10 banks facilitate N93trn investment in fixed income securities, currency

Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, Access Bank Plc, Ecobank Nigeria Limited led the top 10 banks that facilitated investment in fixed securities and currency valued at N93.36 trillion on the FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange between January and November 2017. In all, the 10 banks accounted for 71.7 per cent of the total of N130.17 trillion trading in the 11 months. But the three banks-Stanbic IBTC, Access Bank and Ecobank-accounted for 48.73 per cent or N45.49 trillion of the total transactions recorded. The other banks among the top 10 include: United Bank for Africa Plc, standard Chartered Bank Nigeria Limited, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Diamond Bank Plc, CitiBank Nigeria Limited and Union Bank of Nigeria Plc.

Meanwhile, an analysis of the N130 trillion traded so far in the market, showed that the Treasury Bills (T.bills) segment is the most active accounting for 37.8 per cent, followed by the activities in the foreign exchange (FX) market which accounted for 32.27 per cent. Money market (repurchase agreements [repos]/buy-backs & unsecured placements/takings) accounted for 24.54 per cent, while the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) bonds recorded 5.35 per cent.

A further analysis of the performance in November showed that transactions in the FX market settled at $15.08 billion, an increase of 8.78 per cent when compared with the $13.86 billion recorded in October. Turnover in the fixed Income market in the month under review settled at N6.41 trillion, a 20.39 per cent increase. Transactions in the T.bills market accounted for 87.60 per cent of the overall fixed Income market, from 85.10 the previous month. Outstanding T-bills at the end of the month stood at N10.41 trillion, which is 5.46 per cent higher than the N9.87 trillion in October.

On the other hand, FGN bonds outstanding value increased by 1.48 per cent to close at N7.53 trillion, from N7.42 trillion in October. Trading intensity in the Fixed Income market for the month under review settled at 0.54and 0.11for T-bills and FGN bonds respectively, from 0.47 and 0.11respectively, recorded the previous month. T-bills between the one and three months maturity bucket became the most actively traded, accounting for a turnover of N1.33trn in November.

(ThisDay)