Markets
CORPORATE ACTIONS: An Exit and Less Sugar
Oando Plc’s exit from Axxela Limited, and a decline in Dangote Sugar results were some of the key corporate actions on the NSE last week.
Corporate actions are decisions taken by companies’ boards of directors or management teams, that could have impacts on the firms themselves or shareholders.
Examples of corporate actions include the release of quarterly and full year results, payment of dividends, closing of shareholders’ registers, announcing qualification dates and Annual General Meeting (AGM) dates.
Here is a review of corporate actions that took place last week,
Less Sugar
Dangote Sugar released its full-year 2018 results. Topline and bottom line dipped significantly.
Management blamed this on smuggled sugar, the logjam at Apapa, and to a minor extent communal crisis.
The company has declared a final dividend of N1.10 per share, N0.65 lower than the N1.75 paid in 2017.
Fidson Healthcare Plc
Fidson Healthcare Plc released its results for the 2018 financial year. The company also held a “Facts behind the figures” session at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). Management attributed the N97.4 million loss to high operating and finance costs.
Cheers at May
May and Baker Plc also released its full-year 2018 results. The company made a profit after tax of N342 million and declared a dividend of N0.20 per share. Qualification date is the 19th of April, 2019.
Multi-millionaire transporter Samuel Onyishi has also taken a stake in the firm and is now one of the largest individual shareholders.
Secure losses continue
Secure Electronic Technology Plc released its Q1 2019 results. The company remains loss-making with a loss after tax of N21.8 million. In 2018, it recorded a full year loss after tax of N152 million.
More losses at Morrison
Morrison Industries Plc released its full-year 2018 results. Turnover decreased while the company recorded a loss for the fifth consecutive year.
Delayed results
Several firms issued notices that they would be delaying the release of their full-year audited financial statements which should have been due March 31st, 2019, as well as Q1 2019 results.
Cornerstone Insurance, in its notice to the NSE, stated that it would file its 2018 audited results on or before 30th of June 2019. As such, the release of its results for the first quarter ended March 2019 would also be delayed.
Daar Communications, in its notice, stated that the delay behind the filing of its full-year 2018 results was due to the request of its external auditors to review the company’s trade receivables, in line with IFRS 15.
First Aluminum attributed the delay in filing of its full-year 2018 results to an ongoing audit process. The firm, however, expects to send the results on or before the 30th of April, 2019.
FBN Holdings has had to delay the submission of its results since several of its subsidiaries are yet to obtain final regulatory approval. The company, however, expects to file its results on or before the 30th of April, 2019.
FTN Cocoa Plc has attributed the delay in the submission of its full-year 2018 results to an ongoing restructuring exercise.
Omoluabi Mortgage Bank has delayed the release of its 2018 results due to the implementation of IFRS9 on its financials. The bank will submit its results on or before the 30th of June, 2019.
AG Leventis Plc has attributed the delay of its full-year 2018 results on the need to conclude audit-related matters. The firm, however, stated it would do so on or before the 30th of April, 2019.
Agenda 2021
In a notice to the NSE, GSK Consumer Nigeria disclosed a review of its operating model effective Q3 2021. Its Agbara plant will be shut down and its operations moved to third-party manufacturers under a contract basis.
An exit
Oando Plc disclosed it had sold a minority 25% stake it held in Axxela Limited (formerly Oando Gas and Power) to Helios Investment Partners, for $45 million. Helios had in 2016 bought a 75% stake in the firm.
Departure
UAC of Nigeria Plc announced the resignation of Mrs Omolara Elemide from the board of the company, effective April 1, 2019. Prior to this, Elemide was Executive Director, Corporate Services and had a stint as Acting Group Managing Director of the conglomerate.
Markets
Wall Street upsurges as unemployment and treasury yields fall
The S&P 500 increased by (+1.11%). The Dow also made a gain of (+0.90%).
Stocks soared to new highs on Thursday, as investors awaited a far stronger-than-expected reading on consumer spending and a dramatic drop in the number of new jobless claims.
Retail revenues increased by 9.8%, with stimulus checks and lowered social distancing expectations contributing to the increase. Nasdaq surged (+1.31%) at the end of the trading session. The S&P 500 increased by (+1.11%). The Dow also made a gain of (+0.90%).
Treasury Yields fell. Retail sales increased to their highest level since May 2020, in March.
- The yield on 10-year Treasuries was at 1.58%, after falling six base points.
- The volume on U.S. exchanges was 9.3 billion shares, versus the 11.4 billion average for the last 20 trading days.
- Unemployment claims fell to 576,000, the lowest level since the Covid-19 pandemic began, adding to the good economic news.
READ: Walls Street upsurges as unemployment declines
Top gainers
- AMD up 5.68% to close at $83
- NVIDIA up 5.63% to close at $645.49
- Coty Inc up 5.55% to close at $9.13
- Xilinx Goldcorp up 5.25% to close at $130.10
- Newmont Goldcorp up 4.74% to close at $64.78
Top losers
- Trust Financial Corp -4.14% to close at $57.22
- MGM down -3.81% to close at $39.69
- Nordstom down -3.21% to close at $35.94
- Norwegian Cruise Line down -3.18% to close at $28.28
- Charles Schwab down -2.88% to close at $65.50
READ: Bitcoin ETF in North America has reached $1 billion in assets
Outlook
- Among the best ETFs, the Innovator IBD 50 ETF (FFTY) climbed 0.8%, while the Innovator IBD Breakout Opportunities ETF (BOUT) was up 0.7%. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV) gained 1.85%, with Microsoft and ADBE stock major components.
- Nvidia (NVDA), Adobe (ADBE), and Facebook (FB) were among the first to make bullish movements around entry points. Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon.com (AMZN), and Alphabet (GOOGL), the parent company of Google, have made significant gains.
- Nairametrics, however, advises cautious buying in this era of growing uncertainties.
Business News
CBN, SEC working on regulatory guideline for cryptocurrency trading
The SEC has stated that it is in discussion with the CBN to better understand and regulate the crypto-assets market.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has revealed that it is working with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for a better understanding and regulation of cryptocurrencies in the country.
This is coming after CBN had in February 2021, barred deposit money banks and other financial institutions from doing business with cryptos and other digital assets.
This disclosure was made by the Director-General of SEC, Lamido Yuguda, at the 2021 post-Capital Market Committee (CMC) virtual news conference.
Yuguda said that the commission was in discussion with the CBN for better understanding and regulation of the crypto-assets market, adding that the capital market regulator had suspended the implementation of crypto assets guidelines due to lack of access to Nigerian bank accounts.
READ: Binance, Quidax, Buycoins Africa, Bundle obey CBN’s crypto ban
What the Director-General of SEC is saying
Yuguda in his statement said, “We are in discussion with CBN for both understanding and better regulating of this market. We will be able to come back to you later to inform you of the outcome of these engagements.
But because of the lack of access to commercial bank accounts, we had to suspend our own guidelines of September 2020. The implementation of that circular is suspended until these operators are able to have access to Nigerian bank accounts.
Remember that nobody operates in the Nigerian capital market if that person does not have access to a Nigerian bank account,” he said.
Yuguda, however, pointed out that SEC had always provided support to Fintechs and had invested so much in developing a framework to support their operations.
READ: Why buying Bitcoin in Nigeria is not cheap
He said, “Let me say that the SEC remains very supportive of fintechs. We have invested so much in developing a framework for supporting fintechs in the various areas and fintechs are acting in areas of crowdfunding, investment advice and cryptocurrencies and the like.”
He acknowledged the fact that the fintech market had been disrupted by the CBN’s ban on access to Nigerian bank accounts by the crypto exchange.
He said, “In all other areas, nothing has changed, but in the area of crypto assets, you know that with the recent prohibition by the CBN on access to Nigerian bank accounts by crypto exchanges, that market has been disrupted.
And the truth of the matter is that while the SEC had issued guidelines in September 2020 aimed at regulating this market, for now for all intents and purposes, because these exchanges do not have access to commercial bank accounts in Nigeria, the market, for now, does not exist.’’
READ: Analysing the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Dollar Remittance Policy
In case you missed it
- The apex bank had about 2 months ago, warned the Deposit Money Banks, Non-Financial Institutions and other Financial Institutions against doing business in crypto and other digital assets.
- The CBN directed financial institutions to immediately close the accounts of persons or entities transacting in or operating cryptocurrency exchanges, warning of severe regulatory sanctions in the event of any breach of the directive.
