TOP consumer goods manufacturing companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, are facing deeper financial difficulties arising from economic headwinds especially foreign exchange related cost pressures and inflation, leading to sharp increase in manufacturing inputs, particularly, raw materials and packaging items.

THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has warned banks against offering products that incorporate insurance features, following its revised guidelines on Bancassurance Model.

INVESTORS’ response to the financial results of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (GTB) in the past one month appeared conflicting or even confusing. At close of trading in the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, weekend, the stock had just inched up to N25.00, just 1.6 per cent from the closing price pre-result announcement, despite the seeming impressive Full Year 2016 (FY’16) results.

The result is not really not encouraging, and when we consider everything that made the result unencouraging, you see that the economy was too good because of the recession. But we believe that with time and what the management is trying to put in place now, as time goes on, they will start having better result. My advice to them is that in their estate management, they should consider people at the lower rung of the economy. When real estate properties go for as much as N240 million and N500 million, you can hardly see people that can afford it, but when it goes down to N4 million to N5 million, then a lot of people can afford it.

Our monetary authorities cannot give any explanation as to why Naira rate has not obeyed the basic economic principle of demand with the celebrated ‘liberalized market supply’