BUSINESS ROUNDUP: Oil price rises; Discos lose N30bn monthly; See other stories that made our pick

Hello, and welcome to Business Roundup this week. Here, we bring you highlights of events that happened during the week -from the capital market, mainstream business activities while not forgetting the tech/economy build up.

Here are the Headlines:

• Customs destroys N1bn worth of cannabis
• Abuja airport conducts dry run test ahead of airport reopening
• Oil prices climb as demand recovery tempers virus fears, Bonny Light gains 1.09%
• We lose N30bn every month to energy theft, vandalism, others –Discos

Summary:

The Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja conducted a test run on Saturday after closing down for nearly three months with passengers carefully screened in accordance with COVID-19 safety protocols.

It equally saw strict compliance with other safety measures aimed at curbing the virus’ spread. The NewsAgency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that hand wash and alcohol-based sanitisers were provided, temperature checks were conducted while social distancing of about one metre was observed. Read more

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has destroyed 10,000 kilograms of cannabis valued at over N1 billion in Lagos.

Olugboyega Peters, the Comptroller I of the Western Marine Command of the NCS, made the declaration on Friday while speaking with journalists in Badagry.According to Mr Paters, the cannabis was recovered on 21st April 2020 at Agaja Beach in Lagos State. Read more

Electricity distribution companies (Discos) have said they lose more than N30 billion of their monthly income to energy theft, vandalism, meter bypass and unsettled electricity bills by consumers.

The Discos, which spoke through their umbrella body, Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED) on Thursday, said over 40 per cent of power consumers do not pay their bills but rather resort to illegal electricity connection. Sunday Oduntan, Executive Director, Research and Advocacy at ANED, said the issues made up the bulk of Discos’ Aggregate Technical, Commercial and Collection losses. Read more

Oil prices edged up on Friday as the uptrend from signs of fuel demand recovery was kept in check by a spike in the number of new coronavirus infections in the United States and China, and tentative expectations of U.S. output rising.

Brent crude futures jumped 47 cents or 1.14% to $41.52 per barrel at 12:06 West Africa Time while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up by 31 cents or 0.80% at $39.03 a barrel. Bonny Light, Nigeria’s premium crude grade, added up 44 cents or 1.09% to close at $40.70 per barrel at the last session just as another national grade, Qua Iboe, inched up by $1.06 or 2.64% to $41.21 a barrel. Read more

On NSE ROUNDUP: Market capitalisation rises by N1.153bn amid negative sentiments

The Nigerian bourse was largely bearish this week, posting losses Monday through Thursday as there were persistent profit-taking efforts among investors, which increasingly weakened the market capitalisation for days.

But thanks to a major rebound on Friday, the previous days’ losses were reversed, causing the market to record a marginal weekly gain of N1.153 billion. All the key market performance indicators closed lower. A negative market breadth was recorded this week as 43 losers emerged against 18 gainers. The All Share Index (ASI) and the Market Capitalisation both appreciated by 0.01%. While the former closed at 24,829.02 basis points, the latter closed at N12.952 trillion. Read more

Thanks for joining the roundup this week. See you next week for another serving of Business Roundup. Don’t forget, for the latest news and updates from around the globe, keep reading Ripples Nigeria.

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