Equities market gains N11bn as 18 stocks appreciate

The stock market (equities category) appreciated by N11bn as 18 stocks recorded gains amid 16 laggards.
A total of 187.602 million shares valued at N1.312bn were traded in 3,065 deals.
The Nigerian Stock Exchange market capitalization rose to N9.36tn from N9.349tn, while the NSE All-Share Index closed at 27,252.48 basis points from 27,220.09 basis points.
The NSE ASI advanced by 0.12 per cent, bringing the year-to-date return to 4.85 per cent (negarive). However, volume traded and market turnover declined by 14.69 per cent and 30.08 per cent, respectively.
Topping the gainers’ chart was Eterna Plc, which appreciated by 9.96 per cent to close at N3.09. The counter was trailed by Okomu Oil Palm Plc, which rose by 9.18 per cent; Redstar Express Plc gained five per cent; Unity Bank Plc appreciated by 4.76 per cent, and Learn Africa Plc posted a 4.29 per cent gain.
On the other hand, UAC Property Development Company Plc led the decliners’ chart, depreciating

Erisco Foods exits Nigeria, moves to China

A leading indigenous local tomato paste manufacturer, Erisco Foods Limited, has made good its threat of shutting down the $150bn plant and relocating its manufacturing base to a location outside Nigeria.
The Chief Executive Officer, Erisco Foods Limited, Chief Eric Umeofia, announced on Tuesday that the company was winding down operations preparatory for its final exit from the country.
He said that he was moving the factory to China where he already had a thriving business, adding that from there, he would be manufacturing and exporting tomato paste back to Nigeria, as it was far cheaper doing so than producing locally.
According to him, 1,500 employees of the firm will be retrenched in a process that will span six to nine months, as the company relocates, adding that the retrenchment, which will take place in batches, had already commenced with the first batch of workers being sent home.
After months of complaint about lack of access to foreign exchange for the purchase of raw materials and machinery, high cost of running his factory in Nigeria and the influx of imported

Saudi Aramco CEO predicts oil market balance by early 2017

The global oil market should be balanced early next year, the president of Saudi Aramco said on Tuesday, after over-supply drove prices to multi-year lows in 2016.
“The gap between supply and demand is closing,” Amin Nasser, who is also the state-owned oil company’s chief executive, told an international energy forum.
He said Aramco’s analysis sees the market “balanced by the first half of 2017.”
Last week, the chief of the International Energy Agency said the market would rebalance earlier than expected if major crude producers implement a deal to cap output when they meet next month.
Under current conditions, the IEA expects global output to exceed demand until the second half of 2017, Fatih Birol said in Singapore.
But he said that if OPEC and non-OPEC producers intervene in the markets, “this rebalance can be earlier than the second half of 2017.”

CBN goes tough on e-banking fraud, to blacklist customers

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said it is working on a policy that will ensure that bank customers involved in electronic fraud are either blacklisted or placed on close surveillance.
The bank’s Director, Banking and Payment System, Mr. ‘Dipo Fatokun, said this at the October edition of the Nigeria e-Fraud Fraud Forum (NeFF) held in Lagos at the weekend.
Fatokun, who is the chairman of NeFF, said the Bank Verification Number (BVN) would also be used in identifying fraudsters in the industry.
“We are currently working on a framework using the BVN to eliminate fraudsters. One common thing about electronic fraud is that when money is moved from an account, it is moved into another bank account. So, identifying the owner of that fraudulent account using the BVN, we would not only be able to identify him or her in the bank in which he has moved the money to, we would also identify him in all the banks where he has accounts and when legal impediments are overcome, such people could be blacklisted or watchlisted in the banking system.

Senate vows to sustain NLNG’s legacy

The Chairman Senate Committee on Gas, Senator Bassey Albert Akpan, has promised that his committee will do all in its power to sustain the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited legacy and encourage the entrenchment of the NLNG business model in other parts of the Nigerian economy.
This was contained in a statement on Tuesday by the company’s General Manager, External Relations, Dr. Kudo Eresia-Eke.
Akpan made the call when he led members of the committee on an oversight visit to the NLNG facility in Bonny on Monday.
Other members of the 11-person Senate team included Senators Bassey Albert Akpan Barnabas Gemade, Rose Oko Okoji, Rilwan Adesoji Akanbi, Danjuma Laah, Francis Alimikhena, Matthew Urhogide and Bubakar Moallahyidi.
They all commended the NLNG model and assured NLNG’s Senior Management of their continued support to promote and sustain the company’s successful operations.
Speaking after a business presentation by the NLNG’s General Manager Production, Tayo Oginni,

Senate approves bill to end business monopolies

The Senate has approved a bill seeking to end all forms of business monopolies in Nigeria and promote trade competition in the 36 states of the federation.
The upper legislative chamber, therefore, approved scrapping of the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) and ratified its replacement with the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.
Passing the bill sponsored by Senator Andy Uba (PDP, Anambra South), yesterday, through a second reading, the Senate directed its Committee on Trade and Investment to conclude all legislative work on the issue and report back within four weeks.
The Federal Government, meanwhile, is ecstatic that it’s reforms for instituting a vibrant business environment may have started yielding dividends, as Nigeria’s ranking in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business remains static, halting a falling trend in the past years.
A statement signed by Laolu Akande, Senior Special Assistant to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, yesterday, said the latest 2017 report released Tuesday, October 25, and which ranked Nigeria 169

Adeosun opens London Stock Exchange, says Nigeria has low debt-GDP ratio

Nikhil Rathi, Chief Executive Officer, London Stock Exchange (LSE); Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, Director General, National Pension Commission (PENCOM); Greg Hands, UK Minister for International Trade; Kemi Adeosun, Honourable Minister of Finance, Federal Republic of Nigeria; Oscar N. Onyema, OON, Chief Executive Officer, The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE); Haruna Jalo-Waziri, Executive Director, Capital Markets Division, NSE at the Opening Bell Ceremony of the London Stock Exchange to kick off the 3rd London and Lagos Capital Markets in Partnership Conference organized by the Nigerian Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange in London on Friday.

Nigeria’s minister of finance, Kemi Adeosun, on Friday opened the London Stock Exchange (LSEG) to celebrate the business ties between Nigeria and UK, while promoting the 3rd ‘London and Lagos Capital Markets in Partnership’ conference.
The minister, who was joined by Greg Hands, a member of the UK parliament and the UK minister of state for international trade, said Nigeria is good for business.
Adeosun, who explained how Nigeria intends to fund its budget deficit, said Nigeria’s low-interest lending rate remains on course. She said the country has a headroom for borrowing, since it has a low debt-to-GDP ratio.
Speaking on Nigeria, Hands said: “I know from my own time in Nigeria that the UK and Nigeria have long enjoyed a close and prosperous business relationship.
“The UK is one of Nigeria’s largest investors and the government is committed to boosting trade between our two countries.
“We are actively helping British companies export to Nigeria and Nigerian businesses to locate

At N300/dollar, no need for fresh devaluation – Emir Sanusi

The Emir of Kano and former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Muhammad Sanusi II, has said that the naira, at 300 to a dollar, needs no fresh devaluation.
Sanusi said all the CBN needs to do is to make the Bureau de Change (BDC) segment of the market liquid, and watch the gap between official and parallel market close, with investors bringing in more forex.
“My public position is that if the Central Bank can improve on its management of foreign exchange, provide liquidity to the parallel market, get a convergence between the BDC rate and the official rate, also keep these yields where they are, that will help to attract the foreign exchange that we need to stabilize in the short term,” he told Daily Trust.
“While I think the naira is undervalued, certainly if you look at the purchasing power parity, when you look at the nominal exchange rates, when you look at the rate of inflation, it stands to agree that even at 300, the naira will be slightly undervalued.