BUA Foods, FBN Holdings, Oando shares are currently driving momentum in the equities segment of the Nigerian Exchange ,NGX, during early trade hour yesterday.

BUA Foods whose majority shares are held by its founder and group chairman Abdul Samad Rabiu is cross to become one of the 13 digits listed companies in the local bourse.  Oando Plc is also popping up after huge buying interest in the equities market last week.

The oil stock latest rally forced investment banking firm CardinalStone to switch from underweight to overweight on the company stock.   “…outperformance was driven primarily by the tactical decision to re-enter OANDO at an overweight position in light of the renewed momentum in the ticker”, CardinalStone said in a note yesterday.

However, the firm lowered weight in DANGSUGAR back to a strong underweight position, given the profit-taking activities that ensued.

FBN Holdings is struggling to keep uptrend with latest price depreciation following selling spree. The financial services group ended the week at N730 billion in market valuation, a significant discount below its 52-week high.

At mid-day, the NGX All share Index exhibited a bullish trend, reflecting a gain of  0.65%, Alpha Morgan Capital Limited said in a note.

Stockbrokers said the upward movement is attributed to buying sentiment of investors in some mid to high capitalized stocks.  Data from the Nigerian Exchange showed that OKOMUOIL has gained 9.99%, trailed by OANDO which popped higher by 9.93%.

In a surprise development, FBNH also saw 6.14% increase in market valuation while BUAFOODS  is up by  5.73%, among others. Also, the NGX Banking index had remained unchanged as at mid-day, stockbrokers said

Securities and Exchange Commission ,SEC, says two genuine websites from which investors can access the e-dividend portal are its website, www.sec.gov.ng, and the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System ,NIBSS, website.

Dr Emomotimi Agama, the Director-General, SEC, said this in an interview with the News reporters in Lagos.

Agama said that investors could access the e-dividend portal through its official website to mandate their accounts safely and claim their dividends

Agama stated that this information was important, because of the cyber security threats that existed in the internet space.

He said: “if you access the e-dividend portal from the SEC website, it is genuine.

“We cannot deny the fact that some unscrupulous elements might be trying to clone the website, like they do for other institutions.

“However, my guide is simply for investors to use the SEC website on www.sec.gov.ng, which is fully protected to access the portal.

“The only other website that is genuine for the e-dividend portal to be accessed from is the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System ,NIBSS, website because the portal was built in conjunction with NIBSS.

The director general also clarified that requesting for investor’s Bank Verification Number ,BVN, on those portal was not out of place.

According to him, the BVN platform is for now the most authentic retrieval source of information in the financial space.

“We need to verify that you are who you say you are. If the BVN provided does not match with your identity, it means it is not yours.

“As an institution, we try to protect investors and protect ourselves too as regulators. We will try to make the process as easy as possible and also as protected as possible too”, he said.

Agama noted that the issue of unclaimed dividends was very important to SEC, because it affected investor’s return on investment.

He advised investors whose shareholding accounts appeared on the list of non-mandated accounts hosted on the commission’s website to use the new self-service portal by clicking on the “NIBSS Self Service” link.

The director-general assured that SEC was at the forefront of making sure that unclaimed dividends are reduced and ultimately completely eradicated.

“We will continue to do our best at SEC, and employ technology, education, persuasion, and every means that will make people to understand the processes around claiming dividends, identification and getting their dividends back.

“For us, any effort to reduce these unclaimed dividends will be a positive one for us”, the SEC director-general added.

NAN reports that unclaimed dividends are dividends that have not been paid to investors.SEC had launched a revamped e-Dividend Mandate Management System ,e-DMMS, portal as part of effort to curb the increase in unclaimed dividends and generally improve investor experience in the Nigerian capital market.

The revamped e-DMMS portal introduces a self-service interface that allows investors to apply to mandate their accounts for e-dividend virtually, without having to visit a registrar or a bank

Annual General Meeting ,AGM, of FBN Holdings Plc, the parent company of First Bank of Nigeria, has been postponed till further notice.

The board confirmed the indefinite postponement of the embattled company’s annual shareholders’ gathering in a notice to the Nigerian Exchange ,NGX, Limited yesterday.

The AGM was earlier scheduled for Thursday, August 22, 2024, but was rescheduled to Tuesday, September 3, 2024, until it was cancelled on Monday.

FBN Holdings, chaired by billionaire businessman, Mr Femi Otedola, has been enmeshed in a leadership tussle for a while, and there are strong indications that this could hamper the capital raising plans of the company for its flagship banking subsidiary, First Bank, which must increase its capital base to N500 billion as a result of the new minimum capital requirement of the Central Bank of Nigeria ,CBN.

The banking sector regulator in March 2024 gave players in the industry two years to raise their capital base and in the category First Bank belongs, it must have at least N500 billion because of its presence outside the shores of the country.

The board had planned to obtain the approval of the shareholders of the company to source N350 billion from the capital market, but this might be delayed until the leadership crisis is sorted.

“Notice is hereby given that the 12th AGM of the members of FBN Holdings, fixed to hold virtually on August 22, 2024, and rescheduled for Tuesday, September 3, 2024, at 10: am to consider and if thought fit, approve the accounts, declare a dividend, authorise the company to undertake a capital raise of up to N350 billion and other ancillary matters is hereby cancelled.

“Further information will be provided in due course, as appropriate”, the statement signed by the acting Company Secretary, Mr Adewale Arogundade, said.

FBN Holdings, which has a former chief executive of Fidelity Bank, Mr Nnamdi Okonwo, as its chief executive, has been embroiled in controversies surrounding the ownership of its controlling stake and an alleged N40 billion fraud case that led to the dismissal of about 120 members of staff of the organisation.

It was alleged that a manager on the operations team, Mr Tijani Muiz Adeyinka, diverted N40 billion over two years, leading to the involvement of the police, who questioned some employees of the bank.

“Several employees were questioned by the Nigerian Police Force ,NPF, and detained at the Lion’s Building for at least six hours, one person with direct knowledge of the incident said.

“Those employees needed to post bail before they were released. Restrictions have been placed on all their accounts except their First Bank accounts”, Tech Cabal said in a report.

As for the ownership tussle, a firm known as Barbican Capital Limited, owned by the former Chairman of the lender, Mr Oba Otudeko, claims it has a 15.01% stake in the company, seeking to displace Mr Otedela, who claims to be the single largest shareholder of FBN Holdings.

Barbican Capital has filed a lawsuit against FBN Holdings, challenging the reduction of its shareholding from 13.61% in December 2023 to 8.67%.

By Charles Ebi 

Aaverage daily crude oil production in Nigeria during the second quarter of 2024 has dropped from 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) to 1.4 million bpd.

This information comes from the latest data released by the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics ,NBS, on the quarterly Gross Domestic Product ,GDP, for 2024.

The data revealed that in Q1 2024, average crude oil production stood at 1.57 million barrels per day (bpd), but this figure declined by 0.16 million bpd in the second quarter.

The report also indicated that the oil sector contributed a modest 5.7% to the total GDP during the same period.

Meanwhile, on a year-to-year basis, the oil sector saw real growth of 10.15% to the GDP, marking a 23.58 percentage point improvement from the -13.43% recorded in the same quarter of 2023.

In terms of crude oil volume, the crude oil output rises from 1.22 million bpd in the second quarter of 2023 to 1.41 million in the same period in 2024.

The report highlights that crude oil output is experiencing a modest year-on-year increase. However, the data also reveals slight declines on a quarterly basis, which are raising concerns about the sector’s performance.

These quarterly drops cast doubt on whether the federal government’s projection of 2 million barrels per day by year-end will be met.

While the oil sector contributes only a small fraction to Nigeria’s GDP, it remains a crucial source of foreign exchange and revenue for the Federal Government.

Its significance extends beyond economic metrics, playing a vital role in funding various government functions.

The increase in crude oil output has a substantial impact on the country’s fiscal health. Higher production levels translate into increased revenue, which supports budgetary allocations for essential sectors such as infrastructure, education, and health.

Recently, Olufemi Soneye, NNPC’s Chief Communication Officer, emphasized the company’s critical role in Nigeria’s economy. According to Soneye, NNPC is the largest contributor of tax revenue to the Federation Account.

In its 2023 audited financial report, NNPC reported a substantial payment of N2.69 trillion in income tax to the federal government.

The oil sector continues to be troubled by insecurity and low investment, exacerbated by the exit of international oil companies ,IOCs, and unresolved issues regarding the approval of oil asset transfers.

Last month, the NNPCL declared a renewed effort to tackle the challenges hindering crude oil production, as output has stagnated over the past five months.

AljazirahNigeria earlier reported that Nigeria’s crude oil production in the month of July rose to 1.307 million barrels of crude oil daily according to the monthly oil market report of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries ,OPEC.

According to the report, the country added 30 thousand barrels daily to its production when compared to the production figure for last month which stood at 1.276 million barrels daily in June 2024.

In addition, OPEC reported that Nigeria remained Africa’s largest oil producer. Libya followed closely, producing 1.175 million barrels per day in July.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, has repeatedly stated that the country aims to reach a daily production of two million barrels before the end of the year.