Unilever Nigeria, Seplat and Access Bank made it into the stocks to watch list this week due to various reasons that are not capital market related.

Ripples Nigeria stocks watchlist is a selection of stocks monitored for viable trading or investing opportunities. An investor may casually generate a list of equities for investment purposes. But we have taken the pain to do that based on certain parameters in order to save you that hassle.

Kindly note that Ripples Nigeria Stocks Watchlist is not a buy, sell or hold recommendation. It is advisable to consult your financial advisor before making any investment decision.

Unilever Nigeria

Unilever Nigeria’s revenue sources will reduce in the future as the company is planning to exit the Home Care and Skin Cleansing market.

Although the company said discontinuation of the business segments will accelerate its growth and sustain profitability.

Recall that Unilever had also sold off its Tea business to Unilever Tea MSO Nigeria Limited, owned by UK firm, Unilever Group, in the first half of 2022

Unilever Nigeria said exiting the Home Care and Skin Cleansing market will reduce exposure to devaluation and currency liquidity.

It remains to be seen how the exits from these markets will affect the company’s earnings as it focuses on food products, as it will affect net profit or retained earnings, from which shareholders of Unilever Nigeria are paid dividends.

This makes Unilever Nigeria’s future growth prospects a major concern in the stock market, considering the brands it will no longer be selling, OMO, Sunlight and Lux are popular household products and key contributors to its revenue

Seplat

Nothing seems to be going right with Seplat lately as it relates to the firm’s management which is involved in two court battles

Seplat’s Chief Executive Officer, Roger Brown, has been sued over allegation of racism and mistreatment of Nigerians in the company.

Also, Seplat filed a lawsuit against its former chairman and co-founder, A.B.C Orjiako, for conducting business with the firm’s letterhead without authorisation from the board of directors.

The company’s attention is being split by the court distraction which might affect the capital market’s confidence in the board’s handling of operations.

Amid these litigations, Seplat’s board is also unable to complete the acquisition of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPNU) from ExxonMobil, failing to keep to its promise of improving shareholders’ investment through the acquisition.

With the report of the court battle between Seplat and its co-founder, who has also threatened lawsuit against persons in the board, emerging last week, the firm’s share movement will be one to watch this week, to see how the capital market reacts.

Access Bank

Shareholders of Access Bank have much to be excited about, as the company received the approval to complete the acquisition of African Banking Corporation in Zambia.

This comes after Access Bank suffered a setback in its plan to acquire Sidian Bank in Kenya, as both companies couldn’t agree on certain terms.

Access Bank has been acquiring banks across Africa to increase its bottom line and value of its assets, as it plans to improve shareholders’ investment through inorganic growth.

The multiple acquisitions are expected to boost the capital market’s confidence as regards Access Bank’s future growth prospects, as it will have access to more markets and increase its account holders as well as total deposits in its vault