China trade surplus with US hits record high in June

China

China’s monthly trade surplus with the US hit a record high of nearly $29 billion (£22bn) in June as exports to America remained strong. The figures come a week after the trade war between the two began, with the US imposing tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese goods, and China retaliating. Last week, Washington threatened to […]

AfDB, Afreximbank sign strategic factoring project to support African SMEs

Afreximbank

The African Development Bank (ADB), through its trade finance operations, and Africa Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) Friday signed a grant agreement to support the development of factoring (a form of debtor finance in which a business sells its accounts receivable (invoices) to a third party (called a factor) at a discount) on the continent. The signing […]

MTN’s $500m IPO foot-dragging linked to pre-election year jitters

*Analysts say listing should be in Q2 2019 With the second quarter of 2018 gone and the impending electioneering period, any official move by MTN Nigeria on initial public offering (IPO), which is a requirement to list on Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) will tantamount to an unwise business decision, according to analysts. This explains the […]

Deutsche Bank shares rose by 9.1%, higher than analysts expected

Deutsche Bank

German investment bank, Deutsche Bank shares rose by twice what analysts had expected in the second quarter of the year, Bloomberg reported. The bank which is based in Frankfurt sees net income of about €400 million euros ($468 million) and income before income taxes of about €700 million euros, “considerably” above estimates. Preliminary results – […]

Nigeria tax agency grows revenue by 42% to N2.53trn in H1 2018

Nigeria Tax

Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has announced that it realized a total of N2.529 trillion in six months ending June 2018 from various taxes, representing a 42 percent increase over the N1.783 trillion realized in the corresponding period in 2017. The revenue performance of the tax agency shows that the it has realized 75 […]

Euro, yuan fall as U.S.-China trade war concern boosts dollar

Dollar

The euro on Friday fell to a nine-day low after data showing a record Chinese trade surplus stirred worries about a deeper United States-China trade conflict, encouraging investors into the safety of the dollar, Reuters reports. The Chinese yuan, which has suffered in the past six weeks on concern that U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods will […]

Bosch must hand over emails in Volkswagen emissions suit – regional court

Bosch

A Stuttgart regional court had ruled on Friday that supplier Robert Bosch must hand over emails in connection with lawsuits brought by investors against Porsche SE linked to Volkswagen Group’s diesel scandal Investors in two separate suits claimed that Porsche SE, which controls 52.2 percent of VW’s voting rights, had not disclosed the financial risks of […]

Telecoms industry pays N450b taxes annually – ATCON chairman

ATCON

The telecom industry annually contributes N450 billion in form of taxes to Nigeria’s economy, Mr Olusola Teniola, President, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), has said. Teniola told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Friday that the industry had been paying the sum in the last five years to the three […]

Nigerian stocks extend bearish run as losses in banking stocks pare NSEASI 0.07%

Stocks, bellwethers, Stanbic IBTC

The Nigerian equities market extended its bearish run to the third consecutive trade Thursday with sell-offs in banking stocks – ZENITH (-1.6%), GUARANTY (-0.9%), ACCESS (-3.4%) and UBA (-2.0%) – dragging benchmark index, the NSEASI, down 0.07 percent to close 37,226.44 points. Consequently, year-to-date (YTD) loss worsened to 2.7 percent. Market capitalization fell by N9.7 […]