NGX Group commits to focusing on corporate strategies to drive sustainability

To ensure sustainability, the Nigerian Exchange Group Plc (NGX Group) says it would focus on four pillars: community, marketplace, workplace, and environment.

This was stated by Oscar Onyema, the NGX group's group chief executive officer (CEO), during the company's full-year (FY) 2021 investor and analyst presentation on Thursday.

The NGX Group went through a restructure of its business to better its business model and become engaged throughout the full capital market value chain, according to Onyema, who presented the highlights of the group's performance for 2021.

According to him, in 2021, the group created and executed the holding company's plan by establishing a multi-exchange business with diverse revenues.

The non-operating Holdco's revenue is made up of dividends and treasury investment income, according to Onyema, who also stated that the company is working with its various subsidiaries and associate companies to optimize its strategy and increase profitability, which will support the upstreaming of dividends.

"To drive sustainability, Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) continues to focus on four pillars: community, marketplace, workplace, and environment, in conjunction with the Group. In addition, NGX has digitized its ecosystem to encourage greater retail involvement, and it is leveraging and investing in global market-driven technologies, expanding the listing universe, and working closely with regulators to make it easier for issuers to conduct transactions," he said.

"At NGX Group, we have well-defined strategies and are well-equipped to maintain market leadership."

Cyril Eigbobo, the group's chief financial officer, also spoke, stating that the NGX Group's gross earnings increased by 13% from N6.02 billion to N6.78 billion.

He went on to say that the group's profit before tax (PBT) climbed by 25.4 percent to N2.39 billion, while profit after tax (PAT) increased by 22.2 percent from N1.84 billion in 2020 to N2.25 billion in 2021.

According to him, a 24.8 percent increase in listing fees from N606.9 million in 2020 to N757.4 million in 2021 drove the increase in the group's revenue, which increased by 14.9 percent from N5 billion in 2020 to N5.8 billion in 2021.

The boost was fueled by a 4.9 percent increase in treasury investment revenue and a 2.1 percent increase in transaction fees, which increased from N2.8 billion in 2020 to N2.9 billion this year, according to Eigbobo.

After completing the demutualization process last year, the exchange became a publicly-traded firm.

As a result, the NGX Group, a new non-operating holding company, was formed.

It successfully introduced 1,964,115,918 shares on the Nigerian Exchange Limited's main board in October (NGX).