggered the latest market re-rating of the energy stock. At the current market price, Oando Energy…

Telecom Operators to Disconnect Banks over Huge USSD Debt Telecom operators in Nigeria, MTN, Glo, Airtel, 9Mobile, have gotten approval to disconnect some banks owing huge amount for support services provided. The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says it has ordered telecommunications companies to disconnect the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) codes assigned to nine financial institutions due to unpaid debts. This was made known in a public notice signed by NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Mr Reuben Muoka during the week. According to the commission, the affected banks must settle their outstanding debts by Jan. 27, 2025 or risk losing…