OPEC oil output hits highest since 2012 on Libya, Saud

OPEC's oil supply jumped to its highest in almost two years in September, a Reuters survey found, due to further recovery in Libya and higher output from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf producers in the face of sub-$100 per barrel oil prices.The lack of any cutbacks underlines the relaxed view of OPEC's core Gulf members to oil's slide from $115 in June to $97 on Tuesday - a level they can tolerate, but which puts budgets in producers such as Iran and non-member Russia under pressure.Supply from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries...

Read More

Kenya's economy increases by a quarter to join Africa's top 10

• Bigger GDP may mean government can borrow more• Government wants to overhaul creaking infrastructure• Revising economy size does not boost state resources• Economy now estimated to have grown 5.7 pct in 2013 President Kenyatta Kenya's gross domestic product was estimated to be 25 percent bigger after the authorities changed the base calculation year to 2009 from 2001, sending the east African nation into the continent's top 10 economies.Economic...

Read More

Nigeria's SEC DG, Oteh re-elects AMERC chairperson

SEC DG, Oteh Director General, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Arunma Oteh has been unanimously returned un-opposed as chairperson of the African/Middle East Regional Committee (AMERC) at the 39th annual conference of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) currently taking place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Oteh was acclaimed as Chairperson to head AMERC for the next two years at the end of the AMERC meeting held...

Read More

Nigeria raises 114.4 bln naira in T. bills, yields mixed

Nigeria sold 114.39 billion naira ($698 million) worth of treasury bills with maturities ranging between three months and one year at an auction this week, with yields mixed, the central bank said on Friday.The bank sold 21.53 billion naira worth of three-month paper at 9.95 percent, higher than 9.58 percent at a previous auction on Sept. 17. It sold 33.78 billion naira in 6-month notes at 10.10 percent, 13 basis points lower than the previous auction.It raised 59.08 billion naira in one-year debt at 10.35 percent, the same yield the paper fetched...

Read More

Nigerian bond seen rising next week

Prices of Nigerian Treasury bonds are likely to pick up next week after being driven lower by investors taking profits in the wake of naira depreciation and concerns over falling oil prices on the global market."We expect that some investors would come into the market at this level to take advantage of the low price after weeks of a bearish run," one dealer said.Yields on the major debt notes have risen by as much as 20 basis points this week alone as offshore investors stayed on the sidelines, while some local pension funds cut their positions.The...

Read More

Nigerian interbank rate up at 10.50 pct after T-bill sale

Nigeria's interbank lending rates inched up this week to an average of 10.50 percent on Friday, up from 10.37 percent last week after a treasury bill sale drained liquidity, dealers said.The central bank sold a cobined 200 billion naira ($1.2 billion) worth of bills on Monday and Thursday this week, to manage excess liquidity. It also sold 114.39 billion naira in treasury bills at a primary market auction.The market opened with a cash balance of around 516 billion naira from government budgetary allocations, oil company cash call payments and matured...

Read More

Nigeria naira hits two-week high on cenbank intervention

Nigeria's naira hit a two-week closing high of 162.65 against the dollar on Wednesday, after the central bank sold greenbacks directly to lenders to prop up the local currency, dealers said.The local unit closed 0.76 percent firmer on the day, a level last seen on Sept. 9, compared with the previous day's close of 163.90 naira. Dealers said the central bank sold an undisclosed amount of dollars to the interbank market.The naira has been falling for the past two weeks, weakened by the impact of the decline in global oil prices and low offshore inflows...

Read More

Nigeria stocks, bonds fall on naira, oil price worries

* Stocks down almost 1 pct so far this year* Investors jittery over falling oil prices (Adds bond yields, quote, naira value)Nigerian stocks fell to a four-month closing low of 40,537 points on Tuesday, as a weaker naira hurt by falling global oil prices dampened appetite for equities, dealers said.The index shed 1.1 percent on the day to its lowest closing level since May 28, dragged down by heavyweight banking and cement stocks.Shares in Dangote Cement, Nigeria's most capitalised stock, shed 1.73 percent to 221 naira, while Zenith Bank fell 3.64...

Read More

Nigeria Oando doubles profit, plans increase crude production

Nigerian energy company Oando said on Tuesday its pre-tax profit in the first half rose 103 percent to 12.53 billion naira from 6.15 billion naira (37.53 million US dollar)in the same period last year.Revenue dropped to 194.55 billion naira compared with 280.32 billion, the firm said in a filing with the Nigerian Stock Exchange.ONando, which concluded the purchase of the Nigerian upstream oil and gas business from ConocoPhillips for $1.5 billion in July, said it had proposed a 0.70 naira interim dividend from its half-year profit and a 0.30 naira...

Read More

PZ Cussons sees minimal impact from north Nigeria unrest

PZ Cussons Plc, the maker of Imperial Leather soaps, expects minimal impact from the continued unrest in northern Nigeria, its chief financial officer said.Nigeria is the British soap and shampoo maker's biggest market, though it also sells in Ghana and Kenya. Africa accounted for about 42 percent of Cussons' revenue in the year ended May 31."Year-on-year impact is quite small but it just means that rather than growing in the north, the sales are down 1 or 2 percent in the north," Chief Financial Officer Brandon Leigh told Reuters.However, Leigh...

Read More

Nigeria naira sheds 0.27 pct as oil price continues to fall

CBN Gov, Emefiele Nigeria naira slipped 0.27 percent on Monday amid a shortage of dollars on the interbank market, as higher demand coupled with declining global oil prices raised doubts about the central bank's ability to support the local currency.The naira closed at 163.85 to the dollar, below the three-month low of 163.45 naira it touched a week ago. The naira closed at 163.40 on Friday."Dollar demand from politicians holding their assets...

Read More

Oil falls below $98 on sluggish demand, ample supply

Nigeria oilmin, Madueke Brent crude oil fell below $98 a barrel on Monday, dropping for the third session in four, as sluggish demand and ample supplies outweighed expectations of a cut in oil output from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). OPEC members, many of whom need oil prices above $100 a barrel to meet budgetary needs, will review the organisation's oil output policy at its next meeting on Nov. 27. Many analysts...

Read More

Nigeria's Transcorp Hotels plans IPO to help finance new properties

Transcorp Hotel, Abuja Nigeria's Transcorp Hotels plans to start marketing its initial public offering (IPO) from Sept. 24, aiming to raise 8 billion naira ($48.8 million) to part-finance the construction of two new hotels in Africa's biggest economy, its prospectus showed.New hotels are springing up across Africa despite bureaucratic delays and poor infrastructure, seeking to cater to a growing middle class and increasing number of tourists and...

Read More