By InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)- The local bourse on Wednesday trudged along, driven by renewed bargain hunting activities which lifted the Nigerian Stock Exchange all-share index (NSE ASI) and market capitalisation by 0.55 percent to close at 27,421.83 points and N9.42 trillion respectively.

“Today’s positive close decreased the Month-to-Date and Year-to- Date losses to 2.10 percent and 4.26 percent respectively,” Cordros daily market update affirmed.

The report says the Banking and Consumer Goods indices appreciated by 0.79 percent and 0.70 percent each, following gains in the shares of Nigeria’s tier one lender, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc and Access Bank Plc by 1.21 percent and 1.82 percent apiece. While brewing giant, Nigerian Breweries Plc and food and beverage producer, Nestle Nigeria Plc climbed up 2.03 percent and 0.61 percent respectively.

In the same vein, price appreciations in the shares of oil marketing major, Total Nigeria Plc by 1.69 percent bolstered the Oil and Gas index by 0.24 percent.

Cordros reports on the downside, that the Insurance and Industrial Goods indices plunged 0.15 percent and 0.04 percent each, owing to losses recorded by insurer, AIICO Insurance Plc by 2.94 percent and chemical producer, Chemical & Allied Product Plc by 9.73 percent respectively.

At the close of the session, market breadth on the Nigerian bourse remained negative, with 19 gainers and 21 losers posted, according to daily market statistics made available by the NSE.

Hospitality firm, Ikeja Hotels Plc emerged the top gainer with a gain of 0.09 kobo per share; while soft drink manufacturer, SevenUp Bottling Company Plc topped the losers chart with a loss of N11.64 per share to close the session.

In terms of turnover, total volume traded on the Nigerian equities market fell by 6.10 percent to 391.37 million shares, valued at N3.40 billion, and exchanged hands in 3,103 deals.

“Given today’s positive performance, we expect bullish sentiments to persist in tomorrow’s session,” the Cordros report said.

The post Stocks Trudges on, Driven by Bargain Hunting to Lift NSE ASI 0.55% appeared first on Investadvocate.

February 19, 2016

By Yakubu LAAH InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Friday said it has proposed to give its approval for block divestments in its amendments to Rule 15.31 on “Block Divestments in Equities” in the Rulebook of the Exchange, 2015 under its Dealing Members’ Rules.

In its notice signed by Tinuade Awe, general counsel/head of regulations, the NSE said the amendments to Rule 15.31 on “Block Divestments in Equities” will set the new thresholds for trades that the Exchange will identify and treat as block divestments.

It also amended  Rule 17.13 titled “Prohibition of Market Manipulation and Illegal Market Dealings” which is to be amended further to provide clarity and certainty around the forms of sanctions which the NSE may impose for market manipulation and illegal market dealings.

The Exchange therefore, invited stakeholders to participate in its rule making process by way of reviewing the draft amendments and providing their comments thereon.

According to the NSE, the participation is important for the following reasons which include creating public awareness and soliciting the public’s feedback on the draft amendments, improving the quality of the Rules and thereby have a robust, well written set of Rules.

“We are involving as many stakeholders as possible in this rule making process in order to achieve the aforementioned goals. Please be assured that your comments will be considered in arriving at the final text of the Rules,” the NSE added.

The Exchange says that inputs would be received not later than the close of business on Friday March 18, 2016.

It further affirmed that the draft Rules are subject to the approval of the National Council of the NSE and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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Oando Energy Resources Inc (OER) – a subsidiary of Oando Plc – a company focused on oil and gas exploration and production in Nigeria, has announced that it intends to complete a private placement to raise the sum of US$50,000,000. In addition, in connection with the Offering, OER intends to acquire a 5% interest in OML 131 in exchange for common shares of the Company (the “OML 131 Acquisition”).

The Offering

The Offering is expected to consist of 35,070,063 common shares of the Company (the “Common Shares”) and 17,535,031 common share purchase warrants (the “Warrants”) for gross proceeds of US$50,000,000 (each Common Share and half-Warrant, a “Unit”) at a price of C$1.57 per Unit. Each whole Warrant will entitle the holder thereof to acquire one common share of the Company at a price of C$2.00 per common share for a period of 24 months from the date of the closing of the COP Acquisition (as defined below). If, after a period of six months from the closing of the COP Acquisition, the common shares of the Company trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (“TSX”) at a price greater than C$3.50 for a period of at least 10 consecutive trading days, the Warrants will expire on the date which is 30 days following the last day of such 10 consecutive trading days.

Closing of the Offering is subject to receipt of applicable regulatory approvals, including approval of the TSX. The issue price of the Units represents approximately an 11% discount on the market price of the Common Shares on the date the TSX received the Company’s request for price protection. Securities issued will be subject to a hold period, which will expire four months plus one day from the date of closing of the Offering.

It is anticipated that the proceeds of the Offering will be used by the Company to satisfy a portion of the purchase price for the proposed acquisition by the Company of the Nigerian upstream oil and gas business of ConocoPhillips (the “COP Acquisition”). The Offering has been negotiated at arm’s length. Should OER elect to issue Common Shares to Oando Plc, the 94.6% shareholder of the Company, prior to or concurrent with the closing of the Offering as repayment of all or a part of a convertible loan outstanding to Oando Plc, the Offering is not expected to affect control of the Company and no new insiders are expected to be created as a result of the Offering.

The OML 131 Acquisition  

In connection with the Offering, the Company intends to acquire a 5% interest in OML 131 from an investor in the Offering for a purchase price of US$5,000,000. The purchase price will be satisfied by the issuance of an additional 3,491,082 Units. The closing of the OML 131 Acquisition is subject to acceptance by the TSX and any requisite approvals from Nigerian regulatory authorities.

Assuming completion of the OML 131 Acquisition and the COP Acquisition, OER will own a 100% interest in OML 131.

Source: NSE

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