Crude oil flies to $86bpd over Gabon coup concerns

The coup in Gabon has fueled a modest increase in the prices of crude oil due to threats to the country’s 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil exports.  Gabon is the second-smallest OPEC producer. Earlier on August 30, a cohort of senior military officers declared that they had assumed control following the announcement by the state election body that President Ali Bongo had secured a third term. Bongo’s father Omar had ruled as president for 42 years. According to a report by Wall Street Journal, since Gabon’s coup announcement, global crude oil prices have seen a modest increase due to seeming threats to exports from the country. “The coup and the threat of disruptions to Gabon’s oil exports are supporting oil prices, but only modestly as the nation is a minor OPEC oil producer, DNB Markets analyst Helge Andre Martinsen says. Brent crude oil is up 0.3 per cent at $85.19 a barrel. “The nation’s output stands at a modest 190,000 barrels a day, but it has been the only African OPEC member to hit its production quotas. So far, there has been no sign of disruption to Gabon’s oil output. Still, the coup serves as a reminder of the geopolitical risk in the oil market, Martinsen says.” It is important to note that as of 12:50 PM (GMT+1) on Wednesday, August 30, Brent crude price was at $86 per barrel. The Gabon coup is raising supply concerns alongside Hurricane Idalia in the United States, which has raised oil supply concerns as well. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Amena Bakr, OPEC’s chief correspondent posted on Twitter that so far, it appears that oil production from fields in Gabon is not affected by the military coup. Similarly, Assala Energy, which is wholly owned by Carlyle Group (CG.O), said its oil production in Gabon has been unaffected by the military coup in the country. “We can confirm that all our personnel are safe, our operations continue as usual and our production is not affected,” a company spokesperson said. The private equity fund’s non-U.S. energy arm first invested in Assala in 2017 when it acquired Shell’s (SHELL) ageing operations in Gabon for $628 million. However, earlier this month, Carlyle agreed to sell Assala to French producer Maurel & Prom which owns and operates oil and gas assets in Africa, Europe and Latin America, including three licences in Gabon, for $730 million.

Divestments in AccessCorp as 43.702m shares change hands

Shareholders have expressed surprise that the shareholding structure in Access Bank Corporation is tilting with a total of 43.702 million worth N703.328 million changing hands in one day. Investors traded 311.116 million shares worth N3.915 billion in 7193 deals against 356.015 million shares valued at N4.233 billion in 6469 deals.  Transactions in the shares of AccessCorp led market activities during the day with 43.702 million shares valued at N703.328 million, Transnational Corporation of Nigeria followed with 28.497 million shares worth N181.730 million, Dangote Sugar Refinery traded 16.029 million shares cost N820.840 million, Chi Plc traded 15.565 million shares cost N13. 471 million while Omatek exchanged 15.514 million shares cost N4.659 million. The domestic equity market Monday opened the week on a positive note, appreciating by N325 billion. The market capitalisation of listed equities increased by 0.90 per cent to close at N36.205 trillion from N35.880 trillion reported the previous day. The NGX All Share Index also appreciated by 592.47 basis points to 66151.38 points recorded the previous day. An analysis of the investment showed that four companies recorded 10 per cent gain at the close of transaction Omatek Plc, Dangote Sugar Refinery increased by 10 per cent each to close at N0.33 and 52.25 per share respectively. Thomas Way and Transnational Corporation of Nigeria also appreciated by 10 per cent each to close respectively at N1.87 per cent and N6.38 per cent per unit.SFS REIT followed with a gain of 9.96 per cent to close at N92.15 per unit. On the contrary, CWG recorded the highest loss, in percentage terms, declining by 10 per cent to close at N4.50 per unit, JohnHolt trailed with a loss of 9.80 per cent to close at N1.38 per share, NEM Insurance declined by 9.54 per cent to close at N5.12 per unit, NSLTech fell by 9.09 per cent to close at N0.30 per share while Cutix Plc dropped by 8.33 per cent to close at N2.20 per share.

Market operators hail NGX’s N32.74m fine on Unity Bank, 7 others

Market operators have commended the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) for the recent N32.74 million fine slammed on Unity Bank, Conoil and six other quoted companies for failure to file their unaudited financial statement after the regulatory due date.   The companies were sanctioned during the current year 2023 for their inability to meet the regulatory requirements during the first quarter of 2023. The companies include Presco Plc, Ardova Plc, Briclinks Africa Plc, Universal Insurance Plc, Unity Bank Plc, Conoil Oil Plc, FBNH Plc, and Caverton Offshore Support Plc. Also, Presco Plc was fined N9.4 million, Ardova, N7.2 million, and Universal Insurance Plc will pay N4.7 million as fine accounting for a cumulative fine of N21.3 million and represented 65.05 per cent of the total fines levied on defaulters. The Managing Director of Crane Securities Limited, Mr. Mike Eze, while reacting to the development said the action of NGX would boost investor confidence in the market because it is sending a signal for investors to get companies’ financial reports as at when due. He added that investors needed to make informed decisions before choosing which stock to buy and this can only be achieved if there is adherence to good corporate governance by the quoted companies. “It is not a new thing, and it does not come to us as a surprise. We have constantly written to the exchange and raised the issue at annual general meetings that there is a need to know the status of these companies to enable us to take investment positions,” he noted. Also, the President of Progressive Shareholders Association, Mr Boniface Okezie, said it was better for Nigerians to have a few companies that are ready to play by the rules than to have all the companies in the world that are not ready to satisfy post-listing requirements. Okezie said that penalizing companies for non-compliance with the rules of listing on NGX was a welcome development, as it will lead to more appropriate pricing of securities. “We must always abide by the rules, sanctions would make the companies sit up and post their results as and when due, thereby providing investors, analysts, and stockbrokers the platform to predict the real value of the companies”. The Exchange in its X-Compliance report explained that the initiative was designed to maintain market integrity and protect the investors by providing compliance-related information on all listed companies. “Financial information which is periodic disclosure and ongoing material events disclosure should be released to The Exchange promptly to enable it efficiently perform its function of maintaining an orderly market”.