Company boosts Airtel stake with £57m share acquisition
Indian Continent Investment Limited, linked to Shravin Bharti Mittal, has upped its Airtel Africa stake with a £57.25 million share acquisition on the London Stock Exchange.
The corporate filing reveals the purchase of 53,500,000 units at £1.07 per unit.
This boosts Indian Continent Investment’s shareholding from 11.02 percent to 12.58 percent, holding 473,071,861 shares indirectly.
Meanwhile, Singapore Telecom International Pte Ltd trimmed its shareholding below 3 percent from 3.94 percent.
Airtel Africa had recently cancelled all deferred shares, approved by shareholders and sanctioned by the High Court of England and Wales.
PZ Cussons raises share buyback offer to N23 per unit
PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc’s board of directors has raised the offer price for the buyback of shares from minority shareholders, increasing it from N21 to N23 per unit.
The updated offer, filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited, represents a 35% premium over the company’s share price on August 17, 2023.
The board recommends that minority shareholders approve this improved offer as fair value. PZ Cussons (Holdings) Limited, the majority shareholder, is behind the buyback plan.
Military alerts to plot involving election disruption through army camouflage
The military high command has revealed a plot by certain individuals to wear military uniforms and disrupt upcoming elections.
They have deployed extensively for off-cycle elections in Bayelsa, Imo, and Kogi States.
Maj. Gen. Buba Edward, Director of Defence Media Operation, warned those planning to impersonate the military to abandon their scheme, emphasising that the military takes election security seriously and will not allow its reputation to be tarnished.
FG earns N14.4tn from extractive sector, reports NEITI
The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) disclosed that federal government revenue-generating agencies remitted approximately N14.4 trillion to the Federation Account between January 2020 and December 2021.
The remittances, which increased by about 14 percent, came from agencies like NNPC, the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission, FIRS, the Ministry of Mines, and Customs Service.
Mineral revenue constituted 44.5 percent of the total remittances, while other non-mineral revenue (excluding VAT) accounted for 33.37 percent.
However, both NNPC and FIRS experienced decreased contributions due to reduced crude oil exports in 2021.
Oil prices steady, third weekly drop looms
Oil prices remained relatively stable on Friday after an earlier increase but are on track for their third consecutive weekly decline.
Concerns over supply disruptions due to the Israel-Hamas conflict have eased, allowing worries about demand to resurface.
Brent crude futures for January held steady at $80.01 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for December were at $75.67, down 7 cents.
Both Brent and WTI have experienced their longest weekly losing streak in several months, with declines of 5.7 percent and 5.9 percent this week, respectively.
The threat of Middle East supply disruptions has diminished as the Israel-Hamas conflict remains contained within Gaza.
