Nigerian Breweries declares N37.2bn dividend for 2014

Nigerian Breweries Plc says its Board of Directors has recommended a total dividend of N37.205bn for the 2014 financial year.

The amount represents a pay out of N4.75 per ordinary share of fifty kobo each, a statement by the company’s Secretary and Legal Adviser, Mr. Uaboi Agbebaku, on Thursday said.

The recommended of the board would be presented to the company’s shareholders for approval at the 2015 Annual General Meeting.

The statement explained that the board had earlier paid an interim dividend of N9.453bn, representing N1.25 per ordinary share of fifty kobo each in October 2014.

Nigeria’s foreign reserves fall $1bn in 12 days

Nigeria’s foreign reserves fell to $33.4 billion as at February 10, a drop of $1 billion over the previous 12 days as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sold hard currency to try to defend a plunging naira.

The Nigerian currency has been witnessing a plunge due to the continuous fall in global oil prices since June last year.

Oil accounts for more than 70 percent of Nigeria’s revenue.

Nigerian overnight rate soars to 100 pct as naira hits 200 to dollar

Nigeria's overnight lending rates soared to a record high of 100 percent on Tuesday, signalling a sharp tightening of naira supply as the currency fell to 200 to the dollar for the first time.

A weekend decision to postpone presidential elections by six weeks, combined with plummeting oil prices, has damaged investor sentiment towards Nigeria, driving the naira to a succession of lows despite central bank efforts to prop it up.

The central bank said on Tuesday the foreign exchange market was understandably nervous after the decision to postpone elections but said it was nothing to worry about. The bank is committed to sustaining a "stable and orderly" market, it added.

The naira fell sharply to a fresh low of 200 to the dollar, shrugging off central bank intervention and ending at a record closing low of 199.90. It closed at 196.50 on Monday. 

he naira has been officially pegged at 160-176 to the dollar after an 8 percent devaluation in November but it has rarely traded within that range, and most analysts reckon authorities will have to devalue the currency again.

Non-deliverable forwards -- contracts used to bet on future exchange rate moves -- price the naira as much as 30 percent weaker in a year's time.

The central bank was widely expected to move after the presidential election, but the decision to postpone it from Feb. 14 till March 28 due to security concerns has rattled investors.

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE – SEC TO LAUNCH SCORECARD FOR PUBLIC QUAOTED COMPANIES

With a goal to boost investor confidence and deepen corporate governance practices in Nigeria, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is set to release a landmark Corporate Governance Scorecard for listed companies in the country.

This will be the first of its kind within Nigeria’s financial system according to Mr. Mounir Gwarzo, the Acting Director General of SEC who hosted members of the Institute of Directors (IoD)Centre for Corporate Governance at his office in Abuja. The Corporate Governance Scorecard will assess the level of compliance with the SEC Code of Corporate governance by Nigeria’s public companies on an annual basis.

Mr. Gwarzo stressed the importance of corporate governance to the SEC and reeled out various initiatives by the apex regulator to strengthen corporate governance practices in Nigeria. “Corporate governance is very close to our heart as an institution. Internally we hold ourselves to the highest governance standards with our Board members submitting themselves to annual evaluations on corporate governance. In addition, we require all market operators to have competent compliance officers as a precondition for operating in the capital market”.

Last year, the SEC intervened to resolve a corporate governance crisis at Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), taking a leading role in strengthening the institution and Mr. Gwarzo believes that the Commission will continue to play similar roles. “The SEC has the widest coverage when it comes to corporate governance covering all publicly listed companies and capital market operators. We should therefore be the reference point on corporate governance”, Mr. Gwarzo said.

Naira Hits N200/1$

 

The naira currency opened at record low on Monday on thin trading as the interbank markets gested the news that Nigeria would delay its presidential election for six weeks due to an Islamist insurgency in the north, dealers said.

 

The naira opened at a record low of 194.75 to the dollar, and quickly fell 1.1 percent to 196.05, compared with its previous close of 193.90 on Friday.

Nigeria's electoral commission said late of Saturday it would postpone the Feb. 14 presidential election until March 28 due to security concerns.

CBN says it will stabilise naira, after it crosses 200/1$

 

Nigeria's central bank is committed to sustaining a "stable and orderly" market, after a delay to a presidential election pushed the naira beyond 200 to the U.S. dollar for the first time, an adviser to the governor told Reuters on Tuesday.


The forex market was understandably nervous after the six-week delay to elections originally scheduled for Feb. 14, but it was nothing to worry about, Ugochukwu Okoroafor said.


Okoroafor said the naira was under speculative attack, as there had been no fundamental change to Nigeria's economy to warrant the pressure on the currency.

FG to further Diversify the Economy

The Nigerian economy is said to be growing at a rate of 7 per cent, with 40 percent input from the non-oil sector.

This was disclosed by the Minister of Finance and the coordinating minister of the economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-iweala on a television interview with Richard Quest of CNN.

Okonjo-Iweala said the drop in oil prices will bring out the best of the country's non oil sector as government is making great effort in further diversifying the economy.