Five things to know to start your Tuesday

Investors gain N127bn as stock market opens week in green

 

Nigeria’s equities market opened this week on a positive, rising by about N127billion or 0.51percent.

The record rally on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) was driven by bargains in favour of UACN (+N1 or 9.90 percent); NAHCO (+50kobo or 10percent); and Meyer (+11kobo or 9.73percent).

Other stocks seen on the buy side of the market include Royal Exchange (+9kobo or 9.47percent) and Learn Africa (16kobo or 9.25percent).

GTCO, Zenith Bank, Sterling Bank, Fidelity Bank and Access Holdings were actively traded stocks on Monday, April 11.

The value of listed stocks on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) which stood lower at N25.139tillion the preceding trading day, rose by N127billion to N25.266trillion.

Also, the equities market benchmark performance indicator – the All Share Index (ASI) increased by 0.51percent from a low of 46,631.46 points to 46,867.95 points on Monday.

The stock market’s positive return year-to-date (YtD) rose by 9.72 percent. In 5,946 deals, equity investors exchanged 224,643,990 units valued at N3.823billion.

Lagos-based Vetiva research analysts had in their April 11 note ahead of market trading said they expect to see a slight improvement in the market’s numbers “amid further mixed
sessions spurred by bargain hunting activities.”

 

Bua foods plc increases profit to N69.76billion

Bua Foods Plc released its full-year, 2021 financial statement on Monday, April 11, and declared a profit after tax of N69.76 million.

The fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company, which as a group has five business divisions, namely: sugar, flour, pasta, rice, and edible oils, released its financial statement in line with the provisions of the security and exchange commission.

As a group, the company grew its revenue by 72.81% from N192.86 billion in December 2020 to N333.27 billion as of December 31st, 2021.

The profit before tax of the group also enjoyed similar growth as it grew by 63.95% from N47.25 billion in December 2020 to N77.47 billion as of December 31st, 2021.

Apparently, the income tax expense of the group dropped to N7.7 billion from N11.84 billion, which represented a 34.97% decline. This helped the group’s profit after tax increase from N35.41 billion in 2020 to N69.77 billion in 2021.

Further details from the statement published in the corporate disclosure section of the NGX website showed that profit was largely influenced by the restructuring and reorganization of the company. This restructuring gave birth to the group BUA Food Plc in November 2021, following a merger of BUA Sugar Refinery Limited, IRS Flour Mills Limited, IRS Pasta Limited, BUA Rice Limited, and BUA Oil Mills Limited.

These several companies helped grow the company’s revenue and profit from the year 2020 to 2021.

The Board of Directors also recommended for approval by shareholders the payment of a N3.50k dividend per 1 ordinary share of 50 kobo each.

Read also: Illegal fishing: How Nigeria can stop losing $70m yearly – Experts

Crude Oil price picks up steam by 2%

 

WTI regained the 2% loss it sustained previously, as it currently sells at $96.18 per barrel.
Tradingeconomics says that the news that Russia’s energy sector is likely to be hit by sanctions is a big factor in this rise.
It was also revealed that OPEC warned that the supply shortage responsible for the price increases would continue as the organization feared it wouldn’t be able to increase output to offset the lost supply from Russia.
London Brent crude, on the other hand, fell by around 4% on Monday and is currently trading at $100.40 per barrel at the time of compiling this report.
The price was reacting to the COVID-19 lockdowns in China and the anticipated massive oil reserve release by the International Energy Agency members.

Danish millennials struggle to cope as inflation hits 37-year high

Millennials and young adults are the worst hit as inflation grows to a 37-year high in Denmark following rising food and energy prices.
Many analysts see this rise as being motivated by the current war going on in Ukraine. As a result, gas supply and other natural resources that the country depends on Russia to supply have been seriously affected.
According to Bloomberg, consumers are finding it difficult to adapt to an unplanned rise of 5.4% in inflation in March this year. This rise is almost three times more than what they were accustomed to.
A senior analyst with Danske Bank A/S acknowledges that it is very challenging for the young and those not rich enough to adjust to these new price changes.
He, however, believes that these categories of people will have to do away with an unnecessary lifestyle that can’t be accommodated by these new changes.
He believes that things like vacations, cars, and fine dining should be reduced for now, if not totally avoided.
An investigation revealed that this rise in inflation is boosted by rising energy prices as well as wage pressures stemming from labour shortages. The Russia-Ukraine war has also contributed in no small measure to consumers’ moods dropping as they try to grapple with the changes it has had on gas and electricity prices.
Bloomberg reported that the finance ministry in Denmark warned last month that “inflation may average 5.5% this year and gross domestic product may fail to grow.”

Iran prepares to launch its digital currency, issue warning against other Cryptocurrencies

Iran’s Central Bank has announced the publication of rules for the issue of digital currency in the nation.

The apex bank, which is in charge of monetary policies in Iran, stated this as it prepares to launch its digital version of the country’s currency, called the rial. The coin will be known as “crypto-rial”.

In the past, the government of Iran has allowed cryptocurrencies as a means of settlement with foreign partners as a way to get around Western financial sanctions.

The goal of the coin is to make it easier for people in the country to pay each other and for businesses to settle their debts with each other.

However, the bank is focusing squarely on ensuring the successful launch of the digital national currency.

According to Way2pay, the digital currency, like any other digital currency, will be based on a distributed ledger system that will be maintained and managed by the authorized financial institutions and be capable of implementing smart contracts. The infrastructure and the guidelines for the CBDC have been finalized, and it will be piloted in the near future, the publication revealed.

However, the Central Bank of Iran has used the opportunity of the announcement of the digital rial to warn its citizens to desist from any form of cryptocurrency trading and investment.

According to some senior bankers, doing any kind of business with cryptocurrency is not only against the law, but it could also get you in trouble with the government.

An Iranian minister was quoted as saying that accepting cryptocurrency for payments is a “red line” that will attract appropriate punishment.