Archives March 2017

FG to disburse N500bn Paris Club refund this week

The disbursement of the N500bn London-Paris Club loan refund to states by the Federal Ministry of Finance is to commence next week, investigations have revealed.

Top government officials confided in our correspondent that the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, would meet anytime soon over the modalities for the disbursement of the funds.

The official said, “We have received the President’s directive which was issued last week and we have already started working on the release of the funds but of course you know there are processes to be followed which is what we are doing now.

“The minister will have to meet with the CBN governor to discuss the modalities for the release of the funds to the respective states and that will be done anytime from now.

“It is after that meeting that a payment mandate will be issued for the monies to be credited to the respective accounts of the state.

“All these processes usually take between two and five working days depending on the circumstances. So by this week, the states will start getting the money barring any last minute change in plans.”

It was gathered that the meeting between the governor and the finance minister was imperative in order to review the states that have met the criteria for the disbursement of the funds.

One of the criteria is that a minimum of about 50 per cent of the funds would be devoted to the payment of salaries and pension, in line with government’s plan to stimulate consumer demand.

It was also learnt that the funds would be credited to an auditable account from which payments to individual creditors would be made and that such payments would be made to Bank Verification Number-linked accounts that could be verifiable.

The Director of Information in the Federal Ministry of Finance, Mr. Salisu Dambatta, could not be reached for comments as text messages and calls sent to him were not responded to.

He, however, sent a text message that he was in a meeting when the calls became persistent.

A text message sent to him over the issue had yet to be responded to as of 4.30pm.

President Muhammadu Buhari had on Thursday directed that the amount be released by the finance minister to the states to enable them to meet pressing financial obligations such as the payment of salaries and pension arrears.

He said the presidential order should be carried out “appropriately and with dispatch.”

Buhari, who had earlier released the first tranche of N388bn to the state governments in December 2016, said the latest release was meant to ease their financial hardship.

Source:© Copyright Punch Online

Naira to Appreciate Further as CBN Boosts Forex Sale

Lagos – The Naira is set to appreciate further in the week as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) plans to inject more Foreign Exchange (Forex) into the market to meet the requests of genuine customers. The spokesman of CBN, Mr Isaac Okorafor, gave the assurance in a statement on Sunday in Lagos. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the apex bank had so far kept to its promise of continuing to supply enough forex to guarantee liquidity in the market. The statement said the bank was committed to ensuring that authorised dealers got sufficient supply to meet the demands of authentic customers of banks. It disclosed that the bank had since February offered over one billion dollars to the interbank market.

The bank expressed optimism that stability had been restored to the forex market. According to the statement, individuals can easily access forex to address personal and business allowances. NAN reports that a summary of the CBN intervention in the interbank market over the past two months, shows the highest bid rate was N360 per dollars, while the lowest was N315 per dollar.

Source:© Copyright Vanguard Online

NNPC Stockpiles Petrol as CBN Sells FX to Marketers for Diesel, ATK Imports

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Sunday said it has increased its petrol stock in the country and now has a robust inland supply of over 1.2 billion litres which it said would be sufficient for 34 days forward consumption nationwide.
It also said in a statement from its Group General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndu Ughamadu, that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has released foreign exchange (forex) to oil marketers to import diesel and Aviation Turbine Kerosene (ATK).
NNPC noted that its petroleum product supply outlook for March to May 2017 was looking good and that it has taken adequate steps to ensure stability in supply of diesel and aviation fuel.

According to it, the corporation will equally import diesel to supplement the quantities it gets from its refineries in Kaduna, Warri and Port Harcourt.
In addition, NNPC stated that it has re-commissioned its strategic 479.2km System 2B petroleum products pipeline network which stretches from the Atlas Cove in Lagos to Mosimi, Ejigbo, Ibadan and Ilorin, for the effective distribution of petroleum products nationwide, especially with the envisaged resumption of loading activities at the Mosimi, Ejigbo and Ibadan depots.
The Calabar and Aba depots, it added, have also been stocked with diesel while diesel load out from its Kano depot would commence soon.
Ughamadu added in a separate statement that the NNPC has indicated to the Oil and Gas Trainers Association (OGTAN) that it would improve on its engagements with the body to cut down its annual expenditure on the training of its workforce abroad.
OGTAN is an independent umbrella group that provides training to service providers in the oil and gas industry.

It was established by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) in 2010 to represent the education and training sectoral group of the Nigerian Content Consultative Forum (NCCF) under Section 58 of the Local Content Act.
The statement said the corporation’s Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru, made the remark when the President of OGTAN, Dr. Mayowa Afe, visited him in his office.
Baru said rather than going overseas, the NNPC would consider working with OGTAN as a local partner to reduce its training cost.
“As much as possible, we will continue to utilise the services of OGTAN members in order to upgrade our human resources to be able to meet the challenges in the oil and gas industry,” Baru said while commending OGTAN for growing the training component of the Nigerian Content policy.

He stated that while the NNPC had been at the forefront of growing local skills for the oil and gas industry, which had led to the rise of indigenous welders and fabricators, OGTAN’s training has been key to growing local expertise for Nigeria’s petroleum industry.
Afe commended the NNPC for sanitising the distribution channels for petroleum products in the country.
According to him, the current transparency in petroleum products distribution had brought sanity to the country’s downstream sector.
“Let me congratulate you on the sanity that has come to petroleum products distribution in Nigeria.

“There is sanity now and we want to thank the NNPC group for the sanity, openness and transparency they have brought to the distribution of petroleum products in the country.
“Though there is still much to do, the openness has brought a lot of comfort to Nigerians,” said Afe.

Source:© Copyright Thisday Online

Nigeria’s oil production declines, active rigs rise

Nigeria, which again lost its Africa’s top oil producer status to Angola in January, has recorded further decline in its crude oil production, a new report from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries has indicated.

OPEC, in its Monthly Oil Market Report for March 2017, put crude oil production from Nigeria at 1.526 million barrels per day in February, down from 1.533 million bpd in the previous month, based on direct communication.

Production from its southern African counterpart, Angola, stood at 1.649 million bpd in February, up from the 1.615 million bpd recorded in January.

OPEC, which uses secondary sources to monitor its oil output, but also publishes a table of figures submitted by its member countries, said the group’s total production in February averaged 31.96 million bpd, showing a decrease of 14,000 bpd over the previous month.

It said, according to secondary sources, crude oil output increased the most in Nigeria in February, while production in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, United Arab Emirates and Angola showed the largest declines.

Secondary sources put Nigeria’s output at 1.608 million bpd, while Angola was said to have produced 1.641 million bpd.

The number of active oil rigs in Nigeria, which had continued to decline in recent months, however, rose to 26 in February, latest data from Baker Hughes Incorporated and OPEC showed.

The nation’s rig count stood at a low of 23 in December last year, down from 38 in January 2015.

The reduction in the rig count was mostly triggered by the slump in global crude oil prices since mid-June 2014 as oil companies were forced to slash their capital budgets and suspend some projects.

Rig count is largely a reflection of the level of exploration, development and production activities occurring in the oil and gas sector.

Nigeria saw the fourth-largest drop in rig count among its peers in OPEC last year. The number of rigs in the country averaged 25 in 2016, down from 30 in 2015 and 34 in 2014.

“Regulatory uncertainty has resulted in fewer investments in new oil and natural gas projects, and no licensing round has occurred since 2007. The amount of money that Nigeria loses every year from not passing the PIB is estimated to be as high as $15bn,” the United States Energy Information Administration said in its ‘Nigeria Brief’.

Nigeria has the second-largest amount of proven crude oil reserves in Africa, but exploration activity has slowed.

“Rising security problems, coupled with regulatory uncertainty, have contributed to decreased exploration,” the EIA said.

According to the agency, the PIB, which was initially proposed in 2008, is expected to change the organisational structure and fiscal terms governing the oil and natural gas industry if it becomes law.

It said, “International oil companies are concerned that proposed changes to fiscal terms may make some projects commercially unviable, particularly deepwater projects that involve greater capital spending.”

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, had recently said the agreement by OPEC and non-OPEC producers to cut production with a view to stabilising prices was already yielding results for Nigeria.

He said higher oil prices and a long-term plan for production were spearheading the country’s efforts to get its oil and gas sector back on track.

Kachikwu noted that tackling militancy in the Delta communities was a high priority for the government, which would produce far-reaching benefits.

“We can already see that our efforts to create a more enabling environment and increase stability are producing positive responses from investors,” he said.

Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency said on Wednesday that global oil inventories rose for the first time in January as the market grappled with a swell in production last year.

According to the agency, if OPEC maintains its output cuts, demand should overtake supply in the first half of this year.

The IEA said crude stocks in the world’s richest nations rose in January for the first time since July by 48 million barrels to 3.03 billion barrels, more than 300 million barrels above the five-year average.

It said compliance by OPEC with its agreed output cut of 1.2 million bpd in the first half of this year was 91 per cent in February and, if the group maintained its supply limit to June, the market could show an implied deficit of 500,000 bpd.

“If current production levels were maintained to June when the output deal expires, there is an implied market deficit of 500,000 bpd for first half of 2017, assuming, of course, nothing changes elsewhere in supply and demand,” the IEA said.

Source:© Copyright Punch Online

Trading Value Rises 133% as Market Sustains Positive Trend

The value of trading at the stock market surged 133 per cent wednesday as investors staked N2.164 billion on 233.777 million shares in 3,196 deals, up from N928.5 million invested in 227.757 million shares in 32,543 deals the previous day. The market also maintained its uptick as the bulls sustained their hold, driving the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) higher by 0.07 per cent to close at 25,301.23.

Having opened on weak note on Monday, the market rebounded on Tuesday following activities of bargain hunters, who swooped on bellwether stocks. Hence, the NSE ASI went up by 0.59 p cent on Tuesday. The bullish trend was sustained yesterday, although marginally. However, investors committed more funds to equities.

Commenting on the performance, analysts at Meristem Securities Limited, said: “Market activities in the Nigerian bourse somewhat mirrored that of the previous day as there were renewed buy sentiments towards counters trading at attractive prices. We expect this trend to be sustained however, we do not rule out profit-taking activities at the end of the week.”

Yesterday’s positive trend was influenced by gains recorded in the shares of Zenith Bank (+2.8 per cent), Unilever (+4.9 per cent ) and Stanbic (+2.8 per cent) which offset the impact of decline in GTBank (-0.6 per cent), Nestle(-0.7 per cent) and ETI (-2.0 per cent).

However, the price gainers’ table was led by African Prudential Registrars Plc and Continental Reinsurance Plc with 8.1 apiece. Continental Reinsurance Plc had on Tuesday reported its audited results for the year ended December 31, 2016, showing improved performance.

The company recorded gross premium written of N22.406 billion, up from N19.738 billion, while net insurance premium stood at N21.843 billion, compared with N18.195 billion in 2015. Net insurance benefits and claims were N21.42 billion, up from N16.1 billion in 2015.

But underwriting profit dipped to N414 million, from N2 billion in 2015. Interest income rose to N1.5 billion, while foreign exchange gain soared from N467 million in 2015 to N4.1 billion in 2015. Impairment costs equally rose from N492 million to N1.788 billion in 2016.

The company ended with profit before tax of N4.652 billion, up from N2.916 billion, while profit after tax grew from N2.14 billion to N3.018 billion in 2016.
The board of the company recommended a dividend of 14 kobo per share.

Source:© Copyright Thisday Online

GTBank Owed $138m by Etisalat

Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (GTBank) is exposed to Etisalat Nigeria to the tune of N42 billion ($138 million) via a secured loan.

According to Reuters, the Chief Executive Officer, GTBank, Mr. Segun Agbaje, who disclosed this, said the debt would be restructured.

The Nigerian affiliate of Abu Dhabi-listed telecoms company, Etisalat is currently in talks with 13 Nigerian banks to renegotiate the terms of a $1.2 billion loan it took out four years ago after missing a payment. The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have since waded into the matter. At the current official rate, the loan without interest stands at N377 billion.

The Vice President for Regulatory Affairs at Etisalat Nigeria, Ibrahim Dikko had explained that the company missed payments due to the economic downturn in Nigeria, a currency devaluation and dollar shortages on the country’s interbank market.

Emirates Telecommunications Group (Etisalat) owns a 40 percent stake in its Nigerian affiliate, which accounted for around 3.7 per cent of the group’s revenue in 2013. Etisalat Nigeria signed a $1.2 billion medium-term facility with 13 Nigerian banks in 2013, which it used to refinance an existing $650 million loan and fund a modernisation of its network.

Dikko said the business performed well last year and it was still in profit at the level of earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, while loan repayments had been up to date “until recently.”

In addition, Agbaje wednesday said GTBank was not looking to refinance its Eurobond due next year because it does not see opportunities to grow its dollar loan book. The GTBank boss said the bank expected naira loans to grow 10 percent this year, down from 15.8 percent last year, largely due to currency devaluation.
He said the bank expected a N168 billion pre-tax profit for 2017, up from N165 billion the previous year.

Source:© Copyright Thisday Online

ContinentalRe Grows Profit to N3bn, Declares 14k Dividend

ContinentalReinsurance Plc yesterday announced its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2016, showing improved performance. The reinsurance firm, grew its profit before and after tax by over 40 per cent and declared a dividend of 14 kobo per share. However, the bottom-line was bolstered by a significant growth in foreign exchange gain.

An analysis of the results showed that Continental Reinsurance recorded gross premium written of N22.406 billion, up from N19.738 billion, while net insurancepremium stood at N21.843 billion, compared with N18.195 billion in 2015. Netinsurance benefits and claims were N21.42 billion, up from N16.1 billion in2015.Butunderwriting profit dipped to N414 million, from N2 billion in 2015.

Interest income rose to N1.5 billion, while foreign exchange gain soared from N467 million in 2015 to N4.1 billion in 2015.Impairment costs equally rose from N492 million to N1.788 billion in 2016. In all, the company ended with profit before tax of N4.652 billion, up from N2.916 billion,while profit after tax grew from N2.14 billion to N3.018 billion in 2016.

Following the improve results, the board of the company has recommended for approval and payment to shareholders whose names appear in the register of members on Friday, July 14, 2017 , a dividend of 14 kobo per share. This is higher than the 12 kobo dividend paid in respect of 2015. Meanwhile,the losses recorded at the stock market on Monday were reversed yesterday as the bulls returned, lifting the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE)All-Share Index by 0.59 per cent to close at 25,284.56. Similarly, the market capitalisation added N51 billion to close at N8.8 trillion.

The positive performance was influenced by activities of bargain hunters who swooped on bellwether stocks across sectors. The appreciation recorded in the share prices of GTBank, Nigerian Breweries, Dangote Cement, UBA, and Zenith Bank were mainly responsible for the gain recorded in the Index. The total value of stocks traded rose by 36.3 per cent from N681.16 million recorded yesterday. The total volume of stocks traded was 227.75 million in 2,543 deals.The three most actively traded stocks were: Diamond Bank (57.64 million), FBNHoldings (32.88mn) and NEM Insurance (25.93 million). The most actively traded sectors were: Financial Services (188.85 million), Conglomerates (19.48million) and, Oil and Gas (12.30 million).

Source:© Copyright Thisday Online

Naira falls against dollar at official market

The naira weakened for the second consecutive session on Tuesday after the Central Bank of Nigeria sold the United States dollar at its highest level ever on the official interbank market.

Traders said the CBN sold $1.5m at N305.75 per dollar. Commercial lenders then resold dollars at a 0.50 naira margin, leaving the naira at 306.25 at the close of the session, according to data from FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange.

The Federal Government unveiled a sweeping economic recovery plan last week that included the relaxing of foreign exchange restrictions with a view to achieving a market-determined regime. The central bank later said it would not allow the naira to float freely.

The naira was quoted at 453 per dollar on the black market on Tuesday, firmer than 455 per dollar its previous close, according to Reuters.

The CBN said on Tuesday it would sell $150m in currency forwards on the interbank market through commercial lenders.

The central bank, which has been intervening on the official currency market over the past two weeks, told lenders that Tuesday’s sale would be settled within 60 days.

The naira fell to 306 per dollar on Monday from the 305.50 level it had traded since last year after the central bank’s intervention on the spot market.

The currency fell to a record 520 per dollar in unofficial trading last month before strengthening to 460 this week, 32 per cent weaker than the official rate.

Source:© Copyright Punch Online

FG Pledges to Resolve Forex Challenges Facing Exporters

The Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh yesterday expressed the federal government’s desire to address the foreign exchange (forex) challenges faced by exporters, disclosing that the ministry is in talks with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) concerning the issue.

Audu who spoke at the FirstBank of Nigeria Expo in Lagos tagged: ‘Re-inventing Agriculture for Sustainable National Development,’ noted that it does not augur well for exporters if they cannot export at the official rate.

He expressed confidence that once the issue is addressed, exporters would be able to repatriate their earnings and not lose money.
“We are planning a meeting between the CBN, the Ministry, Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and the Ministry of Finance in order to deal with some of these challenges we face especially as it affects smuggled goods that come into the country and how they damage our local efforts.

There is need for us to work to attain self-sufficiency in food production,” the minister explained.
Furthermore, the minister revealed that the federal would soon embark on large-scale production of crops such as cocoa and Shea butter, especially in states that have comparative advantage.

He added: “We are also looking at the expansion of coconut. The water from coconut has a natural source of sweetening. Coconut oil is expensive one litre today is N7, 000. A coconut shell is a very expensive export item which can be used to produce activated carbon heavily used in industries just like palm products are very valuable and they are strong export items. Last year, we shipped $6,000 worth of raw cashew to Vietnam.

“We have decided that in two years, we shall not export raw cashew nuts we shall begin to roast it and export because from 3tonnes of raw cashew we produce one tonne of roast cashew which sells in Vietnam for $10,000. We need financial support. We are the only country in the world that the interest rate for agriculture sector is still high.”

He said policy summersault by successive government was one of the factors that hindered the attainment of self-sufficiency in food production by the country, lamenting that Nigeria had become highly dependent on food imports.
Earlier, the Managing Director of FBN, Adesola Adeduntan, said the bank was positioned to build alliances with agro-producers, processors and storage companies to ensure improvement in the agricultural sector.

Source:© Copyright Punch Online

Investors plan N600billion fund for Delta Steel resuscitation

Investors in the moribund multi-billion naira Delta Steel Company, Ovwian-Aladja, now Premium Steel and Mines Limited (PSML), have said the resuscitation of the complex would gulp about N600 billion.

Some investors from the United States and Morocco, have reportedly visited the company on Sunday, where they carried out assessment of the facilities, and expressed hope that Premium Steel and Mines Limited (PSML) has done well within the period they took over the company, adding that prospect of a robust industrial revolution in the area was high.

The Chief Executive Officer of PSML, Prasanta Misha, who confirmed the visit of the investors in a telephone interview with The Guardian, said the N600 million would be used for broken down equipment as well as renovating the buildings and a host of many others.

He added that the investors were conducted round the various units and departments of the Steel Complex with the assurance of imminent resuscitation to boost the local economy.
But investigation revealed that unpaid workers of the company had allegedly vowed to resist the resuscitation project unless their outstanding salaries were paid. One of the workers who preferred anonymity, said: “we will disrupt workings on the project unless the investors pay our outstanding salaries.”

In a swift reaction, Misha flayed the plan by workers to disrupt the resuscitation project, assuring that their outstanding would be settled.
The international investors were said to have been taken to the DSC harbor, Direct Reduction (DR) plant and the pellet plant, Lime Plant, Rolling Mill, Electric Arc Furnace, and the Continuous Caster. They also went to the other auxiliary units of the plant such as the foundry, electrical and mechanical maintenance workshops and water supply system.

The investors equally inspected the fire and safety, heavy equipment workshops, the rolling mill section, the SMS section, the Nigeria Gas Company, NGC, the major supplier of gas to the plant, the DSC schools and hospitals among other assets in the complex.
The team of American investors led by Sekar Rejendran, in a chat expressed confidence with the management and ingenuity of PSML since they took over the company.

They assured that in no distant time DSC would come alive again, as they were fully prepared to mobilise fund to revamp the company and bring it back to production level again.

Mishra had earlier expressed delight with the coming of the investors, assuring that Udu, Delta State and Nigeria at large would soon experience a boom in the steel sector with the resuscitation of the Aladja Steel Plant.

He called on the host communities to continue to cooperate with the management, as thousands of unemployed youths from the area would soon have reason to smile as the company is poised to employ qualified persons soon.

The teams of investors from the two countries include M. Ahmed Mssali, DEBBRAH Mohammed Amine, SekarRejendran (from America), Rajesh Devarajahn, Tilak Raj Chaudhry and Subrahmanyam Paparaju.

Source:© Copyright Guardian Online