NEWS
Bears Resurface on NGX, Capitalisation Down By N13bn
Trading on the Nigerian stock market returned to bearish territory on Wednesday with market capitalisation dropping by N13 billion due to profit taking in FBN Holdings (FBNH).
Speficially, the market capitalisation which opened at N21.821 trillion dropped by N13 billion or 0.06 per cent to close at N21.
808 trillion.Also, the All-Share Index inched lower by 25.
35 points or 0.06 per cent to close at 41,789. 59 from 41,814.94 achieved on Tuesday.Consequently, the month-to-date and year-to-date return moderated to 3.9 per cent and 3.8 per cent, respectively.
The bearish sentiment was a result of investors’ profit-taking in Nestle, FBNH and 13 others.
The negative performance of the market was driven by price depreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks which are; Nestle, FBNH, GlaxoSmithKline, Transcorp Hotels and Custodian Investment.
However, the market closed positive recording 24 gainers as against 15 losers.
LivingTrust Mortgage Bank recorded the highest price gain in percentage terms by 9.59 per cent to close at 80k per share.
AIICO Insurance followed with a gain of 9.57 per cent to close at N1.03, University Press went up 9.09 per cent to close at N1.80 per share.
Red Star Express was up by 6.25 per cent to close at N3.40, while Total Nigeria appreciated by 5.97 per cent to close at N220 per share.
On the other hand, GlaxosmithKline led the losers’ chart in percentage terms by 10 per cent to close at N6.30 per share.
Transcorp Hotels followed with 9.88 per cent to close at N5.38, while FBNH lost 6.05 per cent to close at N11.65, per share.
Veritas Kapital Assurance lost 4.35 per cent to close at 22k, while Africa Prudential shed 3.94 per cent to close at N6.10 per share.
In all, the total volume of trades declined by 19.42 per cent to 284.60 million valued at N3.20 billion exchanged in 5,036 deals.
This was against a total of 353.20 million shares worth N5.57 billion traded in 5,322 deals on Tuesday.
Transactions in the shares of FBNH topped the activity chart with 75.46 million shares valued at N898.01 million.
AIICO Insurance followed with 18.42 million shares worth N17.81 million, while Ecobank Transnational Incorporated traded 17.32 million shares valued at N137.32 million.
Transcorp traded 15.21 million shares valued at N15.49 million, while Fidelity Bank transacted 14.03 million shares worth N38.53 million. (NAN)
NEWS
Gunmen Attack Police Station, Kill 2 in Anambra
The Police Command in Anambra says gunmen have burnt its station in Umunze, Orumba South Local Government Area, killing two officers.SP Tochukwu Ikenga, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, announced this in a statement issued in Awka on Monday.He said that the gunmen attacked the police facility with improvised explosives, shooting sporadically, which caused a fire to burn part of the station.
He said further that during the attack, two police operatives on duty were killed when they attempted to resist the gunmen. Ikenga stated that the bodies of the deceased policemen had been recovered and taken to the morgue.He also noted that joint security forces, including the police, army and navy, among others, had recovered five unexploded improvised explosives.Ikenga noted that the Commissioner of Police in Anambra, CP Nnaghe Itam, had visited the scene for assessment.He said that Itam called on anyone with information that could assist in the investigation to come forward, assuring then that such information would be treated confidential.(NAN)NEWS
IPPIS Data Base not Compromised, OAGF Assures Employees
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) has reiterated the Federal Government’s determination to maintain and operate a secure and efficient personnel and payroll system.In a statement by the Director of Press and Public Relations, Mr Bawa Mokwa on Monday, the OAGF maintained that the Integrated Personal and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) database has not been compromised, assuring that employees personal data on the IPPIS database is safe and secured.
The OAGF, which manages the IPPIS and other financial management initiatives of the Federal Government, said it is already implementing its ICT Security Policy that aims to ensure that its digital assets are secured in line with global best practices. The Office explained that no data is saved on its website, adding that the IPPIS uses the website to only share information and not for any transaction. “The IPPIS is not using the OAGF website for any transaction. The website is actually the medium to share information. Neither payroll nor payment is made through the website, therefore, no data is contained in the website”, it said. The OAGF stated that the IPPIS validation portal that was recently developed for updates of employees information was deployed for a period and after the exercise was over, the data were pulled out and the site shut down permanently.According to the statement, “the IPPIS Validation Portal was deployed on a secure platform. A secured database and application were purchased from the popular HELIX-FONS.”The Office acknowledged that the IPPIS is of utmost importance to Nigerian workers, thus it became imperative to assuage the fears of any loss or breach of employees personal data in the IPPIS database. The OAGF noted that the IPPIS has put in place necessary mechanism to resolve any problem that may arise in its operations and advised workers that observe anomalies in their salaries to follow the official procedures inorder to get such issues resolved.NEWS
Again, Inflation Drops to 32.15% in August
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
Nigeria’s headline inflation dropped to 32.15 percent in August, according to National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report
The report released on Monday said the inflation eased the second time in 2024 after a 19 month increase that peaked at 34.19 percent in June.
“Looking at the movement, the August 2024 headline inflation
rate showed a decrease of 1.
It however, said on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 6.35 percent points higher compared to the rate recorded in August 2023 (25.80%).
“This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in August 2024 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.
e, August 2023).Furthermore, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in August 2024 was 2.22%, which was 0.06% lower than the rate recorded in August 2024 (2.28%).
” This means that in August 2024, the rate of increase in the average price level is lower than the rate of increase in the
average price level in July 2024.”
The report added that food inflation rate in August 2024 was 37.52 percent on a year-on-year basis, which was 8.18% points higher compared to the rate recorded in August 2023 (29.34%).
It said the rise in food inflation
on a year-on-year basis was caused by increases in prices of; “Bread, Maize Grains, Guinea Corn, etc (Bread and Cereals Class), Yam, Irish Potatoes, Water Yam, Cassava Tuber, etc (Potatoes, Yam & Other Tubers Class), Palm Oil, Vegetable, etc (Oil & Fats Class) and
Ovaltine, Milo, Lipton, etc (Coffee, Tea & Cocoa Class).”
But on a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in August 2024 was 2.37 percent, a 0.10% decrease compared to the rate recorded in July 2024 (2.47 percent).
“The fall can be attributed to the decline in the rate of increase in the average prices of Tobacco, Tea, Coco, Coffee, Groundnut Oil, Milk, Yam, Irish Potatoes, Water Yam, Cassava Tuber, Palm Oil, Vegetable etc.”
It added that the average annual rate of Food inflation for the twelve months ending August 2024 over the previous twelve-month average was 36.99 percent, which was 11.98 percent points increase from the average annual rate of change recorded in August 2023 (25.01 percent).