The Nigerian stock exchange regained momentum on Wednesday, with the All-Share Index increasing by 0.18 percent to reach 97,098.98 points, resulting in a year-to-date return of 29.86 percent.
Market capitalization of listed equities also rose by 18 basis points to N55.13 trillion, adding N97 billion in gains for investors.
The bullish trend was evident as advancing stocks (27) outnumbered declining stocks (22). Trading activity was robust, with total deals, volume, and value climbing by 3.87 percent, 41.69 percent, and 89.59 percent, respectively.
This resulted in a bustling market with 9,744 deals, a total volume of 636.50 million units, and a total traded value of N12.77 billion.
Sector performance was largely positive, with the Banking sector leading the gainers with a 0.97 percent increase, driven by share price gains in ACCESSCORP, ZENITH, and STERLING.
The Insurance sector followed, rising by 0.81% due to buying interest in VERITASKAP, WAPIC, LINKASSURE, and MANSARD. The Oil/Gas and Industrial Goods sectors saw marginal increases of 0.11 percent and 0.02 percent, respectively.
However, the Consumer Goods sector was the only laggard, recording a 0.30 percent decline due to share price drops in NESTLE and HONEYFLOUR.
Top gainers of the day included REDSTAREX (+10.00%), OANDO (+9.98%), RTBRISCOE (+9.90%), UCAP (+9.90%), and IMG (+9.87%). On the flip side, NEIMETH (-7.69%), HONEYFLOUR (-6.10%), SOVRENINS (-5.56%), DEAPCAP (-4.00%), and ETI (-3.72%) led the losers’ chart. At the end of the trading session, ACCESSCORP emerged as the most traded stock in terms of volume, with 112.62 million units exchanged in 665 trades, while GTCO led in traded value, amounting to N3.34 billion.
In the money market, the Overnight NIBOR remained unchanged at 26.00 percent. Meanwhile, the 3-month and 6-month NIBOR rates rose by 0.22 percent and 0.26 percent, respectively, whereas the 1-month NIBOR saw a decline of 0.09 percent. Key money market rates such as the Open Repo Rate (OPR) and Overnight Lending Rate (OVN) concluded at 25.40 percent and 25.85 percent, respectively.
In the Nigerian Interbank Treasury Bills market, NITTY closed in the mixed bag. Meanwhile, the secondary market for Nigerian Treasury Bills exhibited a negative trend, leading to an increase in the average yield by 0.58 percent to 23.49 percent.
In the FGN bond market, trading activity was relatively balanced, with yield reductions in some instruments offset by yield increases in others. Consequently, the average yield remained steady at 19.88 percent. In Nigeria’s sovereign Eurobonds market, a bullish sentiment prevailed across the short, mid, and long segments of the yield curve, resulting in a 0.17 percent decline in the average yield to 10.64 percent.
In the official NAFEM market, the naira exhibited strength against the dollar by 0.28 percent to close at ₦1,596.52 per dollar. In the parallel market, the naira closed at ₦1,590 per dollar.
MTN, IHS renegotiate tower lease agreement to relieve financial burden
MTN Nigeria Communications Plc and IHS have successfully renegotiated binding commercial terms of the existing infrastructure sharing and master lease agreements.
“This was one of the initiatives outlined at the EGM to support the recovery of our capital position. The terms of the amendments are effective from 1 April 2024, and the existing contracts have been extended to 31 December 2032,” the company disclosed in a notice to the Nigerian Exchange Limited on Wednesday.
Before the renegotiation, the site leases expired variously between December 2024 and December 2029, with the majority expiring in 2029. The revised terms substantially reduce the US dollar-indexed component of the leases linked to a discounted US consumer price index (CPI), making the leases majority naira-based, as well as setting a cap for the naira CPI escalator component.
MTN noted, “They also remove technology-based pricing, allowing payments for new upgrades based on tower space and power. The renegotiated agreements incorporate an energy cost component indexed to the cost of providing diesel power; however, the terms also provide for some discounts and incentives over the life of the contracts. The renegotiated terms aim to mitigate macro risks affecting our business as well as support margin recovery and the resolution of our negative equity position. In addition, MTN Nigeria, ATC Nigeria Wireless Infrastructure Solutions Limited (ATC) and IHS (the Parties) have reached a mutual agreement regarding the approximately 2,500 sites that were awarded to ATC from the IHS portfolio, per our announcement on 7 September 2023. Following trilateral discussions commenced in Q2 2024, the parties have agreed to a revised allocation of sites in terms of which ATC will provide tower services for up to approximately 2,100 sites; while IHS will manage up to approximately 1,400 sites. This includes 1,000 new MTN Nigeria sites to be rolled out over the next few years and allocated between the two tower operators.”
Commenting on the agreements, MTN Nigeria’s CEO, Karl Toriola, said, “We are pleased with the successful renegotiation of our tower lease agreements with IHS and ATC, which reflect a collaborative and mutually beneficial outcome aligned with the long-term interests of all parties involved. We anticipate that these amendments will unlock significant network cost efficiencies in line with our expense efficiency programme to improve our operating margins and capital position over the medium term.”
