Economy
Nigerians Express Concern Over Immediate Implementation of Subsidy Removal
Nigerians have expressed concern over the implementation of subsidy removal in spite of President Bola Tinubu’s assurance that it would not take effect immediately.
A cross section of residents of Ibadan, Oyo State, expressed their feelings on Wednesday in separate interviews in Ibadan.
Majority of filling stations in Ibadan had started selling petrol at #500 per litre as the new official price released by NNPC.
However, queues had disappeared from many of the filling stations compared to what obtained on Tuesday.
Commenting, an Entrepreneur, Mr Tobi Adeyemi, said the development was not a good one.
According to Adeyemi, the new administration should have provided some sort of respite for Nigerians considering the enormous hardship being faced by Nigerians.
“This will definitely affect prices of goods and services; from tomatoes sellers to foodstuffs; transportation, increase in fuel price and so on.
“We will all bear the brunt of it together. I only pity salary earners who are on a fixed income. Besides, I don’t believe this is the right timing,” Adeyemi said.
Also, a sales representative, Dr Adeyinka Adekunle, said the previous administration had budgeted for subsidy till the end of June.
“So, to me it was shocking to learn that the removal had taken effect from May 31 based on what the previous administration had done.
“Everything is sort of confusing now because of the budgetary provision for subsidy till June end,” Adekunle said.
He, however, said a nation that was going to be great has to go through some teething periods.
In his remarks, an artisan, Mr Akinola Akinkunmi, said he has yet to comprehend the situation, because things were hard already and buying fuel at N500 per litre now would worsen the situation.
Akinkunmi said: “I cannot yet wrap my mind around how my business will survive; we are already struggling to make ends meet.
“With this development and absence of power supply from the distributing company, we are definitely going further down the poverty line.
“We need support for the government; we need help to survive this time,” Akinkunmi said.
Another entrepreneur, Mr Demola Adedeji, said the timing was not right as the economy had been in bad shape for some times now.
“At least, some things should have been put in place before the total removal of subsidy,” Adedeji said.
In his contributions, Mr Yinka Ajadi, a businessman, said that many people would go into depression as blood pressure of many Nigerians struggling to survive the situation would rise.
Ajadi said, “We can only hope for critical intervention at this time such as solving problem of power and production inputs.” (NAN)
Economy
Selloffs in Dangote Cement, MTN, others Push Equity own by 1.23%
Selloffs in the shares of Dangote Cement, Conoil, MTN Nigeria, among others, on Friday, dragged the equity market’s performance indices down by 1.23 per cent to close the week’s trading sessions.
Specifically, investors lost N672 billion or 1.24 per cent, as the market capitalisation, which opened at N54.
707 trillion, closed at N54.035 trillion.The All-Share Index also lost 1.
24 per cent or 1.228.32 point, to settle at 98,751.98, as against 99,980.3 recorded on Thursday.Consequently, the Year-To-Date (YTD) return on the index dropped to 32.07per cent.
Selloffs in Dangote Cement, MTN Nigeria, Fidelity Bank, Sovereign Trust Insurance and Nestle made the market performance to be on a negative terrain.
Analysis of the market activities showed trade turnover drop when compared to the previous session, with the value of transactions down 22.01 per cent.
A total of 367.62 million shares valued at N6.78 billion were exchanged in 9,168 deals, compared to 542.95 million shares valued at N8.70 billion exchanged in 9,650 deals posted previously.
Meanwhile, Dangote Cement and Conoil led the losers table by percentage terms of 10 each to close at N135, N90.90 per share respectively.
MTN trailed by 9.96 per cent to close at N200.70, Thomas Wyatt Nigeria lost 9.78 per cent to close at N2.03, while Sovereign Trust Insurance shed 6.52 per cent to close at 43k per share.
On the gainers table, The Initiative Plc and FTN Cocoa Processors led by 10 per cent each to close at N1.98 and N1.65 per share respectively.
Juli Plc followed closely by 9.97 per cent to close at N3.75, Champion Breweries Plc gained 9.94 per cent to close at N3.76 and PZ Nigeria rose by 9.93 per cent to close at N33.75 per share.
On the activity table, Transcorp led in volume with trade of 57.00 million shares valued at N792.05 million, while Access Corporation sold 31.77 million shares worth N667.8 million.
United Bank of Africa (UBA) traded 28.50 million shares valued at N674.07 million and Fidelity Bank transacted 28.07 million shares worth N297.65.
Also, First City Monumental Bank(FCMB) sold 27.92 million shares worth N227.22 million.
However, market breadth closed positive with 43 gainers and eight losers on the trading floor.(NAN)
Economy
We Currently have $30bn Investment Commitments – FG
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Doris Uzoka-Anite, says Nigeria currently has about 30 billion dollars investment committment from various investors.
Uzoka-Anite said this at the ongoing Ministerial Media briefing in Abuja on Friday.
According to her, the commitments will be redeemed over the course of five to eight years.
She said investments, commitments, and pledges were also received from our oil and gas free zone, adding that last week, some of them committed an additional 10 billion dollars in investments.
“I hosted the managing director of SHELL who explained to me about the investment plans of shell.
“ I know a lot of us are aware that shell is leaving; he came to explain to me what they mean by that.
And I can tell you that they are not leaving.“Rather, they are expanding and increasing their investments in Nigeria; they are selling their onshore assets and increasing their investment in gas and offshore assets.” she said.
Uzoka-Anite, who envisaged more investments into the country, said it would not have been possible without the commitment of President Bola Tinubu led administration.
She said that with increased investments comes job opportunities and economic growth, which wss part of the priority of the government. (NAN)
Economy
Nigerian Breweries Records N106bn Loss in 2023
Nigerian Breweries Plc has recorded a net loss of N106 billion for the year ended 2023, as against N13.93 billion posted in its 2022 financials, indicating 860 per cent loss.
Mr Uaboi Agbebaku, Company Secretary, Nigerian Breweries stated this in the audited financial result of the company for the year ended 2023 sent to the Nigerian Exchange Ltd.
(NGX)Agbebaku said the gross profit of the company for the year under review also fell by 0.
3 percent to N212.5 billion, compared to N213.20 billion posted in the previous year.He stated that the operating profit of the company declined by 15.3 per cent to 45 billion, as against N53 billion recorded in the corresponding year.
The company secretary said that the firm recorded loss in its operating profit due to higher input cost and one-off reorganisation cost despite strong and aggressive cost savings and other efficiency measures.
According to him, the company however was able to grow its revenue by nine per cent to N599 billion, compared to N551 billion posted in the previous year, which was aided by positive price mix.
Agbebaku stated that the Nigeria business landscape experienced significant shifts in 2023, with substantial impact on businesses and livelihoods nationwide.
He explained that the Naira notes redesign which resulted in cash shortage that severely hampered social and economic activities nationwide set the tone for a turbulent year.
Agbebaku said: “High double-digit inflation rates with food inflation at more than 30 per cent and removal of subsidy on fuel.
“Coupled with the impact of the devaluation of the naira which resulted in a foreign exchange loss of N153 billion further exacerbated the already difficult environment for the populace and businesses.
“In a difficult operating environment, the Board will ensure that the company builds on its more than 77 years’ experience of operating in Nigeria to cope with current realities.
He said the company would continue to be resilient and forward-thinking, leveraging on its broad portfolio, strong supply chain footprint and passionate workforce to drive long-term value creation for its shareholders and other stakeholders.(NAN)