HENATES

Traded value tumbled by 41% at the Nigerian Stock Exchange in June 2018 even though traded volume dropped by only 4.45% alongside 12.5% drop in number of deals. According to statistics from the exchange, traded value in June was N93.893bn for the equities market compared to N159.44bn in May. On the other hand, 7.104bn shares were traded in June through 79,241 deals as against 7.475bn shares in 90,568 deals in May. Top traded value was recorded by Guaranty Trust Bank in which N21.944bn was exchanged for 2nd ranked 535.118m shares in also 2nd placed 5176 deals. Zenith Bank followed with N12.682bn worth for 3rd ranked 483.629m shares sold in month high 6362 deals. Dangote Cement did not showcase top five volume or number of deals but its June traded value was N7.028bn to place 3rd and involved 30.633m shares in 1437 deals. Top traded volume was recorded by United Bank For Africa  as 544.568m of its shares changed hands in 5th placed 2830 deals worth equally 5th ranked N5.899bn...

NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE: HEAVYWEIGHT BULLS At the Nigerian Stock Exchange Friday June 29, 2018, the bulls came charging after 3 days of looking down but they went more after heavyweight equities. In all there were 30 price gains and only 18 drops but more importantly, top gainers were mainly heavyweights with maximum impact on the All share index valuation basket. The All share index closed 1.44% or 545.11 points up at 38,378.55 after 3 consecutive days downwards had brought it to 37,733.44 on Thursday. Nestle Nigeria, the market's highest priced equity, paced price gains with N73.9 or 4.92% per share as it recorded deals for 0.212m shares worth N322.17m. Nestlé closed Thursday at N1501.1 per share, opened Friday at N1501.2 then climbed to close at day high of N1575 per share. Total Nigeria too, a heavyweight in the petroleum products sector, trailed from a distance with N9.5 or 4.74% per share gain followed by market's top heavyweight, Dangote Cement with N4 or 1...

NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE: ASI STILL DROPPING FASTER At the Nigerian Stock Exchange Thursday June 28, 2018 the All share index continued downwards for the 3rd day running and at faster pace as well. After closing Monday June 25 up 0.34%, it had dropped by 0.01% the next day then by higher 0.06% on Wednesday before going down by 0.61% to 37,733.44 by Thursday. In a way, this was inevitable because number of price drops was not only higher, top weighted Dangote Cement led the decline. It dropped by N5 or 2.17% per share while recording 76 deals for 2.62m shares worth N599.54m. Dangote Cement opened the day at N229 per share which turned to be day high as it slipped to close at N225 per share, down from N230 per share previously. In all there were 20 price drops and 16 gains. Okomu Oil Palm trailed Dangote Cement with N2.50 or 2.70% per share decline while closing with 61 deals for 1.15n shares valued at N104.06m. On the other hand, price gainers were paced by La  Farge  Afr...

NIGERIA: KENYA: ARM CEMENT'S TUNNEL'S LIGHT? The management of Kenya's ARM Cement has assured stakeholders that there might be light visible at the end of the dark tunnel of the company since 2014. In a statement issued recently, the company explained that efforts are on to restructure its debt profile and so should be in a position exploit changing fortunes in the industry. The tough run started in 2014 when ARM decided to invest in a new clinker plant  expected to produce 1.2m metric tonnes of cement for Tanzania, Rwanda and Kenya. It was ARM's largest investment ever but unfortunately, the facility called Tanga Clinker plant performed grossly below expectations. At issue, says the management, was power supply rationing, inadequate coal supply and tough competition. Indeed, for three years there was no tangible return on Tanga. In 2016, in an attempt to restructure the balance sheet  and reduce debt burden CDC Group was incorporated and it is on that p...

NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE: STERLING BANK LOSES ATTRACTION Sterling Bank Wednesday June 27 2018 recorded a rare and top offload at the Nigerian Stock Exchange that failed to command high investor interest it is hitherto known for. A total of 172.63m shares of Sterling Bank were exchanged but only in 17 deals which was not comparable to the  more usual scramble whenever substantial volumes of the bank were offered in the past As the deals were struck to take up the shares, Sterling Bank gained N0.04 per share and so the traded value came to N241.03m. The Sterling Bank traded volume thus accounted for almost 50% of the day's total market 372.299m shares. Nearest to it was 31.53m shares traded in Zenith Bank  in day high 430 deals worth N792.74m, the pacing traded value. The All share index closed the day down 0.06% to 37,963.93 apparently heading down at a faster rate than Tuesday June 26's 0.01% decline to 37,988.54. Total Nigeria had paced gains with N7.2 or 5.72% ...

NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE: OFFLOAD IN UNION BANK. For the first time in a very long while Union Bank PLC dictated the pace in volume trade at the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Tuesday, June 26, 2018. It closed the day with 281.54m of its shares exchanged in 41 deals worth equally leading N1.548bn. It thus accounted for 52.2% of the day's 539.66m total market volume but in value terms, it comes to only 32.9% of N4.711bn traded value for the day. In the process, Union Bank rose by N0.05 per share as it opened and closed the day at N5.90 per share, compared to N5.85 previously. Both the Union Bank volume and value were way ahead of others but Fidelity Bank also recorded an offload in the form of 61.917m of its shares traded in 3rd ranked 286 deals worth N142.42m while closing up by N0.11 per share. Other major trades were 26.71m sold in Transcorp plc in 155 deals worth N36.72m and FBN Holdings' 269 deals ranked 4th for 24.39m units valued at N262.34m. After Monday's...

But for non operational profit made from sale of some assets, no cheers would have been heard at the next annual general meeting of Nigeria's Chellarams Plc. Simply put, it was an agonising financial year. In the first place, total income dropped by 23.1% to N9.608bn despite multiple growth in Other income to N875.94m because core revenue declined by 29.6% to N8.732bn from year 2017'ss N12.497bn. Then because cost of sale dropped by a lower 23.5% to N6.917bn , gross profit tumbled by 45.9% to N1.815bn. Beyond here too,  good news delivered by Other income jump to N875.94m from N96.84m and low 7.6% growth in selling expense to N84.16m, operating profit dropped into loss league as administration cost rose to N4.384bn from N1.754bn. Chellarams operating profit in 2017 was N1.617 bn but come 2017, the talk was about operating loss of N1.777bn. Thus, even though finance charges declined to N599.55m from N950.41m, loss before tax would have been inevitable but for the N2.6...

NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE: DANGOTE CEMENT DRIVES ALL SHARE INDEX Price gains and drops were 21 apiece at the Nigerian Stock Exchange Monday June 25 but top weighted Dangote Cement helped the All share index to close 0.34% up at 37,992.12. Dangote Cement had declined by N5.3 per share on Friday while recording deals for 1.088m shares thus helping to depress the ASI  by 0.73%. This Monday, however, it almost regained all of that loss by rising N5. or 2.22% per share while 5.07m of its shares changed hands in 2nd ranked 217 deals worth leading N1.163bn. The top up was rather easy for Dangote Cement as it opened and closed at N230 per share compared to N225 on Friday. Cement Company of Northern Nigeria was the only other equity with above N1 per share gain. A fact which exposes the Dangote Cement pressure on ASI upwards because, of the 21 price drops 3 were above N1 per share. Besides, Seplat Petroleum and Nestle Nigeria, the two top priced equities in the market recorded major...

GHANA: GHANA PARLIAMENT GIVES NOD FOR OBUASI GOLD MINE The Ghanaian Parliament has finally approved fiscal agreements for the redevelopment of Obuasi gold mine into a modern one. This paves the way for Anglogold Ashanti Ltd to go ahead with the project which is expected to cost between $450m and 500m. The approval covers agreements for development; tax concession, security and reclamation security. In February $31m had been approved for front end engineering and other preparatory work on the project and it is hoped that it will be completed late in 2019. Says Anglogold CEO, Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan on the mine: "Obuasi is a high grade long life ore body that will provide production for at least 20 years at very competitive cost" The development will be implemented in 2 phases and production at the end of the first year on stream was expected to be 2000 tonnes per day The mine has been in limited operating phase since 2014 and modernisation is expected to lead to moder...

With growing knowledge of the Ghana Stock Exchange, daily review is now up to the same day for the 3 stock markets in Africa covered so far by Henates NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE: TRADE AT LOW At the Nigerian Stock Exchange Friday June 22 2018, the trading week ended with lowest trade in months. Traded volume came to 167.23m shares about one of the lowest since October 19 2017 when 140.87m shares were traded. Besides, the October 19 2017 low was traded for N1.72bn, higher than the traded value of N1.42bn on June 22 2018 which compared very unfavourably with N4.1bn worth of 271.76m shares traded on Thursday. The All share index closed down again on Friday thus trending in that direction through the 4-day week after holidays on previous Friday and Monday. There was no reason not to head that way because top weighted Dangote Cement not only paced price drops, top 5 decline were N1 per share or above while only light weighted Okomu Oil closed up above the same margin. Dangote C...

NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE: INDEX DROPS FASTER At the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Thursday June 21, 2018, the All share index switched to faster lane downwards as it dipped by 1.17% or  453.17 points while market mood was not that bearish. In all there were 26 price drops and 24 gains yet the decline rate was way ahead of 0.15% and 0.93% decline on Wednesday and Tuesday respectively. What really made the difference were continued sharp drop in Seplat Petroleum joined by a major N8.7 or 3.64% per share drop Seplat lost N32.2 or 4.49% per share as it closed at N685 after hitting day high of N701 per share which on its own came from opening down on Wednesday's N717.20 per share. This was as 37 deals were sealed  involving 0.27m shares worth N188.62m. Dangote Cement opened the day at N231 per share then hit day low of N229 before closing at N230.30 compared to N239 per share on Wednesday. In sharp contrast, Nigerian Breweries topped price gains with only N3 or 2.75% per sha...

NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE: . BANKS DOMINATE TRADE Banks or groups with bank dominant subsidiaries on Wednesday June 20 dominated trade at the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Of the top 10 trade by volume, 7 were banks or with bank flagship even though traded volume dropped from 390.04m shares on June 19 to 267.76m dragging traded value down to N3.82bn from N6.115bn previously. Zenith bank led the pack in  volume, value and even number of deals thus falling short of pacing all indicators by closing up by only N0.50 or 1.96% per share. Zenith closed at N26 per share after a low of N25.35 while recording leading 644 deals for 44.84m pacing offload worth day high N1.146bn. FBN Holdings followed with 2nd ranked 507 deals for 38.69m shares worth N411.82m as it went down by N0.05 per share. Both leaders were trailed by Access bank with 174 deals for 25.82m shares valued at N266.668m; and UBA , up N.15 per share as 14.2m of its shares changed hands for N151.65m. It was another da...

From all angles inferred from the 2017 financial year report of Ghana's Aluworks ltd released June 18, 2018, the future of the company now hangs on a balance. Both the directors and the external auditors said so in plain language mainly because with yet another loss, Aluworks working capital position has become very fragile and new money and technology was badly needed. For 5 years talks had been on to get a major shareholder, Caitlyn ltd to bring in needed new money and expertise but it will only do so if it ends up with not lower 50% of shareholding in the company. That should be possible but SEC Ghana rules require that for this to happen,  shareholders must be polled to endorse it and Caitlyn does not want this. Instead, it is seeking a waiver from the authorities but that is not forthcoming either. Now, the hope is to get majority shareholder, Social Security and National Insurance (SSNIT) to restructure and write off some of the money it is owed by the company in exch...

Perhaps reflecting worldwide scares over looming trade war, the three stock exchanges reviewed by Henates so far, were more bearish than bullish. NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE: ALL SHARE INDEX STILL DOWN. For the third day running, the All share index at the Nigerian stock exchange closed down this Tuesday June 19 2018 after the sallah holidays. It ended the day at 38,664.15; down 0.68% or 263 points on Thursday's 38928.02 before the holidays declared for Friday and Monday. This was not surprising because price gains were scarce (12 only) compared to 34 price drops including 12 banks and the margins of decline were higher too. International Breweries, which witnessed a change of guard recently, emerged as the one with above N1 gain per share. It rose by N2.70 or 6.54% per share while 60 deals were being sealed for 3.25m shares worth N142.28m IB had closed last Thursday at N41.3 per share, opened the day at N43.15 then closed at N44 per share. On the other hand, 4 out of t...

In the financial year to December 2017, there was only one cable in East African Cables Ltd that was stretched to breaking point: Cost of funds  It went haywire and brought all the gains of the year crashing below ground level According to figures released on Monday, EAC's interest bill more than doubled to Ksh533.1m from Ksh258.9m and greater loss than in 2016 year was inevitable. Yet, it has looked like a year of good rewards for better cost management before financiers took their good flesh. Sure, Total income had dropped by 35.6% to Ksh 2353.96m as core revenue dived by 35.8% to Ksh 2345.1m, good cost management almost turned even this into good news This was because cost of sale dropped by 40.9% to Ksh 1681m; selling and distribution cost decreased by 41.4% to Ksh 81.3m and factory expenses went down by 38.5% to Ksh 208.8m. That left only administration cost upwards but even by absorbable 1.27% to Ksh349.6m. Hence all said profit of Ksh 33.3m before interest and ta...

At last the much feared third world war has begun but many who expect it to be a military quest for superiority as for first and second world wars are heading for a surprise. It is a more deadly trade war and it has begun. More deadly because all past wars were actually underpinned by quest for economic advantages. There was no way there could be a victor in a world war involving military warfare in the world of today. There are too many fingers on red nuclear buttons and so, the first to strike can only invite retaliation in no time. Each strike will be in invitation to mass destruction under every feet. Nuclear war portends man's self destruction and even power drunk leaders know that so well and so have continued to avoid direct confrontations. Perhaps similarities between Adolf Hitler who triggered the 2nd world war and Donald Trump who has now triggered the trade war between nations need to be pointed out. Hitler started with his basic conviction of the superiority o...

NIGERIA: CON OIL PLC: Dividend:    N2.0 per share Qualification:  14/6/2018 Reg closure: 15/6---22/6/2018 Payment:       23/7/2018 AGM date:      13/7/2018 AGM Venue: Le Meridien Ibom Hotel & Golf Resort, Uyo. CEMENT COMPANY OF NORTHERN NIGERIA PLC. Dividend:          N1.50   per share Qualification:     14/6/2018 Reg closure:       19/6-----22/6/2018 Payment:             27/6/2018 AGM date:           26/6/2018 AGM Venue:    Eko Hotel & Suites, Victoria Island. GHANA; TOTAL GHANA LTD Dividend:     GHc 0.0701 per share Qualification:      22/6/2018 Reg closure:     25/6--29/6/2018 Payment:            6/7/2018. GHANA COMMERCIAL BANK LTD Dividend:       GHc 0.10 per share Qualification:     15/6/2018 Reg. Closure:     18/6--22/6/2018 Payment:            30/7/2018 AGM date:            6/7/2018 AGM Venue: International Conference Centre Accra. KENYA: JUBILEE HOLDINGS PLC: FINAL DIVIDEND:   Ksh 8 per share. Interim paid be...

After more than a week of consistent decline, Nigerian foreign reserves trended up once again since June 7, rock bottom, according to latest figures obtained from the website of the Central Bank of Nigeria. From May 18, the reserves had dropped consistently and by June 7 at $47.425bn was down $374m or 0.78% on May 18's $47.799bn. Before that it had dived mid May for the first time in months then recovered for two consecutive working days Now, by Wednesday June 13, 2018, it stood at $47.627bn, up $202m or 0.43% on the June 7, rock bottom. It had closed June 8 at $47.437bn then June 11 and 12 at $47.547bn and $47.57bn. At this level though, it is still short of the May 18 figure by $172m or 0.36%. However, the portion of the reserve that is untouchable continued to decline till June 12 and only recovered marginally on June 13 2018. By June 1 2018 it stood at $736.67m and continued to decline gradually each working day till June 12 when it closed at $733.09m. This repres...

Both traded volume  and Indices went down at all three presently monitored  stock exchanges in Africa but for the Nigerian  Stock  Exchange,  All share index drop was most likely  against  market mood. NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE: BULLISH BUT ASI DOWN? It appears the mood at the Nigerian  Stock  Exchange  was more bullish than bearish on Thursday  June  14 2018 but the All share index went down  instead  by 0.27% or 103.7 points to 38928.02. Pointing to more bullish mood was the fact that 28 price gains were recorded  way ahead of 17 drops for the day. But then because  the ASI is a weighted index tied to market capitalisation, low margin price changes have less impact especially  when low priced equities are involved. In this case,  only Okomu Oil gained above N1 per  share at the end of the day  as against three amongst the price losers. Okomu Oil closed up by N8.4 or 10.24% as it witnessed 37 deals involving  0.259m shares valued at  N23.4m. It was followed  by NASCON In...

It was down all the way for the three African Stock  Exchanges, Nigerian,  Nairobi  and Ghana,  being monitored by Heated currently. NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE: LOW PRICE CHANGES BUT.... Wednesday,  June 13, 2018 at the Nigerian  Stock  Exchange,  the All share index  went down once again after recent rally. It had closed  Tuesday up 0.83% but could not sustain  that as it eased by 0.35% to 39031.72 although on both sides of the drag the margin of price change was low. In all there were 22 price gains and 20 drops with most price changes below N1 per share. Top gain was N1 or 3.77% per share  rise by Cement  Company  of Northern Nigeria as it opened the day at N26.45 per share then rose to close at N27.5 compared to N26.5 per share  previously. This was as it recorded  44 deals for 0.369m shares worth N10.039m. Nigerian  Breweries  on the other hand opened at N117.4 per share,  hit day high of N118 but couldn't  hang on and slipped to close at N115 per share,  down N2....

NIGERIA: NEW GROUP CEO FOR UNITED CAPITAL PLC Following  the resignation  of its erstwhile  group Chef Executive  Officer, Oluwatoyin Danni with effect from the 30th of this month,  a new Group CEO has been announced for United Capital plc. He is Mr Peter Ashade,  currently  the chief executive officer of African Prudential Plc,  another company  quoted  on the  Nigerian  Stock  Exchange.  He takes  over from the first of next month. According to Company  secretary,  Leo Plague,  Toying Sanni  had been the GCEO since January  2014 and her resignation  comes after 12 years of service with the company. The new GCEO brings to bear over three decades of experience. INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES BOARD CHANGES There have been remarkable  changes on the board of International  Breweries  Plc including a new Chairman  and new CEO. The new chairman  is HRM If we Nnamaeka Alfred Achebe who replaces Samuel Akintoye Onome,  who is still on the board. The new managing director /CEO is A...

The website  of Ghana  Stock Exchange was hacked on Monday,  June 11 2018 but no lasting damage  was done. According to a formal statement  from the exchange  posted on the same website on Monday after the hacking,  it was discovered by 6.20am on Monday In part,  the statement  said: "....the GSE team checked and realised that the home page of the GSE website has been defaced with an image of a skeletal skull  and high bones  in green  colour on a background with a text indicating 'hacked by Alis3x3wOrm" According  to the exchange,  it affected the home page /index/default page  of the site only. It declared: "The hacking did not  impact on underlying data( data base,  images text)  of the website. "It must be emphasized " it said "that the hacking incidence today did not affect any of GSE core trading application and related IT infrastructure ". Hence,  the site was restored within 15 minutes. "The GSE wishes  to assure all its...

The daily review of African Stock Exchanges  is still for now limited to Nigeria,  Kenya  and Ghana Stock  Exchanges. More are to be added. NIGERIA: STILL RECOVERING The Nigerian Stock  Exchange  continued to recover Tuesday June 12, 2018 although at less than fantastic growth rate. The All share index rose by 0 83% to 39169.04 as 27 price gains  compared to 21 drops were recorded. Traded volume  though  dropped from 603m to 341.48m shares just like number of deals down further  to 3769 from 3832. On the other hand,  traded value  grew to N5.193bn from N3.88bn principally as offloads were recorded  in higher priced equities. Some of the price gainers took quite a leap led by Seplat Petroleum  up N57.9 or 8.14% as it witnessed  54 deals for 0.06m shares worth N44.19m. Seplat opened the day at N745 per  share then closed at day high of N769 compared to N711.1 per  share on Monday. Top priced Nestle Nigeria also recorded quite a leap closing up by N44.8 or 3.09% per share ...