E-Financial
CSCS Grows Dividend per Share by 36.0% to N1.17, as Profit Soars 41.4%
Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, held its 27th Annual General Meeting (AGM) where the shareholders approved N1.17 dividend per share payout to all qualifying shareholders who held the shares at the close of business on Monday, 10th day of May 2021.
The AGM was held at the Idera Hall of the Raddison Blu Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos whist observing social distancing protocols and hygiene, as advised by relevant authorities in respect of COVID-19 pre-cautions.
Following the approval of shareholders on the N1.17 dividend per share proposed by the Board, CSCS would be paying a total of N5.85billion to its shareholders, some 36.0% year-on-year growth in return to shareholders, when compared to the N4.3 billion dividend (i.e N0.86 dividend per share) paid in the previous year.
Speaking on the performance of the company, Mr. Oscar N. Onyema, the Chairman of the Board of Directors, noted, “despite the challenges in 2020, CSCS emerged stronger, delivering outstanding growth in top and bottom-lines, and executing far-reaching initiatives that would sustainably strengthen the competitiveness and resilience of the business.”
“Growing profit by over 41% in such a challenging year to deliver 20.3% return on average equity, the Board of Directors is more than ever upbeat on the value accretive prospects of CSCS. More importantly, we are enthusiastic on the progress made thus far in repositioning the business to efficiently play a more active and leading role in deepening the Nigerian capital market.
“With continuous investments in new technologies, talent, and work environment, we expect productivity to grow, as the Board continues to work with the Management to exceed stakeholders’ expectations”, the Chairman of the Board added.
Also commenting on the results, Mr. Haruna Jalo-Waziri, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, said; “These impressive results reflect our enhanced collaboration with different stakeholders and their unflinching support and loyalty to CSCS, as the core infrastructure for the Nigerian capital market.
Hence, my colleagues and I are excited to dedicate this performance to our esteemed participants, regulator and the Board of Directors, whose support kept us stronger through the pandemic.
“We would continue to invest in our collective objective of deepening the capital market and broader financial system, even as we seek new and efficient ways of enhancing our partnerships for mutual prosperity.”
“Having laid a solid foundation over the past three years, we are more than ever optimistic on the prospect of our business, especially as we diversify the business for enhanced resilience against macro and market volatilities.
“The years ahead look challenging, albeit more promising than ever, as we reinforce our commitment to leveraging best-in-class technologies and our continuous investments in human capital in delivering value to all stakeholders”, the Chief Executive Officer added.
The shareholders, most of whom participated through proxies due to the extant COVID-19 precautions, were excited at the performance of the company and unanimously approved the dividend proposal of N1.17 per share, as presented by the Chairman, on behalf of the Board of Directors.
Speaking at the Annual General Meeting, Mr. Eric Idiahi, one of the proxy attendees of the Annual General Meeting and Managing Director, Verod Capital LLC; a core shareholder of CSCS Plc, lauded the Management for the unprecedented performance in such a challenging year and reiterated the support of shareholders for the Company, especially as the diversification of the business and culture of innovation should enhance the sustainability of the business and ensure its capacity to deliver superior returns to shareholders over the long term.
Commenting on the conduct of the Annual General Meeting, Mr. Obong Idiong, the Chief Executive Officer of Africa Prudential Plc, the Registrar to CSCS said, “This is a well conducted General Meeting, with due observance of all relevant statutory requirements, including COVID-19 precautions.
“I congratulate the Board and shareholders of CSCS on the impressive performance during the 2020 financial year and more importantly for a successful General Meeting.”
Interestingly, CSCS afforded shareholders who nominated proxies for physical attendance to observe proceedings of the General Meeting via Zoom and YouTube, as the event was streamed live through the session.
CSCS has a diversified shareholder base, including the Nigerian Stock Exchange, or Nigerian Exchange Group Plc, some of the largest Nigerian banks, private equity firms, other institutional investors and retail investors.
The shares are traded over-the-counter through the NASD-OTC, the premier market for trading unquoted securities of public limited companies. As at close of market on Monday, 17 May 2021, the bid/ask quote on the shares of CSCS indicate a price of N17.65 per share, having rallied 17.3% year-to-date, consolidating the strong performance of the share price over the past few year.
Nigerian banks have resumed processing international tuition payments from Naira accounts through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s Form A portal.
Form A is an application form designed by the Central Bank of Nigeria to pay for service transactions (invisible trade).
The form allows customers to purchase foreign exchange at the CBN or interbank rate to make payments for eligible services as predetermined by the foreign exchange manual.
This development comes a month after commercial banks announced the resumption of international transactions on their naira cards.
In an email to customers, Guaranty Trust Bank Limited (GTBank) and Lotus Bank announced that the service is now available for applicants paying undergraduate and postgraduate tuition fees abroad.
“Pay international tuition fees directly from your Naira account,” the notice from GTBank read.
To access the service, customers are required to register and submit their applications via the Trade System Portal at www.tradesystem.gov.ng.
GTBank explained: “Select the ‘Form A’ application for Educational Fees. Choose GTBank as the processing bank, attach required documents, and submit the application.”
Similarly, Lotus Bank stated, “Register on the Trade System Portal. Select Form ‘A’ application for Educational Fees. Choose Lotus Bank as the processing bank, attach required documents, and submit the application.”
In a similar notice, Lotus Bank also informed customers of processing international fees using its facility.
“Register on the Trade System Portal (www.tradesystem.gov.ng). Select Form ‘A’ application for Educational Fees. Choose Lotus Bank as the processing bank, attach required documents, and submit the application,” the bank said.
In 2022, Nigerian banks said international school fees and upkeep requests via Form A will be processed within 120 days due to forex scarcity at the time.
Safaricom, M-PESA and PayPal have announced a strategic collaboration to enable account linking and seamless fund transfers across their networks.
This collaboration aims to empower more than 35 million M-PESA customers and two million businesses and micro traders in Kenya to access PayPal’s global network.
By first linking their PayPal and M-PESA wallets, users can easily transfer funds from their PayPal accounts into their M-PESA wallets, and vice versa. This service is designed to enhance the experience for customers and businesses transacting between the two platforms.
The solution is currently available to Safaricom M-PESA customers in Kenya, with plans to roll out the service to the other M-PESA markets in the future.
“As globalization and digitization continue to reshape how people and businesses connect, our partnership with PayPal is a bold step forward in enabling seamless, worry-free, safe, secure, and inclusive digital payments.
“This collaboration empowers over thirty-five million customers and two million businesses and micro-entrepreneurs across Kenya to participate in the global digital economy by conveniently sending and receiving payments across more than 200 markets. It’s part of our commitment to unlocking opportunities and transforming lives through the power of M-PESA,” said Esther Waititu, Chief Financial Services Officer, Safaricom PLC.
“Building seamless connections between the global economy and local financial ecosystems is crucial to expanding digital financial inclusion,” said Otto Williams, Regional Head and General Manager for the Middle East and Africa, PayPal. “We are thrilled to enable millions of M-PESA’s customers across Africa connect more easily to PayPal’s international customer base.”
For 18 years, M-PESA has driven financial inclusion and bridged the digital divide. With M-PESA Kadogo, introduced in 2016, Safaricom waived fees for transactions of Kshs 100 and below, making digital payments more accessible. Now, through Ziidi MMF, customers can invest from as little as Kshs 100, promoting a culture of saving and financial wellness.
The partnership will tap into the emergence and growing popularity of the gig economy that has seen a rise among Africans accepting online jobs for clients across the world.
It equally marks a growing trend of interoperability between fintech providers with a goal of providing customers with a digital financial ecosystem that meets their needs by combining different capabilities.
PayPal is a leading global payment processor with more than 400 million active PayPal accounts operating across 200 markets, while M-PESA is Africa’s leading mobile money service connecting more than 50 million customers across Africa, 2 million businesses and micro traders, with more than $1.1 billion transacted daily.
Federal government has mandated banks and financial institutions to begin reporting monthly transactions exceeding N25 million for individuals and N100 million for firms to the tax authorities.
Under the new provisions of the Nigerian Tax Act, financial institutions are required to submit quarterly returns to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
The agency will be renamed to the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) from January 2026, when the new tax system will take effect.
“Every person who has an obligation to deduct and remit tax under this Act or any other Returns for tax legislation shall render monthly returns to the appropriate tax authority, as specified deduction of tax in the regulation issued for that purpose,” the Act reads.
“Without prejudice to section 142 of this Act, every bank, insurance company, stock-broking firm, or any other financial institution, shall prepare, with or without demand be delivered by the relevant tax authority, quarterly returns to the relevant tax authority specifying the names and addresses of new customers;Nigerian fashion trends
“…and existing customers in the case of (i) an individual, all transactions where the cumulative transactions in a month amount to N25,000,000 or more, or (ii) a body corporate, all transactions where the cumulative transactions in a month amount to N100,000,000 or more.”
Prior to the new tax law, banks were mandated to report deposits of N5 million — a measure intended to curb illicit financial flows, according to TheCable
Experts said the shift is part of efforts to tighten anti-money laundering reporting in the financial sector.
In 2023, Nigeria was listed on the grey list by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) over deficiencies in tackling money laundering and terrorism financing.
Since then, the country has been making efforts to exit the grey list, which subjects it to increased monitoring by the FATF.
In November 2024, Hafsat Bakari, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), said Nigeria has achieved upgrades in five key recommendations from the FATF.
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