By Peter Egwuatu

The Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc has stated that the Nigerian capital market slumped below its three-year low in 2015 due to dwindling crude oil price, foreign exchange problems and exodus of foreign portfolio investors.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of CSCS Plc, who stated this, while x-raying the company’s performance in 2015 said   “The market was negatively affected by the unstable naira exchange rate which discouraged foreign investors from the market.”

He also disclosed that CSCS has introduced an Electronic Annual General Meeting, AGM, the first of its kind in the country. Commenting on the performance of the company in 2015, Kyari  said “These outcomes were unfavourable to our financial performance and led to a decline in our income by 7.77 per cent  in 2015 with total earnings of ¦ 7.6 Billion as  against ¦ 8.2 Billion in 2014.

Our operating expenses stood at ¦ 2.58 billion in 2015 as against ¦ 2.48 billion in 2014. This indicates an increase of 4.19% from the previous year. The year ended on a profitable note with our Profit After Tax at ¦ 4.46 billion, although this is a tail off by 3.50 per cent  from preceding year’s figures of ¦ 4.62 billion due to huge investments made towards our new CSD infrastructure”.

While speaking on the company’s notable achievements during the financial year, Kyari announced that the company has been awarded ISO 27001:2013 certificate.

In the same vein, the Electronic Annual General Meeting (EAGM), a ground-breaking initiative designed to promote financial inclusion and improve market integration across. Africa by allowing shareholders to attend and participate in general meetings electronically was demonstrated.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of CSCS, Mr. Oscar Onyema had disclosed at the company’s 22nd AGM that a 26 kobo dividend  has been declared for the financial year 2015.

In his words “The company recorded remarkable gains and this led to 26 kobo dividend pay-out which  is in line with the company’s dividend policy which provides that 30 per cent  of the company’s Profit After Tax recorded in a year be paid as dividend.