Nigerians’ love for celebrations, fun, and a lavish lifestyle has propelled champagne consumption in the country to an eight-year high, despite economic challenges. Comité Champagne, a French trade association that monitors the volume and value of exports, has released new data indicating that Nigeria’s champagne imports have risen by 15.3 percent. The data noted that Nigeria imported 644,452 bottles in 2022, up from 559,088 in 2021. The value also rose by 17.8 percent to £25.3 million last year. The level of champagne imports into the country has been rising since 2020, when it plunged to a ..read more

Nigeria’s market capitalisation appreciated to N29.64 trillion on Thursday, as it grew by 1.50 per cent or N440.93 billion, from the previous day’s N29.20 trillion. The All-Share Index closed at 54,413.21 ASI, rising from 53,603.8 ASI, after gaining 809.41 basis points. Over 973.64 million shares were traded in 3,718 deals, worth N4.22 billion, on Thursday. This contrasted with the 236.06 million shares traded on Wednesday in 3,906 deals, valued at N3.25 billion. Oando led the gainers’ list with a N0.49kobo rise in share price to move from N4.91kobo to N5.40kobo per share. Sunu Assurance shar ..read more

Sterling Bank has banned the company’s directors and other individuals with access to sensitive materials relating to the firm’s financials from trading its shares. The financial institution took the decision following its inability to meet the deadline set by the capital market regulator, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), for the submission of the Audited Financial Statements (AFS) for the year ended December 31, 2022. Ripples Nigeria understands that the deadline to release the annual earnings report is March 31, 2023, but Sterling Bank in a statement jointly signed by Demola Adesin ..read more

Transnational Corporation (Transcorp) Plc’s has disclosed that its operating profit grew by N11.64 billion or 21.25 per cent, as it closed last year with N66.42 billion. The year before, the firm reported N54.77 billion operating profit. But it’s profit after tax suffered a 29.33 per cent decline in 2022, which represents N6.99 billion drop in the bottom line of the Tony Elumelu-led company. Ripples Nigeria learnt about the fall in the net profit from Transcorp’s consolidated and separate financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2022. READ ALSO:Transcorp, Fidelity among top equiti ..read more

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has released a new guideline for financial institutions interested in converting or re-categorizing their licenses. In recent months, Zenith, Access, First Bank, FCMB, and GTB are some of the financial institutions that have transitioned to holding companies. Also, there are reports that many fintech companies are pushing towards becoming full-fledged digital banks, offering microfinance services. To manage this trend, the CBN has issued new draft guidelines in a circular titled ‘FPR/DIR/PUB/CIR/001/072’ and dated 28th March 2023. The circular signed by Chibu ..read more

Jim Ovia, the founder and former CEO of Zenith Bank, is set to pocket N14.7 billion as dividend payment for the financial year ended December 31, 2022. Ovia is the sole shareholder of the bank with a direct shareholding of 11.29 percent, which is required by law to be disclosed in the bank’s financial statements. In addition to his direct shareholding, he also has an indirect shareholding of 4.85 percent in the bank, which will contribute to the final dividend payout. Earlier in the year, Ovia received an interim dividend of N1.52 billion for both his direct and indirect shareholdings, bringi ..read more

The world of cryptocurrency is doubtlessly an ever-evolving one and with the advances in technology, the associated risks are also increasing. As such, investors need to be extra careful when investing in cryptocurrencies due to the volatile nature of this market where there are constant changes in the Bitcoin price, UFO Price, Ethereum price, and more. To ensure that you stay safe when investing in crypto assets, read the text below to find some key safety precautions for crypto investments in 2023. The benefits of implementing security protocols to safeguard crypto investments Protecting cr ..read more

The Chief Executive Officer of Oando Plc, Wale Tinubu, has stated that increase in militant activities and sabotage in Niger Delta dragged hydrocarbon production down in 2021. Hydrocarbon production, which comprises of gasoline, kerosene, lamp oil and furniture oil, dropped to 16,227 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/day) in 2021, falling below the 26,881 boe/day recorded the preceding year. This is according to the financial records released on Tuesday, following years of non-disclosure due to court battles and regulatory face off with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that p ..read more

Payday, a financial technology company founded by Favour Ori, has secured $3 million in a seed round to fund its expansion into the United Kingdom and Canada, a statement sent to Ripples Nigeria on Wednesday disclosed. The Pan-African neobank is eyeing operational licenses in the foreign markets to increase its revenue sources and improve on its average of 40,000 transactions per day. Payday has been making moves in the payment market lately, incorporating in the UK and securing partnership with Elon Musk’s internet service firm, Starlink, to become its payment channel in Nigeria. Ori’s payme ..read more

Shola Akinlade, the 38-year-old co-founder of Nigerian online payment platform Paystack, has added Danish football club Aarhus Fremad to his number of assets. On Tuesday, March 28, 2023, the club announced that Akinlade bought a 55% stake to become the largest single shareholder of the second-division club. The investment marks Akinlade’s second foray into sports ownership, having owned Sporting Lagos. Announcing Akinlade’s investment Lars Kruse, CEO of Aarhus Fremad said: “It’s no secret that it has probably cost a bit of my otherwise positive energy that I have had to transfer this money co ..read more