Stock Market
NSE promotes Digitisation of Governance, Risk Management & Compliance with launch of SentryGRC
It enables organisations to pursue a systematic and organised approach to managing GRC-related strategy and implementation, thereby creating an enabling environment for increasing efficiency and effectiveness alongside reducing costs.
More organisations need to move away from the fragmented approach to structuring their operations to a more holistic framework that can monitor compliance and enforce rules and procedures.
This was highlighted at the launch of the SentryGRC platform powered by The Nigerian Stock Exchange on Tuesday.
SentryGRC is a platform that automates back-office functions like Governance, Risk Management and Compliance.
It enables organisations to pursue a systematic and organised approach to managing GRC-related strategy and implementation, thereby creating an enabling environment for increasing efficiency and effectiveness alongside reducing costs.
The platform was launched at the Digital Transformation of Governance, Risk Management and Compliance Functions webinar and commemorated with a digital Closing Gong ceremony.
At the webinar, the Chief Executive Officer, NSE, Mr. Oscar N. Onyema, explained that the Nigerian Stock Exchange would continue to position itself, not only to be a credible platform for raising capital, but to be a hub for innovative and creative ideas.
He said, “We are, therefore, pleased to introduce SentryGRC to the market. We recognize the need to build the required infrastructure for players in the Nigerian capital market, and we see the SentryGRC platform as a step in the right direction to help businesses achieve their strategic objectives, address uncertainties and act with integrity.”
One of the panelists at the webinar, the Executive Director, Regulation Division, NSE, Ms. Tinuade Awe said, “The SentryGRC promotes agility & digitization in Governance, Risk Management & Compliance areas of business. Institutions must recognize the need to adapt procedures & standards to what is relevant even as we transition to this new normal.
“Furthermore, there is a responsibilty on Regulators to become more comfortable with technology and engage with market participants on how to effectively design and deploy statutory standards that work from an operational point of view and also satisfy regulatory requirements.”
These sentiments were echoed during the panel session moderated by Partner and Financial Services Risk Management leader, West Africa, Ernst & Young, Mr. Benson Uwheru, with Chief Risk Officer, Coronation Merchant Bank, Mr. Magnus Nnoka; Director General, Association of Enterprise Risk Management Professionals of Nigeria, Mr. Olayinka Odutola; and Ms. Edidiong Akan, Chief Compliance Officer, Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers as panelists.
READ MORE: CBN provides guidelines to address credit, liquidity risks, others
They all agreed that changing trends will continue to bring new risks making it imperative for organisations to invest in business architecture that are adaptable to today’s environment and can quickly evolve with the rest of the world.
The launch of the SentryGRC platform is, therefore, timely in that it boasts an array of multi-dimensional features that make it both easily adaptable and applicable across various functions.
Some of its more interesting features include the customized dashboards that gives management a single view of relevant metrics; its ability to automatically generate reports making statutory submission seamless; and its easy integration across other operations including Enterprise Resource Planning softwares.
READ MORE: NSE Reports Positive Performance Across Asset Classes
In addition to Governance, Risk Management and Compliance, SentryGRC can also be used along a wide range of functions including Audit, Internal Control, Business Continuity, Legal Workflow, Data Protection Management, IT Audit and Ethics Management.
This platform is yet another product of The Exchange’s passion for business innovation and technology. Since 2011, The Exchange has built on its digital credentials to elevate the Nigerian capital market and enhance stakeholders’ experience.
Spotlight Stories
Telecom stocks reach record high, Nigerian stock market value hit N22 trillion
Nigerian Stock Exchange Year-to-Date Return stood at 4.08% to print market capitalization at N21.934 trillion
Nigerian bourse sustains the bulls today as the All-Share Index advanced further by 0.83% to close the day’s trading at 41,930.73 index points.
Consequently, the Nigerian Stock Exchange Year-to-Date Return stood at 4.08% to print market capitalization at N21.934 trillion.
- Activity level was impressive as volume and value of trades increased. A total of 543 million units of shares valued at N7.321 billion exchanged hands in 6,770 deals.
- Transnational Corporations continued to trend as the most traded stock with regards to volume with 57.2 million shares, while ZENITHBANK topped by value at N1.24 billion.
- With 35 gainers to 21 losers, sectoral indices were mostly positive.
Top gainers
- WAPCO up 7.27% to close at N29.5
- JBERGER up 5.64% to close at N20.6
- DANGSUGAR up 2.49% to close at N20.6
- MTNN up 2.40% to close at N175
- AIRTELAFRI up 1.09% to close at N930
Top losers
- SKYAVN down 10.00% to close at N2.88
- CAVERTON down 9.41% to close at N1.83
- ARDOVA down 2.44% to close at N18
- UBN down 3.39% to close at N5.7
- ETI down 2.29% to close at N6.4
Outlook
Nigerian Stocks kept the bullish run ongoing amid significant buying pressure sighted in leading telecom stocks that include MTN Nigeria and Airtel Africa.
- The NSE Insurance Index led the gainers’ chart with 1.54%. The Industrial, Consumer Goods, and Banking Indexes trailed by +0.52%, +0.21%, and +0.13% respectively. Conversely, the Oil & Gas indices closed as the lone loser, down by -0.12%
- Nairametrics however, envisages cautious buying, amid improved market conditions in Nigeria’s financial market.
Stock Market
High demand for Azure, homework tools boost Microsoft earnings
Microsoft disclosed Azure revenue grew 50% as more businesses integrated into the cloud.
The world’s most valuable software maker, Microsoft, announced impressive earnings results for the quarter that ended on December 31, 2020, as data retrieved showed that the $1.75 trillion company saw increased demand on its work-at-home tools triggered by the reduced human mobility presently in play.
- Microsoft disclosed that Azure’s revenue grew by 50% as more businesses integrated into the cloud.
- Stock experts had expected around 42% growth, although the software giant didn’t reveal Azure’s revenue in dollars.
- The COVID-19 pandemic caused many businesses to speed up moves to the cloud and upgrades to internet-based collaboration software.
READ: Microsoft outlook users experience Software Blackout
The Productivity and Business Processes segment, including LinkedIn, Office, and Dynamics, printed $13.35 billion in revenue, which was up 13% and more than the $12.89 billion anticipated by wall street experts.
“What we have witnessed over the past year is the dawn of the second wave of the digital transformation sweeping every company and every industry,” said Satya Nadella, Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft.
READ: Oracle wins bid to acquire TikTok’s US operations after Microsoft offer was rejected
“Building their own digital capability is the new currency driving every organization’s resilience and growth. Microsoft is powering this shift with the world’s largest and most comprehensive cloud platform.”
Microsoft Corp. announced its earnings results for the quarter ended December 31, 2020, as compared to the corresponding period of last fiscal year:
- Revenue was $43.1 billion, increasing by 17%.
- Operating income was $17.9 billion, increasing by 29%.
- Net income was $15.5 billion, increasing by 33%.
- Diluted earnings per share were $2.03, increasing by 34%.
READ: Stay-at-Home Stocks: Microsoft, Apple, Facebook surge after upbeat results from Netflix
Earnings: $2.03 per share, adjusted, vs. $1.64 per share as expected by Wall Street analysts, according to Refinitiv.
“Accelerating demand for our differentiated offerings drove commercial cloud revenue to $16.7 billion, up 34% year over year,” said Amy Hood, Executive Vice President, and Chief Financial Officer of Microsoft. “We continue to benefit from our investments in strategic, high-growth areas.”
Stock Market
United Capital Director spends N5.39 million on additional 1 million shares
1 million units of United Capital Plc’s shares worth N5.39 million has been purchased by a Non-Executive Director.
A Non-Executive Director in United Capital Plc, Mr Emmanuel Nnorom of Vine Foods Limited 2 has purchased additional 1 million units of the firm’s shares worth N5.39 million.
This is according to a notification signed by the firm’s secretary, Leo Okafor and sent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange, as seen by Nairametrics.
The disclosure revealed that the transaction took place on the 25th of January, 2021, with the Director purchasing an additional 1 million units of the firm’s share at N5.39 per share, totalling N5, 390,000.
Nairametrics learnt that there have been increasing numbers of insider transactions recorded by the firm, especially in the last three months. For example, Nairametrics earlier reported that the CEO of the United Capital Plc, Mr Peter Ashade had purchased an additional 6 million units of the firm’s share in the last three months.
Underlying fundamentals
The surge in insider transactions might be attributable to the impressive growth in key financial metrics of United Capital Plc. For example, the firm had experienced a 25.90% rise in its gross revenue in its last reported financial statement – Q3, 2020.
Despite recording over 100% decline in other income earning components, the increase in gross earnings was jointly driven by an increase in Investment income, fees and commission income, net trading income and net interest margin.
As at the time of writing this report, Nairametrics learnt that the market capitalization of the firm has so far gained a total of N3.36 billion since the commencement of trading on the 4th of January, 2021. This is largely driven by an 11.34% increase in the share price of the firm.
In case you missed it: Nairametrics had earlier reported that Mr Emmanuel Nnorom purchased a cumulative of 1.755 million units of the firm’s share, spending a total of N7.99 million on the deal.
