FG expresses concern over situation at stock market - As market value drops by N297bn in one day

AS share prices slide in the capital market, the Federal Government has stated that the negative global condition in the market may affect the Nigerian capital market.

Minister of Finance, Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman, stated this on Tuesday in Abuja while inaugurating the new board of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Noting that the negative global situation in the capital market might spread to Nigeria, the minister said with good corporate governance, the global threat might not be a problem to the Nigerian market.

To ward off the threat, he said there was still a lot to do in the areas of entrenching market transparency, efficiency and discipline.

He said no effort should be spared towards ensuring the international competitiveness of the market and its relevance to domestic needs.

‘These can only be done through sustained commitment to zero tolerance for market abuse, improving processes and products and intensive public awareness campaign” the minister said.

With the calibre of people on the SEC board, Dr. Usman expressed confidence in the board’s capacity to provide the guidance required to move SEC in particular and the Nigerian capital market forward.

In his address, the Director General of SEC, Mr. Musa Al-Faki, said that efforts were ongoing to further reduce the cost of doing business in the Nigerian capital market.

He said this, among other measures would encourage greater inflow of both local and foreign investments. Members of the board are Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, Part-time chairman; Musa Al-Faki, Alhaji Lawal Sani Stores, Ms. Daisy Sabunju Ekineh, Mr. Charles Udora, Mrs. A.O. Fatade, Mallam Yahaya Alli, Mr Jubril Zarewa and Mr. Umar Bello Girei.

Meanwhile, despite the efforts of the management of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to ensure that activities in the capital market improve after some months of continuous bearish run, transactions in the market have remained down.

The market capitalisation of all listed equities which opened on Tuesday at N11.416 trillion lost N297 billion to close at N11.119 trillion.

Similarly, the all-share index closed lower at 57,101.72 points compared to 58,625.66 points it opened with.

Market operators explained that investors were not eager to rush back into the market, saying that they were still watching developments.

They further explained that many investors incurred losses in the past two months due to the suspension on financier account, popularly known as margin account, as their banks were calling on them to clear their accounts which warranted their offloading their holdings within the period.

They opined, however, that the market would soon bounce back.
Further breakdown showed that 67 stocks lost weight compared to 62 the pervious day with Oando Plc leading the lot with N10.609 to close at N201.40. BCC followed with price loss of N2.47 to close at N46.93. Flour Mill, Ashakacem and Zenith Bank followed, losing N2.36, N2.22 and N2.20 to close at N87.49, N42.37 and N42.30 respectively.
details at www.nigerianstock.tk

Following the upsurge in the number of private placement across the various sectors of the Nigerian economy and the attendant abnormalities trailing it, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has vowed to expose promoters who negate the rules for the floatation of the foreign placement.

Speaking during a joint interactive session with stockbrokers and journalists on development in the capital market in Lagos, the Director-General of the NSE, Professor (Mrs.) Ndi-Okereke Onyiuke disclose the unconstitutional manner in which the private placement exercises have been carried out, saying “It has become alarming and calls for immediate action in order to protect investors from fraudulent and dubious promoters and to also protect the Nigerian capital market from collapse and lost of public confidence”, she said.

“The rate and number of private placement has become very alarming. These days every company irrespective of their status want to raise funds through private placement to the extent that the process is being abused and has recorded numerous abnormalities.

Today, private placements are being conducted like public offers. Many of the complaints we have been receiving from investors are about private placements. Many of the investors were misled to believe that the share of the company would be listed on the NSE immediately after the offer.

It is necessary we take certain step to stem the abuse and the abnormalities that have been recorded in the placement exercise.”

The measures introduced by the NSE to check the proliferation of private placement is it decision to ensure that companies does not list its shares by introduction unless, it presents before the NSE, its placement memorandum, barring such company from raising additional funds until one year after listing, insisting that the company brings to the trading floor five per cent of their total shares on issue, raising it to 10 per cent from September 2008, and listing the shares on the price at which the private placement was undertaken.”

Onyiuke disclosed that the normal process of private placement does not require that prospectus be printed but placement memorandum which are placed before not more than fifty investors identified by the company undertaking the private placement.

According to her, ““The Company and Allied Matter Act (CAMA) gave directions on how private placements are to be undertaken. These days, private placements are conducted like public offers. The law states that the document which carries information about the placement exercise be called a placement memorandum and should be laid before not more than 50 investors identified by the company, allowing for the company to overshoot this limit after it might have registered as a Public Limited Company (PLC).

These days, promoters of private placement print prospectus and distribute to everybody at every place. These is not supposed to be the case.”” She vows that the NSE will, henceforth, drag banks, stockbroking houses, issuing houses and other parties that goes contrary to the provisions of the constitution for the conduct of private placement, to the relevant regulatory authorities for sanctions to be meted out on them, warning that they stand the risk of getting jail terms. File name: NSE. June 16, 2008—Vanguard

Despite the efforts of the management of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to ensure that activities in the capital market improves after some months of continuous bearish run, transactions in the market have remained down.

The market capitalisation of all listed equities which opened the day at N11.416 trillion lost N297 billion to close at N11.1190 trillion. Similarly, the all-share index closed lower at 57,101.72 points compared to 58,625.66 points it opened with.

Market operators explained that investors are not eager to rush back into the market, saying that they are still watching developments in the market. They further explained that so many investors incurred losses in the past two months due to the suspension on financier account, popularly known as margin account, as their banks were calling on them to clear their accounts which warranted offloading their holdings within the period.

They opined however, that the market will soon bounce back. Further breakdown showed that 67 stocks lost weight compared to 62 the pervious day with Oando Plc leading the whole lot with N10.609 to close at N201.40. BCC followed with price loss of N2.47 to close at N46.93.

Flourmill, Ashakacem and Zenith Bank followed losing N2.36, N2.22 and N2.20 to close at N87.49, N42.37 and N42.30 respectively.

Conversely, 19 companies added weight led by Mobil oil which gained N9.37 to close at N196.87, followed by Guinness with appreciation of N1.80 toclose at N130.00. Eterna oil, Presco and Danflour followed adding N1.66, N1.39 and N1.36 to close at N34.92, N29.39 and N29.05 in that order.

As in the pervious day, insurance sub-sector led activity on the sectoral chart, accounting for 724.2 million shares worth N1.5 billion done in 3,357 deals, followed by the banking sub-sector with traded volume of 142.112 million shares valued at N3.2 billion exchanged in 6,865 deals. It would be recalled that the NSE had last week in a spirited effort to restore confidence in investors and arrest the persistence tumbling of stocks, called off the suspension on financier account, thereby giving stock brokers leave to continue to take loans from banks to trade on behalf of their clients.

Besides, it has also taken some definite steps to ensure that arbitrary sale of private placements by some unquoted companies is brought to a stop; a situation the regulatory authority attributed the free fall in the market to, but the situation is yet to be abated

Omatek enters the secondary market today.

Omatek ventures Plc was listed and traded for the first time on the Nigerian Stock Exchange today. The company which got listed its 2,941,789,472 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at N4.90 per share today, was categorized under the Computer & Office equipments sector of the market. At the end of todays trading on the Nigerian Stock Exchange trading floor, Omatek stock turned out to become the second most traded stock of the day, the openning and closing market price of the company’s shares was a flat N5.44.

Other informations presented to the Nigerian seconary market about the company, shows that it has its financial year ending every 31st December and the keepers of the company’s membership record book is Afri bank Registrars Ltd.
According to informations on the companies website, it started as Omatek ventures limited since 1988 as a distributor of Compaq, IBM, ACER, Apple etc; was appointed as a premium partner for compaq and a senior partner for IBM Apple and Micosoft. It has been a well known name in computer products and services to banks, Oil companies and government agencies also has trading outlets in various countries in Africa.

Private placements regime.

A lot of capital market investors seem to believe that private placement is the best and cheapest opportunity to buy into a would be public company. The intense hunger for private placements may not be unconnected with the recent trend whereby most stocks subsequently tends to shoot up in price within the first few days of listing such into the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Recently, The Nigerian Stock Exchange had to publish a “BUYERS BEWARE” public notice on her official website, informing investors that over 300 private placements in the last six months had been concluded with the unsuspecting public believing that such stocks would be listed with the Exchange house soon.

However, recently concluded private placements including Starcomms and Reltel, both of the lucrative communication industry seems to be sure baits considering the mega income generating power of the industry within the Nigerian economy. It is quite good, investors are optimistic of the high probability of newly listed stocks to surge upwards in market value on there first entry into the Nigerian seconary market.
Infact, any ‘A+Z Oli/Communication ltd’ (fictious) would most likely be oversubscried by merely conducting a private placement provided their is a strong rumour of the shares being listed soon on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. My concern is that people do not seem to be interested in the fundamental strength of there would be company before jumping into such private placements, talkless of questioning the intergrity of the major shareholders or core investors of such companies.
What is a private placement?
It is simply a means of turning a private limited liability company (Ltd) into public limited liability company (Plc), without the use of a prospectus- any type of advertisment inviting the members of the public to bid/buy
the issued shares of such company.
Especially this period of Nigerian secondary market- the Nigerian Stock Exchange, is witnessing a continious heavy rain of market value depreciation making investors to become stock fundamentals concious as against the previous ‘throw your money anyhow into the sunny and fast appreciating secondary market’ syndrome.

We would like to know your thoughts on this. Please comment below (You need to be registered and logged on to this blog to comment ).

youngever:

Private placements regime.

What is a private placement?
It is simply a means of turning a private limited liability company (Ltd) into public limited liability company (Plc), without the use of a prospectus- any type of advertisment inviting the members of the public to bid/buy
the issued shares of such company.

We would like to know your thoughts on this. Please comment below (You need to be registered and logged on to this blog to comment ).

the bold portion is wrong!!! . private placement does not turn a company into a PLC. a company only turns into a plc when it lists on the stock exchange and makes it possible for anybody to acquire its shares. note that a company does not have to conduct a PUBLIC OFFER to become a public company!!! all the company needs to do is open it doors to anybody to acquire its share publicly and thus possibly increase the number of shareholders to more than 50

a private placement is just that, private arrangement by a company to increase it's capital base by asking potential investors with the wherewithal. the company cannot ask more than 50 people to place funds privately, the situation we have witnessed in d last few months in nigeria is an aberration.

The rapid growth being witnessed in the Nigerian capital market was a major challenge that regulators of the market are grappling with, the Director-General, Securities and Exchange Commission, Alhaji Musa Al-Faki, has said.

A statement obtained by our correspondent on Wednesday, said the SEC boss made the observation at the inauguration of the commission’s board on Tuesday.

The significant growth recorded by the capital market, analysts said, had overwhelmed both operators and regulators of the market.

This, they alleged, had resulted in deficiencies in the system.

According to Al-faki, the capacity of the capital market to provide the funding needs for investors, as demonstrated by the various public offers that had taken place in the market, strengthens their argument.

He added, “Its international profile as a good destination for foreign investments and a credible platform for global players has been on the increase.

“The commission in this regard is pursuing, as a matter of urgency, the implementation of policies that will enhance market efficiency, transparency as well as the capacity of operators and regulators.

“Ultimately, the target is to sufficiently mobilise funds for infrastructure and financing in the economy.”

The director-general assured that the new board would expedite the process of addressing these challenges.

He reiterated that there were plans underway to further reduce the cost of doing business in the capital market.

“This, among others, will encourage greater flow of both local and foreign investments. As in the previous exercise in 2007, all stakeholders will be carried along, as only an across board review will bring the desired positive impact,” he explained.—Punch

Former European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Company, Chief Operating Officer, Jean-Paul Gut, was charged with insider trading for selling shares before disclosing production delays on Airbus SAS’s A380 superjumbo airliner.

Gut, 46, was arraigned on a preliminary count of insider trading by investigating judges and released on bail of 400,000 euros, said Isabelle Montagne, a spokeswoman for Paris prosecutors. Gut is the second former EADS executive charged in the case, according to the Bloomberg News on Wednesday.

Paris prosecutors investigating whether company executives and stockholders Lagardere SCA and Daimler AG sold EADS shares based on internal information about production problems for the A380, the world’s largest passenger plane, Former EADS co-Chief Executive Officer, Noel Forgeard, was charged last month after being held for 35 hours.--Punch

more news at www.nigerianstock.tk

Stocks: Senate moves to regulate capital market

The Senate on Wednesday threw its weight behind moves to regulate the practice of share registration in Nigeria.

This followed its decision to refer a bill titled; “A Bill for an Act to establish the Chartered Institute of Capital Market Registrars to regulate and control the practice of share registration and for related matters, 2008,” to its committee on Capital Markets for further legislative action.

Chief sponsor of the bill, Senator Ganiyu Solomon, in his lead debate said “The role of registrars in capital market and indeed the economy is crucial.

“It is, therefore, the thinking of the committee that records of investors and their investments must be handled by qualified and tested professionals so as to ensure adequate protection, transparency, guard against fraud and enhance the standard of service delivery in the market in line with international best practices.”

According to him, the registrar is expected to be a manager of resources, an accountant, a computer specialist, stockbroker and industrial relations expert.

This, he said, meant that the practice of share registration was demanding and needed specialised skills and tools that cut across so many other professions.

Senator Abubakar Sodangi said, “It is important in the sense that in a developing economy like ours, and even in the developed economies of the western world, our capital market is the harbinger of economic growth and I believe we need this thing. Apart from that, I believe this is a good bill.”

He, however, complained about problems associated with the distribution of share certificates and receipt of dividends for shares bought by investors.

Senator Mohammed Mohammed said, “This regulation is welcomed. When companies started being quoted on the stock exchange there were very few registrars at that time and the registrars were the banks, which started to take up the jobs of registrars.”—Punch

Nigeria Says Stock Market Swings Will Be Contained (Update1)
The Central Bank of Nigeria said gains in stock prices over the past year were justified by corporate earnings and the outlook for economic growth and that the government is concerned by volatility in the market after shares tumbled in May.

The government and regulatory authorities will take “whatever steps are necessary to preserve the recent gains in the Nigerian Stock Exchange,” the central bank said in a statement on the Web site of the Abuja-based Nigerian presidency today. It didn’t give details on what they may do.

The Stock Exchange’s benchmark All-Share Index fell 11 percent between May 19 and June 6 on speculation that the central bank planned to act to halt margin trading, the practice of borrowing money to buy shares. The central bank denied it had any such plans, Lagos-based Thisday newspaper said on June 10.

Recent declines have pared the rally in the stock index over the past year to 10.5 percent from 34 percent on March 5

Smart Products Nigeria Plc, One of the second-Tier securities traded on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in the group categorised as ‘emerging market sector’ of the market, recently proposed a 7.50 Kobo dividend, with closure date of its register for this purpose scheduled for between 25th June to July 8th 2008. This information is contained in her fully audited result for the year ended December 31st 2007. The company, who’s major business is the processing of palm oil is likely going to progress into the Agro-allied sector of the market as a first-Tier security if it continues to grow in capital and further meets the stringent listing requirements.

Other features in the positive result includes: A Profit After Taxation of N3.865 million as against a year 2006 comparable periods figure of N2.359 million, indicating a 63.46 percent increase in distributable profit; a Profit Before Taxation of N4.759 million as against a year 2006 comparable periods N3.489 million; while the company also recorded a Turnover figure of N12.545 million as against a previous year comparable periods N10.555 million figure.

Another result that reached the market this week was that of Scoa Nigeria plc. Scoa submitted her unaudited second quarter result for the year ended 30th June 2007. The Profit After Tax was N777.245 million as against a previous year 2006 figure of N20.200 million, making a woping 3747 percent increase in distributable profit money, was recorded within the accounting period. The extra-ordinary increase was largely due to an Exceptional item which the company disclosed to be due to the disposal of an idle property. Other features in the result includes a Profit Before Tax of N827.245 million as against a previous comparable year’s figure of N20.200 million; also a Turnover figure of N1.321 billion was recorded as against a previous comparable periods N1.255 billion.

The question of why stocks fluctuate has been a nagging one, especially for beginners in the art of investment. Falling stock prices are sometimes a hard pill to swallow. But experts have cautioned that long-term investors should not be concerned. A leading investment expert and the proprietor of About.com, a major investment network, Mr. Joshua Kenon, says the answer to this lies in the nature of the stock market, which is based on volatility. According to him, “The stock market is essentially a giant auction - only instead of antiques and heirlooms, it is ownership in businesses that’s up for grabs. Stocks are traded at places called exchanges. At these exchanges, traders buy and sell shares of companies. He says, generally, the price of a stock is determined by supply and demand. For example, if there are more people wanting to buy a stock than to sell it, the price will be driven up because those shares are rarer and people will pay a higher price for them. On the other hand, if there are a lot of shares for sale and no one is interested in buying them, the price will quickly fall.

On the trend in the market, he says, “Because of this, the market can appear to fluctuate widely. Even if there is nothing wrong with a company, a large shareholder who is trying to sell millions of shares at a time can drive the price of the stock down, simply because there are not enough people interested in buying the stock he is trying to sell. Because there is no real demand for the company he is selling, he is forced to accept a lower price.”

Knowing how the stock market works will help investors understand the individual factors that cause wild fluctuations in stock prices. This understanding will help investors to take advantage of the manic-depressive behaviour that sometimes seems to affect their portfolio, as it is being currently experienced on the Nigerian scene.

How a bear market affects your investments

Generally, a bear market will cause the securities you already own to drop in price. The decline in their value may be sudden, or it may be prolonged over the course of time, but the end result is the same: the quoted value of your holdings is lower. In this trend, two fundamental principles must be noted. One, that a bear market is only bad if you plan to sell your stock or need your money immediately. Two, falling stock prices and depressed markets are friends of long-term, value investors.

In other words, if you invest with the intent to hold your investments for decades, a bear market is a great opportunity to buy. It is always amazing that some “experts” advocate selling after the market has fallen. The time to sell was before your stocks lost value. If they know everything about your money, why didn’t they warn you the crash was coming in the first place?

What to do in a bear market

The biggest question that normally agitates the minds of investors in times of capital losses is: What do I do with my money in a bear market?

Kenon says the first thing you need to do is to look for companies and funds that are going to be fine ten or 20 years down the road. “If the market crashes tomorrow and causes Gillette’s stock price to fall by 30 per cent, people are still going to buy razors. The basics of the business haven’t changed. This brings us to the third principle of a bear market: ‘Learn to separate the stock price from the underlying business.’ They have very little to do with each other over the short-term. When an investor understands this, you will see falling stock markets like a clearance sale at your favorite furniture store; load up on it while you can, because history has shown that prices will eventually return to more reasonable levels.–Punch

As against the trend experienced previous week, market indicators decline freely through this week by 9.65per cent as the NSE ASI index closed on the down side at 54,382.21 points. On the contrary, the total market capitalisation of the 222 listed equities slumped by 9.53per cent to stand at N10.60trn. The divergence in returns from index and capitalisation is attributable to the shares of Omatek Venture Plc admitted into the Daily Official List on June 18, 2008.

However, compared with previous week trading statistics, total volume of shares traded increased by 41per cent representing 5.24 billion shares exchanged by investors in 82,798 valued at N42.52bn.

Advances/Declines

CHEVRON (+14.62k), MOBILE (+9.37k) and 7UP (+2.60k) emerged leaders on the week’s gainers’ chart, while TOTAL (-N12.54k), GUINNESS (-N10.80k) and NESTLE (-N9.25k) led on the losers’ camp. It should be noted that GUINNESS was adjusted for final dividend of N6.80k on Friday June 20, 2008, which is responsible for the huge decline in its share price.

At close of activities, 14 stocks advanced in price lower than 92 recorded last week. 98 equities declined in value far higher than 2 noticed previous week while 12 closed flat.

Sectoral performance

For the fourth week running, Insurance sector sustained its dominance, emerging as the most active sector in the stock market by volume. The sector accounted for 3.43 per cent of total turnover of shares in 14,521 deals worth N6.45bn. Activity in the sector was driven trading in the shares of IAINSURE, UNIVINSURE and GOLDINSURE. Trading in the shares of the 3 companies captured 86per cent of the sector’s turnover. The banking sector trailed closely behind on the week’s activity chart with 1.3 billion shares exchanged in 38,977 deals valued at N28.99bn. Activities in the shares of companies in the Conglomerate sector claimed the third position on the table with 119 million shares traded in 2,225 deals.

CORPORATE NEWS: Corporate Results

CRUSADER INSURANCE PLC and NAMPAK NIGERIA PLC posted their audited accounts for the year ended December 31, 2007 and September 30, 2007 respectively. Similarly, SMART PLC and SCOA PLC both released their audited accounts for the year ended December 31, 2007 and un-audited Q2 results for the period ended June 30, 2007 respectively. Others in the group are:

- Ikeja Hotel Plc declared its audited accounts for the year ended December 31, 2007. The directors recommended cash dividend of N0.10k.

- DN Meyer Plc released its un-audited Q1 results for the period ended March 31, 2008 alongside with its audited accounts for the year ended December 31, 2007.

- INCAR (Nigeria) Plc posted its un-audited Q1 results for the period ended March 31, 2008.

- NCR (Nigeria) Plc made public its audited account for the year ended December 31, 2007 which shows turnover increase to N4.21bn from N1.6bn recorded previous year. Meanwhile, SMART PLC proposed a cash dividend of 7.5kobo per share with June 25 to July 08, 2008 as closure date. Payment date is to be announced later. Crusader Insurance Plc also declared a dividend of 15kobo per share. Closure date of register is between June 30 and July 04, 2008.

Longman Nigeria Plc goes on suspension

The share price of Longman Nigeria Plc froze on receipt of an official notice in respect of proposed placement of shares by the company.

New Listing by Introduction

- A total of 2,941,789,472 ordinary shares of 50kobo each were admitted into the Daily Official List of the NSE by introduction in the name of OMATEK VENTURES PLC at N4.18k.

- TANTALIZERS PLC: The NSE would be admitting 2,950,000,000 ordinary shares of 50k each at N3.50k by way of introduction on Monday June 23, 2008 in the name of Tantalizers Plc

what are the closing stock values of First, Zenith, First Inland, UBA and PHB banks. A link on banking share prices.

Following the lifting of the regulatory measures to stem the free fall of prices of listed equities by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the bearish trend that has been the order of the day in the capital market in the last couple of months returned last week, as the All-share index and market capitalisation both dropped by 9.65 per cent and 9.53 per cent respectively.

Evident in the decline was the fact that investors lost N1.12 trillion from their investments in the NSE, as the value of equities, represented by the market capitalisation dropped from N11.72 trillion at which it opened the week, to close the week at N10.6 trillion. The All-share index, another index for measuring performance of listed securities on the NSE, was not spared either, as it lost 5,809.21 basis points to close at 54,382.21 points from 60,191.83 points at which it opened the week.

To this end, experts in the Nigerian capital market have called for the intervention of the federal government in arresting the current downturn that has been witnessed in the market in the last couple of months.
Speaking in Lagos last week, the General Manager, Lambeth Trust and Investment Company Limited, Mr. David Adonri disclosed that the factors that are responsible for the continuous decline in the market indices and in the prices of shares can only be addressed by federal government, as the major factors are brought about by its activities.

He identified the monetary policies activities of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the delay in the implementation of the budget and the Niger-Delta crisis among other factors, as being responsible for the persistent decline in the prices of shares.

He said, “The CBN’s operation of the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), which determines the interest rate to be charged by banks for lending and for deposit is a factor that determines the patronage of investors to the capital market. If the interest rate on deposits is high as a result of the MPR, investors will transfer their funds to the money market.

This has been the case in the past couple of months, as the interest rates have suddenly become attractive. Also, the delay in the implementation of the budget has created uncertainty in the mind of investors, especially institutional investors, who may have decided to withhold their funds from the capital market, while the Niger-Delta crisis, on its own part, have made foreign investors who had wanted to put their money in the country to desist from doing so, making them to take their other investments out of the country, some of which are in the capital market. All these have contributed in one way or the other to the decline that has recorded in the last couple of months.”

He called on the federal government to address the issues so as to restore confidence in the market and to improve the fortunes of the market, stemming the free fall. He also commended the NSE for its role in addressing the situation, stating that such actions are expected of the NSE in such critical situations that are capable of inhibiting the growth of the market.

However, the regulatory authorities have indicated their willingness to address the free fall of the prices of shares and prevent a collapse of the market. The CBN last week announced its determination to help in its own ways in addressing the decline in the market. It stated that it will not hesitate to churn out policies or introduce measures that will return the market on the path of growth and improved returns on investment.

Corroborating his views, Mr. Olufemi Awoyemi, Managing Director, Proshare Nigeria Limited disclosed that the action of the NSE in stemming the free fall in the prices of equities is in order with what is obtainable in other international capital market and does not amount to share price manipulation.

The NSE penultimate week, placed a ban on the downward movement of share prices, stating that any stockbroker who wants to trade a stock at a price lower than its current market price will have to present explanations to the NSE on why it wants to the stock to be sold at a lower price.

According to Awoyemi, “The NSE actions are in line with practices in stock exchanges worldwide. It is right for it to introduce measures that will prevent investors’ confidence from eroded and other factors that are likely to lead to the collapse of the capital market. For example, authorities in the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) shut down the market for five days after the September 11, terrorists attack. This, according to the authorities was to avoid the collapse of the market which may have been caused by panic arising from the shock and uncertainties that followed.”

He noted that the action of the NSE cannot be called manipulation, but a process of putting check and balances to protect investors from losing their investment.

Meanwhile, Proshare has disclosed that its forthcoming investment and analyst seminar is designed to provide some clarity to burning issues in the capital market and provide investors with a roadmap to engage the market.

To this end, it stated that it has invited a renowned capital market analyst, Chukwuma Biosah, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of InvestIQ, to present its findings via a case study approach and demonstrate the validity of the approach and strategy used to play the market in these trying times.

The seminar which is scheduled to hold in Lagos and Port Harcourt, on June 26 and 21 respectively, is targeted at members of the analysts community and discerning investors who are committed to the capital market as a vehicle for wealth creation and other members of the public.

Meanwhile, Equity trading on the NSE in the week under review appreciated by 41.62 per cent as a turnover of 5.24 billion shares valued at 42.5 billion was recorded in 82,791 deals, in contrast to penultimate week’s turnover of 3.7 billion shares valued at N53.21 billion in 75,133 deals.

Analysis of trading in the week under review shows that on Monday, June 16, 2008, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc recorded the highest share price gain, rising by N1.31 to close at N27.69 per share from N26.38 per share at which it opened, it recorded a turnover of 9.0 million shares valued at N246.67 million, its Earnings Per Share (EPS) stood at N0.14 while its Price Earnings (PE) ratio stood at 197.79, Costain (West Africa) Plc followed with a gain of N1.29 to close at N27.28 per share, it exchanged 4.31 million shares valued at N117.67 million, it notched a PE of 25.50 and an EPS of N1.07, Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc garnered N1.19 to close at N25.09 per share, it exchanged 180,961 shares valued at N4.4 million, it posted a PE ratio of 35.84 and an EPS of N0.70.

BankPHB Plc recorded a PE ratio of 23.40, an EPS of N1.19, a turnover of 63.07 million shares valued at N1.71 billion, a gain of N0.66 to close at N27.85 per share, Berger Paints gained N0.63 to close at N13.41 per share, it posted a turnover of 118,849 shares valued at N1.6 million, an EPS of N0.44 and a PE ratio of 30.48.

On Tuesday, Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc recorded the highest share price gain, rising by N9.37 to close at N196.87, investors traded 115,143 of its shares valued at N22.10 million, its EPS stood at N8.39 while its PE ratio stood at 35.04, Guinness Nigeria Plc followed with a gain of N1.80 to close at N130.00 per share, it recorded a turnover of 178,774 shares valued at N23.63 million, its EPS stood at N7.73 and its PE ratio stood at 16.82, Eterna Oil and Gas Plc garnered N1.66 to close at N34.92 per share, it exchanged 954,851 shares valued at N30.56 million.

Presco Plc notched an EPS of N0.33, a PE ratio of 89.06, a turnover of 2.87 million shares valued at N82.20, a share price gain of N1.39 to close at N29.39 per share, Dangote Flour Mills Plc gained N1.36 to close atN29.05 per share, it traded 1.87 million shares valued at N52.57 million, its EPS stood at N0.14 while its PE ratio stood at 207.50.

On Wednesday, June 18, 2007, Oando Plc recorded the highest share price gain, rising by N8.60 to close at N210.00 per share from N201.40 per share at which it opened, it exchanged 334,899 shares valued at N69.16 million, its EPS stood at N5.62 and its PE ratio stood at 37.37, Presco Plc followed with a gain of N1.11 to close at N30.50 per share, it traded 783,347 shares valued at N23.74 million, its posted an EPS of N0.33 and a PE ratio

STOCKS TO WATCH OUT FOR THIS WEEK

GTBank Plc, First City Monument Bank Plc, International Breweries Plc, Cement Company of Northern Nigeria Plc, Berger Paints, Red Star Express Plc, Omatek Ventures Plc, Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc, Unilever Nigeria Plc, Costain (West Africa) Plc, Big Treat Plc, National Salt Company Plc, Fidson Healthcare Plc, Japaul Oil and Maritime Services Plc, Union Homes Savings and Loans Plc, Deap Capital Management Trust Plc among others.

Companies Financial Results at a Glance

Four equity prices were adjusted for dividend as recommended by the Board of Directors. The price of Guinness Nigeria Plc was adjusted for Special Dividend of N6.80 per share. Intercontinental Bank Plc was adjusted for final dividend of N0.40 per share. Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc was adjusted for dividend of N0.06 per share. Equity Assurance Plc was adjusted for dividend of N0.035 per share

New Listing

The 2,941,789,472 shares in favour of Omatek Ventures Plc were admitted to the Daily Official List at a price of N4.90 per share on Wednesday, June 18, 2008 by way of Introduction. The shares were listed in the Computer and Office Equipment sub-sector. By this action, the number of listed companies and securities increased to 222 and 317,respectively.

COMPANY NEWS / LISTING

IKE JA HOTEL PLC; Audited result for the year ended 31 st December 2007 shows Turnover of N5.3 billion as against N4.64 billion in 2006. Profit after tax stood at N697.75 million compared with N525.94 million in 2006. The Directors are recommending a dividend of N0.10 per share. The date of closure of register of members is June 23,2008 while payment date is July 28,2008.

CRUSADER INSURANCE (NIG) PLC; Audited result for the year ended 31st December 2007 shows Gross Premium of N2.2 billion as against N1.21 billion in 2006. Profit after tax stood at N1.45 billion compared with N267.12 million in 2006. The Directors are recommending a dividend of NO. 15 per share. The date of closure of register of members is June 30,2008 while payment date would advised later.

SMART PRODUCTS NIGERIA PLC: Audited result for the year ended 31 st December 2007 shows Turnover ofN 12.54 million as against N 10.6 million in 2006. Profit after tax stood atN3.9 million compared with N2.4 million in 2006. The Directors are recommending a dividend of N0.075 per share. The date of closure of register of members is June 25,2008 while payment date would be announced later.

DN MEYER PLC: Audited result for the year ended 31st December 2007 shows Turnover of N2.1 billion as against N2.01 billion in 2006. Profit after tax stood atN63.8 million compared withN60.75 million in 2006. The Directors are recommending a dividend of NO. 10 per share. The date of closure of register of members is June 30, 2008 while payment date would be announced later.

DN MEYER PLC: Unaudited result for the first quarter ended 31st March 2008 shows Turnover of N491.55 million, as against N483.22 million in the comparable period of 2007. Profit after tax stood at N13.2 million compared with N10.4 million in 2007.

SCOA NIGERIA PLC; Unaudited result for the half year ended 30th June 2007 shows Turnover of N1.32 billion, as against N 1.25 billion in the comparable period of 2006. Profit after tax and exceptional items stood at N777.24 million compared with N20.2 million in 2006.

NAMPAK NIGERIA PLC: Audited result for the year ended 30th September 2007 shows Turnover of N2.85 billion as against N2.7 billion in 2006. Loss after tax and exceptional items stood at N145.92 million compared with profit after tax of N129.52 million in 2006.

NAMPAK NIGERIA PLC; Unaudited result for the half year ended 31st March 2008 shows Turnover of N1.436 billion, as against N1.439 billion in the comparable period of 2007. Loss after tax stood at N183 million compared with profit after tax of N61.74 million in 2007.

NCR (NIG) PLC; Audited result for the year ended 31 st December 2007 shows Turnover of N4.21 billion as against N1.6 billion in 2006. Loss after tax stood at N31.82 million compared with N623.1 million in 2006.

INCAR (NIG) PLC; Unaudited result for the first quarter ended 31st March 2008 shows Turnover of N22.52 million, as against N26.5 million in the comparable period of 2007. Loss after tax stood at M2.2 million compared with N2.3 million in 2007.–Vanguard

Dangote Cement Plc, on Tuesday signed a $1. 85bn seven-years syndicated credit facility for the expansion project of its Obajana cement factory in Kogi state and another plant in Senegal.

At the well attended programme by gurus of industries from Nigeria and abroad, the company said the credit facility would be utilized for the acquisition of four new cement plants from Sinoma, a Chinese company. The finance for the project was raised by some local banks.over the years.

Speaking at the occasion, the company president and chief executive officer, Alhaji Aliko Dangote said the signing agreements with some local banks was significant for the company and the country, because by the time the company concluded the installations of its facilities, it would enhance the production of cement in excess in Nigeria and eventual reduction of its price.

According to the company, the new plants to be installed will compliment its existing Obajana and Benue facilities which are being upgraded. Also, it was said that apart from the plant to be installed in Obajana and Benue, two new ‘Greenfield plants’ will be built at Sagamu and Ibese all in Ogun State, while the fourth plant will be built close to Dakar in Senegal.

Obajana cement, according to Alhaji Dangote has two production lines with the capacity to produce five millions tons of cement per annum presently and with the proposed extension, the factory would expand its capacity to six million tons by 2009 and by 2010 would almost be doubled.

He added that with the additional capacity the company would provide the country with 26 million tons of manufactured cement and 2.5million tons in Senegal by 2010.

He said “Dangote Cement already operates Sub-Saharan Africa’s largest cement plant at Obajana and these new plants and lines will make us the largest producer on the continent. Africa is going through a construction boom as it seeks to address housing and infrastructure deficits that have been pervasive for too long. Dangote Cement is acting to address the shortfall in African production and provide the building blocks for Africa’s renaissance.

“For the new seven cement lines, we have raised US $1.28 bn from the local capital markets and the group has provided equity of about $600 million. Many of the financiers of the deal are here today, I thank them for their support.”

He said each of the new plant will be operational within next 28 months and this will make the country a self sufficient in cement production and also becomes a net exporter. Representatives of the banks that raised the finance at the occasion in Lagos commended the efforts of the company, especially its CEO, Alhaji Dangote for contributing its quota to the economic development of the nation.–Vanguard

PLANS by Juli Plc, a healthcare company quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange to expand its business into food processing and scan services was yesterday applauded by the company’s shareholders.

Speaking at the pre-yearly general meeting held in Lagos yesterday, the company’s Chairman, Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi told shareholders that the company is adding two new lines to its business, which was commended by shareholders.

Besides, he told shareholders that two products, which would be branded Juli, have been designed and would be manufactured under contract manufacturing arrangements and manufacturers identified for each of the products.

He explained that samples of the cream is undergoing relevant laboratory test at NAFDAC and approval is expected within the month of July, adding that the names of the products have been cleared and registered with the Federal Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

His words: “There is good market for antibiotics and the tropical cream. The general populace irrespective of class/status or gender buys these products. The success would be based on strong marketing efforts, which we have continued to map out.

He continued: “We are also creating a medical supermart by adding to our lines of activities scan services. The relevant equipment has been purchased and the space to house it being made up. This should become operational in the month of July.

“We are also examining going into food processing and a decision would be based on a feasibility that would justify this. The facility at the head office would accommodate the nature if considered visible.

Commenting on the development, Mr. Anthony Omojola, a shareholder said the growth plans of the company is commendable considering the fact that the board has disappointed shareholders in the past by not giving them good returns on investment.

“Lately, the management has been trying to realign, re-arrange and reposition the company. The company is more focused now. We believe with these plans, they will be able to make profit and give returns to shareholders.

Another shareholder, Mr. Godwin Anonoh said the company has a strategic location, but there is need for the board to consider expansion into other strategic areas in Lagos to boost profitability.—Guardian

The market price indicator only edged up for the first time this week to close at 53,705.30 base points as against yesterdays 53,365.53 base points, indicating a gradual recovery of the market. The Market Capitalisation also went up a bit to N10,482,381,849,556.62 better than yesterday’s N10,416,065,547,467.16 also marking a recovery. There was a total of 17,112 deals involving a share volume of 983,536,948 unit shares valued at N17,294,192,905.58 as against yesterdays 15,973 deals involving a volume of 1,274,507,737 units valued at N16,107,193,177.78.

The market movers in terms of share volume in a descending order includes: (1) INTERCONT which traded a volume of 193,704,201 units valued at N6,217,730,939.52; (2) PLATINUM traded with 120,948,336 unit shares, valued at N3,325,305,901.95; (3) IANSURE traded with 103,889,273 unit shares, valued at N118,433,771.22; (4) FCMB traded with 90,844,400 unit shares, valued at N1,496,545,930.49; (5) FIDELITYBK traded a volume of 40,145,764 unit shares, valued at N404,304,911.73.
The price gainers in a descending order includes: (1) 7UP gained N2.59 to close at N54.46; (2) ASHAKACEM gained N1.84 to close at N38.74; (3) ETI gained N1.71 to close at N40.00; (4) CADBURY gained N1.57 to close at N33.07. While the price losers list includes: (1) OANDO which lost N10.50 to close at N199.01; (2) CONOIL lost N5.20 to close at N99.80; (3) CAP lost N2.85 to close at N54.15; (4) NBC lost N2.44 to close at N49.01.

Good times await investors in Sterling Bank Plc as they will begin to enjoy dividend as from the current financial year.

Although Sterling Bank recorded a profit before tax of N2.226 billion for the year ended September 30, 2007, the directors did not recommend any dividend due to writing off of the goodwill that arose from the merger exercise.

However, the Managing Director of the bank, Yemi Adeola, in a chat with newsmen in Lagos, has given the assurance that shareholders should expert dividend this year.

Adeola said: “We have made enough profit by half year ended March 31, 2008 to be able to wipe off the goodwill on our books. We carry a goodwill of about N3 billion but we have made enough profit in half year to wipe it off. There is no reason, whatsoever, why Sterling Bank would not be able to pay dividend by end of year three, which is December this year - absolutely no reason. Once the dividend starts rolling in, it cannot stop, it would become a regular feature of the institution. That is the message for shareholders.”

The bank posted profit before tax of N3.69 billion for the half year ended March 31, 2008, up by 178 per cent from the N1.32 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2007. Profit after tax rose by 178 per cent from N1.112 billion to N3.081 billion. An analysis of the profit showed that Sterling Bank has already surpassed the N1.938 billion net profit recorded for the whole of 2007 financial by 59 per cent within six months.

Analysts said that given the half year performance, the bank may end the current year with a net profit of over N8 billion. This is an indication that after writing off the N3 billion goodwill, shareholders would go home with dividend.

While it has been proven in the world business that mergers take three to five years to stabilise, Adeola disclosed that Sterling Bank’s operations have not only been fully integrated but also been stabilised to satisfy all stakeholders.

“We have done two and a half years and we are happy to tell our shareholders that they have a stable bank. They have a bank whose capital is unimpaired by losses. Once your capital is unimpaired, it means whatever profit you make is yours and you can declare dividend from it. Sterling Bank is a stable bank with a stable management and board.

“The bank’s profitability is increasing quarter by quarter and things can only get better for the shareholders. They have sacrificed enough and I believe that the returns on investment will start coming from the end of this year,” Adeola said.

Sterling Bank’s balance sheet to March 2008 is in excess of N250 billion while shareholders funds as at September 2007 stood at N27.9 billion.

The bank is at present operating from 100 braches and 50 Automated Trading Machines (ATMs) spread across the country. After the conclusion of banking consolidation, Sterling Bank commenced operations in January 2006 with the strategic vision of becoming Nigeria’s leading diversified financial institution with dominance in chosen markets.

Analysts said that the bank has implemented strategies geared towards refocusing the institution to meet the unfolding challenges in the banking industry and to unleash the synergies arising from the business combination of the five legacy banks.

A diversified financial institution providing comprehensive services in the investment banking, consumer banking, trade, finance, stock brokerage and other financial services to a broad range of customers, Sterling Bank is ably represented in the finance-related sector of the Nigerian economy through affiliates and subsidiaries that rank amongst the top names in the sector. Such subsidiaries include Sterling Capital Markets, Nigerian Stockbrokers Limited, Sterling Asset Management Limited and SBG Insurance Brokers Limited

This relationship has continued to give the bank the competitive advantage through the provision of value-added services in areas such as investment, banking, asset management, insurance and mortgage banking, thereby positioning it as a one-stop shop where customers can have all their financial needs met.–BusinessDay

There are indications that stability is returning to the stock market after a protracted domination of bears in the past few weeks as more stocks experienced price appreciation.

Although, analysts are of the view that the market remained weak in momentum, the market outlook at the end of last week portends the gradual return of stability as evidenced by the increase in the basis points of All Share Index as well as the continual reduction in the number of losers.

Reasons for the return of the bulls have also been mixed because of the coincidence in market recovery with the suspension of recapitalisation of capital market operators by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Indeed, the bulls had staged a comeback on Thursday, a day after the decision by the SEC to suspend the recapitalisation exercise, prompting some market watchers to affirm that majority of the stockbrokers were actually overwhelmed by the need to source the N1 billion hitherto stipulated as minimum capital base for stockbrokers before December 31, 2008.

It was gathered that SEC’s reluctance to shift ground and the withdrawal of margin loans by the banks took a toll on the position of some stock broking firms who had to sell shares in their portfolios in order to meet the deadline.

One of the operators volunteered that, “stockbrokers do not have other assets apart from the shares they buy into their box, they contributed to the market downturn when they began to sell off these shares in order to meet the N1 billion capital base, but now that the decision has been suspended, things are beginning to look up because there is hope that they would remain in business”

At the close of trading on Friday, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) all share index increased by 205 basis points to close at 53,910.37 and market capitalisation inched up N234 billion from the previous day’s N10.482 trillion to N10.716 trillion.

Although, there is also an increase in the number of stocks closing flat, analysts noted that “it is too early to predict when the market will bottom out or reverse.”

The downward trend of the market had persisted in the past three months with the market capitalisation dropping further to N10.416 trillion and all share index of 53,366.53 points on Wednesday, June 25. On Thursday, June 26, 2008, the market was sort of re-jigged by new developments. Therefore, capitalisation moved to N10.4 trillion and all share index of 53,705.30 basis points.

This also had tremendous impact on the number of gainers on the price movement table as at Thursday, June 26 when 40 listed stocks made it to the gainer’s chart as against the 23 that gained on June 24. The tempo continued on Friday, June 27 with 66 listed stocks comprising mostly the blue chips appearing on the gainer’s table.

Akamobi ECM, managing director, Star Insurance Brokers Limited, said that the recapitalisation in the stock-broking firms forced the traders to chase every kobo that comes their way with the intention of adding to their funds for capitalisation.

He said that most of the stockbrokers have started buying stocks on the exchange resulting in the increase in the volume of transaction on daily basis.

For the first time in the week, banking sector stocks lifted the activities in the market, as Intercontinental Bank plc traded over 193 million units (representing over 30 percent of volume traded in the banking sector); though a huge proportion of the total volume traded was cross deals. Similarly, Investment and Allied Insurance plc (IAA) lifted the activities in the insurance sector, as it traded over 103 million units representing over 40 percent of volume traded in the insurance sector for the day.

C&I Leasing plc Friday released its audited full year result for the period ended January 31, 2008. Gross Earning grew by 64.78 percent to N2.658 billion, from N1.613 billion; PBT grew by 165.7 percent to N437.645 million, from N164.737 million, Profit Ater Tax also grew by 9.79 percent to N375.363 million, from N341.887 million, in the corresponding period of 2007. The company also proposed final dividend of six kobo. This result did not have positive impact on investors as the stock closed strongly on offer of over five million units.

Index was up by 64 basis points on 17,112 trades. Average size of trade was $8,664.67 with total value of $148.27 million. Market capitalisation closed at $89.87 billion.

Overall, there were 40 gainers and 58 losers and 55 unchanged. The banking sector led the volume chart followed by the insurance sector and both accounted for 89.97 percent of total volume traded.

Intercontinental Bank plc traded 193.70 million shares to top the overall volume chart. Other stocks that closed in the top echelon were Bank PHB, Investment and Allied Insurance, FCMB and Fidelity Bank plc.
more news at www.nigerianstock.tk

There are indications that stability is returning to the stock market after a protracted domination of bears in the past few weeks as more stocks experienced price appreciation.

Although, analysts are of the view that the market remained weak in momentum, the market outlook at the end of last week portends the gradual return of stability as evidenced by the increase in the basis points of All Share Index as well as the continual reduction in the number of losers.

Reasons for the return of the bulls have also been mixed because of the coincidence in market recovery with the suspension of recapitalisation of capital market operators by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Indeed, the bulls had staged a comeback on Thursday, a day after the decision by the SEC to suspend the recapitalisation exercise, prompting some market watchers to affirm that majority of the stockbrokers were actually overwhelmed by the need to source the N1 billion hitherto stipulated as minimum capital base for stockbrokers before December 31, 2008.

It was gathered that SEC’s reluctance to shift ground and the withdrawal of margin loans by the banks took a toll on the position of some stock broking firms who had to sell shares in their portfolios in order to meet the deadline.

One of the operators volunteered that, “stockbrokers do not have other assets apart from the shares they buy into their box, they contributed to the market downturn when they began to sell off these shares in order to meet the N1 billion capital base, but now that the decision has been suspended, things are beginning to look up because there is hope that they would remain in business”

At the close of trading on Friday, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) all share index increased by 205 basis points to close at 53,910.37 and market capitalisation inched up N234 billion from the previous day’s N10.482 trillion to N10.716 trillion.

Although, there is also an increase in the number of stocks closing flat, analysts noted that “it is too early to predict when the market will bottom out or reverse.”

The downward trend of the market had persisted in the past three months with the market capitalisation dropping further to N10.416 trillion and all share index of 53,366.53 points on Wednesday, June 25. On Thursday, June 26, 2008, the market was sort of re-jigged by new developments. Therefore, capitalisation moved to N10.4 trillion and all share index of 53,705.30 basis points.

This also had tremendous impact on the number of gainers on the price movement table as at Thursday, June 26 when 40 listed stocks made it to the gainer’s chart as against the 23 that gained on June 24. The tempo continued on Friday, June 27 with 66 listed stocks comprising mostly the blue chips appearing on the gainer’s table.

Akamobi ECM, managing director, Star Insurance Brokers Limited, said that the recapitalisation in the stock-broking firms forced the traders to chase every kobo that comes their way with the intention of adding to their funds for capitalisation.

He said that most of the stockbrokers have started buying stocks on the exchange resulting in the increase in the volume of transaction on daily basis.

For the first time in the week, banking sector stocks lifted the activities in the market, as Intercontinental Bank plc traded over 193 million units (representing over 30 percent of volume traded in the banking sector); though a huge proportion of the total volume traded was cross deals. Similarly, Investment and Allied Insurance plc (IAA) lifted the activities in the insurance sector, as it traded over 103 million units representing over 40 percent of volume traded in the insurance sector for the day.

C&I Leasing plc Friday released its audited full year result for the period ended January 31, 2008. Gross Earning grew by 64.78 percent to N2.658 billion, from N1.613 billion; PBT grew by 165.7 percent to N437.645 million, from N164.737 million, Profit Ater Tax also grew by 9.79 percent to N375.363 million, from N341.887 million, in the corresponding period of 2007. The company also proposed final dividend of six kobo. This result did not have positive impact on investors as the stock closed strongly on offer of over five million units.

Index was up by 64 basis points on 17,112 trades. Average size of trade was $8,664.67 with total value of $148.27 million. Market capitalisation closed at $89.87 billion.

Overall, there were 40 gainers and 58 losers and 55 unchanged. The banking sector led the volume chart followed by the insurance sector and both accounted for 89.97 percent of total volume traded.

Intercontinental Bank plc traded 193.70 million shares to top the overall volume chart. Other stocks that closed in the top echelon were Bank PHB, Investment and Allied Insurance, FCMB and Fidelity Bank plc.
more news at www.nigerianstock.tk

Union Bank of Nigeria Plc (UBN) has unveiled a new growth strategy to drive its corporate growth and empower employees for greater productivity, following the successful completion of design works on its transformation programme code-named “Project Gear”. This was contained in a statement made available to Proshare NI by Francis Barde, Principal Manager, Corporate Affairs.

Barth Ebong, Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (GMD/CEO) of the Bank, affirmed that a focus-then-diversify strategy-thrust would be employed by the bank with a view to leveraging on its core strengthens.

“Whilst developing the capabilities required playing effectively in the more risky middle retail banking segments in the medium-to-long term” Ebong said.

He confirmed this recently at a Conference organized for managers of the bank in Lagos Island Business Development Centre (BDC) on the theme “Implementation of Project Gear.”

Ebong affirmed that part of the strategic plans of Union Bank was to segment the bank’s customers into retail, commercial and corporate segments, while assigning Relationship Managers to each segment.

“This would create an environment for more personalized banking experience.” He affirmed.

Ebong further affirmed that special products would be developed and marketed to meet the personal/business needs of each segments.

“In this regard, a new performance management system has been evolved to reward staff based on merit” he said.

“As part of the new strategic thrusts, we intend to strengthen the Information Technology (IT) and e-Banking Department; increase the ratio of market-facing staff to total number of employees and implement a robust risk management framework,” Ebong affirmed.

He confirmed that the Bank’s organizational structure and branch operating model have been redesigned to achieve the new strategic objectives, particularly causing an increase in the number of market-facing Directorates from four to five through creation of Retail Banking.

Ebong also affirmed that the IT and operations functions have been merged under one Directorate while a Quality Assurance unit has been established to monitor and enforce service standards.

“The business processes of the bank have been reviewed and re-designed particularly in branch operations, treasury, finance services and international Banking Division (IBD) so as to increase operational efficiency and make them more customer-friendly” he said.

Prior to this time, Union Bank had sometimes last year embarked on a transformational programme to address all the challenges poised by post banking consolidation, globalization and competition.-ProshareNG

Law Union and Rock Insurance Plc drove the market volume on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange last Friday by recording a transaction volume of 252.815 million shares valued at N1.206 billion in only 23 transactions inching by 3 kobo to close at N4.93 per share.

Aso Savings and Loans Plc emerged the second volume driver having pulled a transaction volume of 154.034 million shares worth N574.918 million executed in 89 deals dropping 19 kobo to close lower at N3.61 per share.

Investment and Allied Assurance Plc occupied the third position with 126.388 million shares exchanged by investors in 432 deals at N137.763 million easing 5 kobo to close at N1.09 per share.

Goldlink Insurance Plc followed from a distance with 78.407 million shares equivalent to N164.006 million exchanging hands in 81 trades while Platimum Habib Bank Plc trailed with 67.691 million shares valued at N1.895 billion in 698 deals adding 5 kobo to close at N28.50 per share.

Other volume drivers in the market last Friday include Fidelity Bank Plc 46.161 million shares, Sterling Bank Plc 37.767 million shares, First Inland Bank Plc 35.013 million shares, Intercontinental Bank Plc 32.951 million shares and United Bank for Africa Plc 29.610 million shares.

In all, investors staked N12.740 billion on 1.237 billion shares in 13,658 deals as against 983.537 million shares worth N17.294 billion in 17,112 trades recorded the previous day.

Analysis of the two days’ record showed that though the transaction rose when compared to the previous day’s, the market value, and number of deals which measures investors’ interest in shares dropped, an indication that investors are still treading cautiously.—The Tide

The Nigerian Stock Exchange continued on its recovery path today as the Market price indicator, the All Share Index again edged up again to 55,949.00 base points as against yesterday’s 54,905.36 base points. The total market shares valuator, the Market Capitalisation also went up to N10,920,315,601,242.56 as against yesterday’s N10,716,615,132,199.71.

There was a total of 10,459 deals involving a volume of 573,179,540 unit shares valued at N9,381,974,978.27; as against yesterday’s 13,658 deals involving the trading of 1,236,774,565 unit shares volume, valued at N12,739,794,993.53.
The stocks with the most traded unit shares in a descending order includes: (1) PLATINUM which traded with a volume of 95,846,363 unit shares, valued at N2,828,708,971.90; (2) FIDELITYBK traded with 58,123,359 unit shares valued at N589,790,903.50; (3) IANSURE traded with a volume of 50,285,588 unit shares worth N52,297,011.52; (4) FIRSTBANK traded with a volume of 26,988,405 unit shares worth N1,154,294,081.85; (5) NIGERINS traded with a volume of 20,092,026 unit shares valued at N136,640,966.80.
The top price gainers of the day includes: (1) MOBIL which gained N9.84 to close at N206.71; (2) JBERGER gained N5.73 to close at N120.33; (3) ACCESSRDB3 gained N4.00 to close at N104.00; (4) WAPCO gained N2.55 to close at N54.15
While the top losers of the day includes: (1) CHEVRON lost N16.92 to close at N321.67; (2) TOTAL lost N12.00 to close at N238.00; (3) OANDO lost N8.74 to close at N195.25; (4) 7UP lost N2.46 to close at N52.00

Equity Assurance plc has recorded a profit after tax of N445 million in its 2007 financial year. These was made known by the chairman of the company, Mr Olufemi Somolu during the company’s 21st annual general meeting held in Lagos on Monday. The profit after tax rose compared to the N54.1 million it recorded in 2006 shows an increase of 722 percent. Profit before tax for the company was also impressive as it stood at N498.7 million compared to N55.8 million in the 2006 financial year, indicating an appreciation of 793 percent.
Turnover during the period under review grew by 572 percent from N225.6 million in 2006 to N1.5 billion in 2007. While attributing the impressive outcome of the result to the merger that occurred in the company during the last consolidation exercise in the insurance company, he announced that the company was going to give a dividend payout of 35 kobo per share.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has approved the absorption of the 25 percent allowed by regulatory authorities on oversubscription of Public Offers (POs) by Construction Giants Costain West Africa Plc (COSTAIN).


Phil Wharton, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO) of the company affirmed this in Lagos Nigeria at the NSE; while addressing members of the Capital Market Correspondence Association of Nigeria (CAMCAN).


“We have just received the final words from the NSE towards taking over the 25 percent maximum allowed in the event of oversubscription in Public Offer” Wharton said.


He confirmed that Costain’s 2007 hybrid offer by way of subscription and Rights Issue were 240 percent and 140 percent oversubscribed respectively.


Wharton further confirmed that the shares were listed on the Floors of the NSE a few weeks back.


On the issue of share certificates, he affirmed that Costain has dispatched same to investors; taking into consideration the complaints as regards the issue.


“We are very concerned on the bad publicity as regards the issue of dispatch of share certificates to investors. Therefore our advisers had informed us that all share certificates had gone to shareholders, anyone who is yet to receive should get back to us” Wharton said.


Also on the issue of return money, He confirmed that this has been returned to investors with interest.


Though as at the time of filling in this report, he could not confirm the exact amount in figures returned to investors. “I do not really have the information now, but in due time we would furnish you with same” Wharton affirmed.


He further confirmed that Costain West Africa delivered a return of over 250 percent in a six month period with its 2007 Public Offer (PO).


“Costain have delivered a return of over 250 percent in a six month period with our offer at N13.00 in December and a share price of almost N30.00 today” Wharton said.


As earlier reported, Costain West Africa, late 2007 by way of subscription and Rights offered to the Nigerian investing public 178,162,966 and 519,740,000 Ordinary Shares of 50 Kobo each at N13.00 and N11.00 per share respectively.—

The Central Bank of Nigeria on Friday publicly declared that it neither issued nor contemplated to stop commercial banks from their practice of margin lending or lending for investment in securities. The CBN Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, stated this at a Breakfast Forum for the Bankers’ Committee and financial system regulators in Lagos. On the price volatility witnessed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in recent weeks, Soludo said market volatility was a major feature and common phenomenon in the global market system. He said this was not peculiar to the NSE alone.

He said, “We are still surprised ourselves to hear the rumours making the rounds that we stopped margin lending by banks. There was no letter issued or discussion in this regard. It was not even contemplated by the CBN. We did not know where it came from, but certainly not from us. We make bold to categorically state that there was no basis for it. The CBN will not and does not prescribe to the banks on which sector they should lend to and which sector they should not. The banks are free to lend at whatever direction their management wishes them to.”

Also speaking at the session, the Minister of State for Finance, Mr. Remi Babalola, expressed faith and optimism in the economy, saying the position of the capital market at the moment was one that should attract more foreign direct investment. He said, “We expect that contrary to speculations, this is the right time for investment both domestically and internationally. Foreign direct investments should quadruple yearly and this is what we expect. The market is still in the right direction.”

On the controversies surrounding the operation of custody accounts and margin accounts by stockbrokers, the Director-General, Nigerian Stock Exchange, Prof. Ndidi Okereke-Onyiuke, said the NSE did not stop custody account operations as perceived by market watchers. She said the Central Securities and Clearing System simply issued a letter to the authorities to the effect that the margin accounts be maintained, adding that the controversy was because people were more used to the facility. She said the nomenclature was simply changed from custody accounts to margin accounts.

FEW days ago, a Nigerian owned Swiss-based firm, AME &T Group, organised a four-day seminar on Private Wealth Management (PWM) for top executives of banks and other professionals in the country. The resource persons were experts drawn from leading management institutes in Switzerland.
In exclusive interviews with Financial Vanguard, the President of AME & T (the Nigerian that organised the seminar) and three of the resource persons spoke on the seminar and various other economic issues. Could you give us a brief resume of AME & T Group that just organised the seminar on private wealth management in Nigeria?

It is basically an enterprise development management, an investment advisory firm. We do a lot of risk management in wealth management as well as sustainable enterprise development practice.

We have done a lot of jobs managing clients, both institutional and private, as well as government, especially governments from Africa in area of maximizing their wealth with Europe, especially Switzerland, whereby they could tap into Switzerland’s private banking practice as well as investment banking practice viz a viz the growing trend in African countries to tap into strong countries in terms of project management like currently, the Federal Government of Nigeria is trying to raise bonds.

They are doing that by approaching international financial institutions, not only on the investment banking, but also on private banking. There is need for that exchange of knowledge and expertise. We have advised a lot of multinationals as well. So, basically, that is our core practice.

AME &T Group is structured into three key products and services. One is Enterprise Development and Management. We have advisory services and then the training arm. These three components actually dictate the way we operate and our core practice. Then there are some services under our advisory.

For instance, we have Investment Advisory section that deals with energy industry. We advise quite a lot of multinationals on raising finance may be from private equity clients of our investment outlet. It could be loan or whatever has to do with their investment banking-related issue. That is in the oil and gas sector. We also handle telecom investment advisory.

Basically, what we do is work with institutions that are willing to maximise profitability. We also provide some finances in terms of arranging loans as well as helping them to structure their finances in a way whereby they could tap into foreign funds. Thirdly, on the training aspect, which is part of the advisory also, is where we bring our expertise to bear in an environment like Nigeria that is evolving. So, that is the way we are structured as a Swiss firm.

We are a decade old. We are more than that in actual sense, in that AME & T Group came as a result of an acquisition of a Swiss company which is about 50 years old. We re-structured it and repositioned it to meet the needs of our immediate clients in the investment banking-related field. Our passion for wealth management came as a result of our expertise in that field. We try to impart that expertise and knowledge to our clients and various institutions - be it a non-governmental organisation (NGO) or individuals - depending on what they want. So, that is the way we are structured.

The training we conducted in Nigeria was the first of its kind. We had a similar event in Geneva, private banking training, which we did in 2004. We had some institutions that attended that. But this was a bit tailor-made for the Nigerian audience. details at www.nigerianstock.tk

Some 20 Nigerian companies cutting across all sectors of the economy will be in London from 8-9 July to woo international investors as a way of attracting international funding to support their businesses, according to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and Renaissance Capital, an international investment bank which is packaging the business trip.

The interactive session, which will provide first time opportunity to non-financial services sector companies from oil, gas, manufacturing, fast moving consumer goods, telecommunication and real estate, will hold at Mandarin Oriental Hotel, London.

“The recent boom in the Nigeria financial services sector has led to increased capacity to support the development of other sectors,” said the Chief Executive Officer of Renaissance Nigeria, Andrew Cornthwaite.

He said many of the companies were seeking ways of attracting the necessary funding to expand their businesses, hence the need to reach out to foreign investors.

“We are delighted to be able to offer them (companies) the first opportunity to meet with prospective international investors,” he added.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and Nigeria Stock Exchange take swift actions to halt continued downward slide in the value of stocks in the market

June was a frantic month for the regulators of the Nigerian stock market. During the month the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, and the Nigeria Stock Exchange, NSE, struggled to halt the slide that was speedily eroding the market’s capitalisation. The stock market lost N1.215 trillion when the market’s capitalisation crumbled from N11.631 trillion to N10.416 trillion between June 2 and June 25. The slide was precipitated by an unconfirmed report that the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, had banned banks from engaging in margin trading. The apex bank later denied issuing such a directive.

The first step taken by SEC and NSE was to empanel a committee that would review the practice of margin trading, known also as financier account in the capital market. A financier account enables investors and stockbrokers to borrow money from financial institutions for the sole purpose of buying shares in the stock market at a predetermined interest rate.

Members of the committee were selected from SEC, CBN, NSE and the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation, NDIC. On June 9, the NSE followed this up with the introduction of the circuit breaker, an artificial support system that does not allow stocks to trade below their previous day’s closing price.

The NSE also directed that a stock must trade up to 100,000 units before its price could either move up or down. It also went further to lift the ban it placed on the financier account, on June 11, and renamed it as custody account. Sola Oni, NSE’s spokesperson, said, “that the lifting of the suspension was with immediate effect. Under this system, the purchased stock acts as collateral and cannot be sold without the knowledge of the lending institution. This arrangement empowers the investors and sustain demand in the market.
more at www.nigerianstock.tk

A turnover of 5.8 billion shares worth N42.12 billion in 88,146 deals was recorded this week, in contrast to a total of 4.8 billion shares valued at N41.96 billion exchanged last week in 77,288 deals.

Transactions during the week included a total of 1,000 units of Access Bank Plc N13.5 billion Redeemable Bond 2010 valued at N1 million.

There were no transactions in the Federal Government Development Stocks, State Government Bonds and Industrial Loans/Preference Stocks sectors.

The Insurance subsector was the most active during the week (measured by turnover volume), with 3.83 billion shares worth N4.6 billion exchanged by investors in 16,880 deals. Volume in the Insurance subsector was largely driven by activity in the shares of Investment and Allied Assurance Plc. Trading in the shares of the Insurance Company accounted for 3.31 billion shares, representing 86.35% of the subsector’s turnover.

The Banking subsector, boosted by activity in the shares of Fidelity Bank Plc, Intercontinental Bank Plc and FirstInland Bank Plc, followed on the week’s activity chart with a turnover of 1.5 billion shares valued at N30.25 billion in 40,848 deals.

Last week, the Insurance subsector led on the activity chart and was followed by the Banking subsector.

Price Movement:
The All-Share Index dropped by 1.43% to close on Friday at 54,662.06. The market capitalization of the 208 First -Tier equities closed lower at N10.85 trillion.

Thirty - Two (32) stocks appreciated in price during the week, lower than the seventy-four (74) in the preceding week. Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc led on the gainers’ table with a gain of N20.17 to close at N217.04 per share while Chevron Oil Nigeria Plc followed with N16.51 to close at N372.00 per share. Other price gainers in the Top 10 category include:

• Guinness Nigeria Plc - N4.99

• Oando Plc - N3.99

• BOC Gases Plc - N2.91

• First Bank of Nigeria Plc - N1.91

• First City Monument Bank Plc - N1.85

• Ecobank Transnational Inc. - N1.72

• Eterna Oil & Gas Plc - N1.49

• PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc - N1.41

Eighty - One (81) stocks depreciated in price during the week, higher than the thirty-eight (38) in the preceding week. Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc led on the price losers’ table, dropping by
N4.01 to close at N29.99 per share while Presco Plc followed with a loss of N73.59 to close at N12.39 per share. Other price losers in the Top 10 category include:

• Cadbury Nigeria Plc - N2.30

• United Bank for Africa Plc. - N2.20

• Dangote Flour Mills Plc - N2.18

• Japaul Oil & Maritime Services Plc - N2.05

• Oceanic Bank International Plc - N1.78

• DN Meyer Plc - N1.68

• May & Baker Nigeria Plc - N1.58

• Prestige Assurance Co. Plc - N1.46

Four equity prices were adjusted for dividend and/or bonus as recommended by the Board of Directors. Big Treat Plc was adjusted for dividend of N0.10 per share. Prestige Assurance Plc was adjusted for dividend of N0.20 per share and bonus of 1 for 4. International Energy Insurance Plc was adjusted for dividend of N0.09 per share. Longman Nigeria Plc was adjusted for dividend of N1.00 per share.

…Supplementary Listings
A total of 429,996,932 shares were added to the shares outstanding in the name of Prestige Assurance Plc following the bonus of 1 for 4. Also, a total of 223,000,834 shares were added to the shares outstanding in the name of Access Bank Plc on Tuesday, July 8, 2008 following the conversion of part of the bank’s N13.5 billion Redeemable Bond 2010. Similarly, a total of 12,499,487,995 shares were added to the shares outstanding in the name of Fidelity Bank Plc on Tuesday, July 8, 2008 following the conclusion of hybrid offer made up of public offering of 5,501,100,421 shares, Rights offering of 498,899,579 shares and supplementary allotment of 6,498,899,579 shares.

Change of Name and Sector Reclassification
The name of Crusader Insurance (Nig) Plc was changed to Crusader (Nig) Plc following business restructuring. Also, the company was moved from the Insurance sector and listed in the “Other Financial Institutions” sector.

Delisting
The N2.46 billion Special FGB Bond 2012 for Local Contractors Debt was delisted from the Daily Official List. By this action, the number of FGN Bonds and securities dropped to 41 and 316 respectively.

Technical Suspension
This was imposed on Eterna Oil & Gas Plc on Thursday, July 10, 2008 on receiving the Company’s application to undertake supplementary share offering. Also, it was imposed on First Aluminium Nigeria Plc on Friday, July 11, 2008 on receiving the Company’s application to undertake supplementary share offering.
COMPANY NEWS
INTERCONTINENTAL BANK PLC: Unaudited result for the first quarter ended 31st May 2008 shows Gross Earnings of N60.9 billion, as against N28.75 billion in the comparable period of 2007. Profit after tax stood at N7.82 billion compared with N4.7 billion in 2007.

C & I LEASING PLC: Audited result for the year ended 31st January 2008. The Directors had earlier recommended a final dividend of N0.06 per share. The date of closure of register of members is August 4, 2008 while payment date is August 28, 2008.

SOVEREIGN TRUST INSURANCE PLC: Audited result for the year ended 31st December 2007 shows Gross Premium of N2.5 billion as against N1.42 billion in 2006. Profit after tax stood at N357.8 million compared with N233.8 million in 2006. The Directors are recommending a dividend of N0.06 per share and bonus of 1 for 5. The date of closure of register of members is July 23, 2008 while payment date is September 7, 2008. The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of shareholders is scheduled to hold at Diamond Hall, Golden Gate Restaurant, 25B Glover Road, Ikoyi, Lagos on Tuesday, August 12, 2008.

STACO INSURANCE PLC: Audited result for the year ended 31st December 2007. The Directors earlier recommended a dividend of N0.12 per share. The date of closure of register of members is July 21, 2008 while payment date is August 4, 2008.

MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC: Audited result for the year ended 31st December 2007. The Directors are recommending a dividend of N0.40 per share. The date of closure of register of members is September 4, 2008 while payment date would be advised later.

ASSOCIATED BUS CO. PLC: Audited result for the year ended 31st December 2007 shows Turnover of N3.13 billion as against N2.71 billion in 2006. Profit after tax stood at N141.25 million compared with N143.01 million in 2006. The Directors are recommending a dividend of N0.08 per share. The date of closure of register of members is August 7, 2008 while payment date is September 3, 2008.

ASSOCIATED BUS CO. PLC: Unaudited result for the first quarter ended 31st March 2008 shows Turnover of N830.3 million, as against N716.3 million in the comparable period of 2007. Profit after tax stood at N62.9 million compared with N50.2 million in 2007.

CONSOLIDATED HALLMARK INSURANCE PLC: Audited result for the year ended 31st December 2007 shows Gross Premium of N1.51 billion as against N508.4 million in 2006. Profit after tax and deferred tax stood at N230.01 million compared with N56.9 million in 2006.

RED STAR EXPRESS PLC: Audited result for the year ended 31st March 2008 shows Turnover of N3.1 billion as against N2.7 billion in 2007. Profit after tax stood at N195.7 million compared with N118.5 million in 2007. The Directors earlier recommended a dividend of N0.25 per share. The date of closure of register of members is July 24, 2008 while payment date is July 29, 2008.

EKOCORP PLC: Audited result for the year ended 31st December 2007 shows Turnover of N532.75 million as against N457.7 million in 2006. Profit after tax stood at N72.2 million compared with N65.61 million in 2006. The Directors are recommending a dividend of N0.15 per share. The date of closure of register of members is August 25, 2008 while payment date is September 8, 2008.
STOKVIS NIGERIA PLC: Audited result for the year ended 31st December 2007 shows Turnover of N2.31 million as against N1.22 million in 2006. Loss before tax stood at N0.714 million compared with N4.3 million in 2006.

NAMPAK NIGERIA PLC: Audited result for the year ended 30th September 2007. The date of closure of register of members is July 21, 2008

CHEVRON OIL NIGERIA PLC: Unaudited result for the first quarter ended 31st March 2008 shows Turnover of N8.6 billion, as against N18.34 billion in the comparable period of 2007. Loss after tax stood at N190.63 million compared with profit after tax of N531.24 million in 2007. The company’s result was affected by the strike action embarked upon by the Transport union that lasted for about two months. The company is back into full operations and efforts are being made to recover lost volume.

REPORT ON THE OTC MARKET FOR FGN BONDS
A turnover of 206.9 million units worth N210.65 billion in 1505 deals was recorded this week, in contrast to a total of 280.3 million units valued at N281.2 billion exchanged in 2120 deals during the week ended July 3, 2008. The most active bond (measured by turnover volume) was the 3rd FGN Bond 2009 Series 11 with a traded volume of 38.7 million units valued at N42.73 billion in 387 deals.


Source: Nigerian Stock Exchange. More news at www.nigerianstock.tk

First Registrars notifies investors on 17 offers of companies
-set to reissue certificates within 7 days
First Registrars Nigeria Limited had notified investors who took part in 17 different offers of its client companies; on the non-receipt of their share certificates, return money and interest warrants; as it is set to reissue certificates within seven days.

Niran Adetunji, Head, Finance & Accounts of the company affirmed this to Proshare NI today in Lagos Nigeria.

Adetunji affirmed that First Registrars is ready to package an indemnity to investors who had not yet received their share certificates from the recent offers handled by it for their various client companies.

“For those who have not yet received their share certificates for the various companies we have handled their offers as Registrars, they should send a formal letter and we would package an indemnity for them within seven days and issue them the duplicate” he said.

A list of the companies as published in First Registrars notice to investors in about 10 dailies; Adetunji affirmed include ARM Aggressive Growth Fund, Platinum Habib Bank Plc (Bank PHB) Costain West Africa Plc, DEAP Capital Management and FBN Heritage Fund offers of 2007 respectively.

Others are Fidelity Bank Plc’s 2005 offer and 2007 Rights/offer respectively, First Bank of Nigeria Plc’s (FBN’s) 2003 Rights and 2007 Rights/offers respectively.

On the list is also StanbicIBTC Ethical Fund offer of 2005, StanbicIBTC Bank offer 2005, Kakawa Guaranteed Income Fund offer 2007, Oando Plc’s Rights/offer of 2004.

There are also the Oasis Insurance Plc’s Rights/offer of 2007, Prestige Assurance Plc’s and Standard Alliance Insurance Plc’s offers of 2006 respectively and the IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund offer of 2007.

The above is a total of 17 offers from different companies. Adetunji further affirmed to Proshare NI that First Registrars would reissue physical share certificates or direct crediting to the investors Central Security Clearing System Limited (CSCS) accounts; if furnished and indicated while filling the indemnity form.

He also confirmed to Proshare NI that the Committee set up by Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) on the issue of Infrastructure upgrade and monitoring of Registrars to ensure market transparency; visited First Registrars unnoticed.

Adetunji further confirmed to Proshare NI that the Committee was satisfied with the infrastructure put in place by First Registrar to run its operations.

Some of the facilities on ground, Adetunji affirmed include three Data Capturing Machines, Scanner for converting forms to data and a Call Centre