International Breweries Plc has reported a loss after tax of N1.657bn for 2016 half-year.
This figure was contained in its financial statements submitted to the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Thursday.
The result showed a drop from its N420.8m profit after tax recorded in June last year.
Its turnover also slid to N5.224bn in 2016 from N6.873bn recorded last year.
Similarly, Ashaka Cement Plc reported a 54 per cent drop in profit for the year ended June 30, 2016.
The company’s profit after tax dropped to N1.63bn from N3.55bn recorded in the half-year result of 2015. Its revenue also slid to N7.665bn from N10.743bn.
The Nigerian equity market rebounded on Thursday after a three-day losing streak amid a turnaround across most key sectors.
On the global scene, European markets closed higher after the Bank of England cut interest rates by 25 basis points to 0.25 per cent, among a couple of economic stimulus measures. Asian markets also closed in the green, buoyed by a weakening Japanese Yen (positive for export) and a pick in oil prices following a drop in petrol inventory. The United States futures predicted a higher opening.
The oil and gas sector led the turnaround following strong bid for Total Nigeria Plc (8.06 per cent gain) and Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc (five per cent gain).
The consumer goods and industrial goods sector bounced off previous losses with Nigerian Breweries Plc (1.85 per cent gain), Guinness Nigeria Plc (1.07 per cent gain), PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc (2.89 per cent gain) and Lafarge Africa Plc (1.18 per cent gain) leading the gains.
The financial services sector however continued on the downtrend as Zenith Bank Plc (0.61 per cent loss) and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (0.75 per cent loss) posted further losses.
Market breadth was neutral with 18 advances and 18 declines.
To this end, the analysts at Vetiva Capital Management Limited said, “We highlight that Thursday’s positive close came amid relatively thin market volumes. With this somewhat suggesting a lukewarm market sentiment, we see chances of a possible reversal in the ASI at week close.”
For the fixed market, the interbank call rate rose further in Thursday’s session, up 125 basis points to 20.83 per cent. At the foreign exchange interbank market, the naira depreciated by N4 to close at N315.06.
Following slightly lower yields from Wednesday’s primary market auction, the Treasury bills market turned bullish on Thursday as yields converged towards auction levels, down 41bps on average.
The most notable yield declines were observed on the 28 day-to-maturity (-216bps), 91DTM (-108bps), and 126DTM (-84bps) bills to close at 15.01 per cent, 15.34 per cent, and 16.73 per cent, respectively.
The bond market also traded bullish as yields moderated 19bps on average, driven by buoyant demand on the short end of the space. Particularly, yields on the 15.10 per cent Federal Government of Nigeria April 2017, 9.85 per cent FGN July 2017, and 9.35 per cent FGN August 2017 declined by 53bps, 31bps, and 26bps to close at 20.04 per cent, 21.10 per cent, and 20.96 per cent, respectively.
The Country Manager of British Airways, Kola Olayinka has disclosed that foreign airlines operating in Nigeria lost N6.4billion in the N157.6 billion ($800) of their revenues trapped in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) when the Naira was devalued from N197 to N280 by the apex regulator.
The BA Country Manager explained that the total amount of money trapped in CBN before the devaluation was $800 million and for every $1million the airlines lost N80million.
Olayinka made this known on Wednesday during the Aviation Round Table (ART) Breakfast Meeting in Lagos. He explained that the fares Nigerians pay for international destinations have increased because more naira is exchanged for dollars, but passengers still pay the same fare in dollar denomination.
He said that the economic downturn and scarcity of the dollar are bringing uncertainties in the Nigerian economy and have affected every business done in Nigeria and in the entire economy.
“Dollar scarcity is bringing about uncertainties to all businesses. $800m was in our banks that needed to be transferred. We were selling for N197, when it went up to N285. For every $I million, we lost N80 million,” he said.
Olayinka said the devaluation and the trapping of airlines funds eroded their finances and led to their adjustments in order to survive, while some of the airlines were forced out of the Nigerian market.
“Some of the airlines could not survive. There were a lot of readjustments. BA readjusted by flying Boeing B777, Virgin Atlantic moved to Airbus A330, in a bid to readjust the seat capacity. The fare $1,000 was not changed. The airlines have not increased the fare, the dollar did. Bring 10 more airlines they will fill up with passengers, that is our strength and we should be proud of ourselves as Nigerians.”
But he frowned on the exploitative fares charged Nigerians saying, while Nigeria has high passenger traffic, Nigerians still pay more to travel.
“They need to fill up the aircraft at the right price. We need to compete effectively and friendly. We need to compete in a way that we are not hurting the consumers. It is not in our interest to earn excess monies that sits with the CBN and is going nowhere, what is the point of doing the business? There is multiple unemployment, some agencies and airlines have rationalised. If we sent people away, there will be no job and the multiplier effect, if we start bringing in less people, what will happen to hotels, taxi drivers, and immigration? Government will also be losing monies. All airline operators are task collectors for government,” he stressed.
The BA Country Manager said government collects $20 for every single passenger that passes through the airport security, $50 for every single passenger that passes through the airport.
“Then 5 percent of every fare we collect is a tax and that goes to the government. So everything that affects the airlines equally affects the government. Nigeria is the giant of Africa by location, size, attitude and by who we are. Are we the giant of Africa in our economy and infrastructure? Accra airport is small but effective and functional. On the immigration desk in Accra, there were 50 trained personnel. Are we really the giant of Africa? Go through South Africa Cape Town; I checked in at counter 91 in Cape Town. The question is if we are not living true to our name or our type, what are we doing to get there? What we can be accused of is not talking to the policy makers but we can keep telling them till they get tired of us. No matter how the airport is, BA will fly; we will just walk around it. We have second option for everything. We have been so trained. Have we fully tapped opportunities even within Africa?”
He remarked that Nigeria ought to be the West African operational hub; “We do not need to keep talking about it. We should by location, strength, size and population. We should be the hub for Africa.”
The naira plunged to 400 against the dollar at the parallel market on Thursday as shortage of foreign exchange continued to have negative effects on economic activities in the country.
The local currency had closed at 390 against the greenback on Wednesday.
The shortage of forex at the interbank and the black market has continued to weigh on the value of the naira.
After closing at around 378 against the dollar for most part of last week, the naira dropped to 380 on Friday before falling to 382 on Monday.
The currency closed at 315.06 to the United States dollar at the interbank market on Thursday.
Economic and financial analysts have linked the wide depreciation in the value of the naira against the dollar at the parallel market to huge demand for forex by holidaymakers seeking to travel abroad.
However, some experts said the huge demand for forex at the parallel market was beyond the normal summer rush.
They linked the development to the activities of speculators and significant demand by manufacturers and importers whose demand was not being met at the interbank market.
Currency analyst at Ecobank Nigeria, Mr. Kunle Ezun, said, “The issue still has to do with inadequate forex supply. As far as you continue to have some 41 items banned from the interbank market, importers and manufacturers of those items will continue to seek for forex at the parallel market.
“This is part of the reason you are having pressure at the parallel market.”
According to Ezun, the global plunge in oil prices has affected the capacity of the Central Bank of Nigeria to defend the naira.
“If the price of oil should go up, more forex will come in and you will see that things will change,” he added.
A Professor of Economics at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Sherrifdeen Tella, said the huge demand for dollars could be due to the activities of genuine manufacturers and importers seeking forex for production and business purposes, or corrupt people who had stolen state funds.
Tella said, “The naira is falling at the parallel market because there is scarcity at the interbank market. This fall could be due to the activities of genuine manufacturers or some people you cannot identify. These are people who have stored naira somewhere and are seeking to convert them to dollars. They use every chance they have to buy dollars. What the CBN may need to do is to neutralise that money by changing the colour of the N500 and N1,000 notes.
“If the naira keeps falling at the parallel market, then we should prepare for further increase in the prices of goods and services. And this will continue to give us more trouble as a nation.”
The National President, Association of Bureau De Change Operators, Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, said the fall in the naira value could be linked to the activities of speculators.
He said the demand was spurious, saying it was not coming from genuine sources.
“The demand is spurious; the challenge is that there is no liquidity in the market. If you ask any of the parallel market operators calling N400 per dollar to bring the dollar that you want to buy it, they don’t have,” Ezun said.
The Chief Executive Officer, Cowry Asset Management Limited, Mr. Johnson Chukwu, said that if the naira continued to fall at the parallel market, the country would need to brace for higher rate of inflation and further contraction in economic growth.
It was learnt on Thursday that the Deposit Money Banks had started selling forex to the Bureau De Change operators in line with the CBN directive.
Banking sources confirmed that the sale begun on Thursday.
The ABCON president, Gwadabe, also confirmed the development.
“The banks started selling to us today, we will be debited tomorrow and then receive the forex. We thank the CBN and the banks. This move will help to close the gap between the exchange rates at the parallel market and interbank market,” he stated.
India’s largest telecom network operator, Bharti Airtel Ltd, reported a 30.8 per cent fall in first-quarter net profit on Wednesday, blaming an adverse foreign exchange impact in Nigeria, although it beat analysts’ estimates.
Consolidated net profit fell to 14.62 billion rupees ($218 million) in the quarter ended June 30, from 21.13 billion rupees last year, the company said.
Analysts on average had expected a net profit of 11.59 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Bharti Airtel, headed by Indian billionaire Sunil Mittal, said total revenue rose 7.9 per cent from a year earlier to a record 255.47 billion rupees, helped by new customers signing up for the company’s 3G and 4G data services. During the quarter, the Nigerian naira depreciated by 42 per cent, forcing the company to register an exceptional loss of 7.48 billion rupees as a result. Bharti derives about seven percent of its consolidated EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) from Nigeria, analysts estimate.
Restructuring in some other countries also hurt profits, the company said.
Mobile data revenue during the June quarter rose 35 per cent to 35.25 billion rupees from a year ago, Bharti Airtel said. Average revenue per user (ARPU) of data rose 10-fold from a year earlier to 202 rupees during the quarter.
The proliferation of cheap smartphones, led by Chinese brands, has prompted more Indians to use their handsets to access the Internet and demand faster downloads.
An Internet-based startup boom in the country has also seen increased adaptability on smartphones, bolstering demand for high-speed data.
Over 100 million smartphones were sold in India, the world’s second-biggest mobile phone market by customers, last year and that number is expected to grow by over a quarter this year.
Earlier in July Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries said it would launch its much-awaited fourth-generation (4G) wireless services commercially in the coming months, competing with Bharti Airtel, which ramped up coverage of its 4G services last year to 300 towns in anticipation.
4G services should make it much faster than 3G services to surf the web on mobile phones, tablets and laptops.
Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA) has granted a $250,000 technical assistance grant to Lotus Capital Limited as support for its premier project. EFInA, a financial sector development organisation that promotes financial inclusion in Nigeria, has attracted Lotus Capital by the project tagged “Lotus Health is Wealth Savings Plan”. Lotus Capital is the provider of non-interest financial services in Nigeria, with a broad spectrum of fund/portfolio management services for individual, corporate and retail clients.
The Lotus Health is Wealth Savings Plan has been described as a dynamic non-interest, fixed income savings product that will also offer health insurance.The Plan is structured around monthly collections of deposits from customers, which will be invested in non-interest, low-risk instruments, and non-interest fixed term investments to give customers returns on their savings.
A small portion of customers’ deposits will be allocated to pay the monthly premiums for health insurance, with a planned pilot scheme in Lagos, Abuja and Kano states. Lotus Capital will target traders, market associations, religious associations, service companies and women pressure groups. The Chief Executive Officer of EFInA, Chidinma Lawanson, said: “EFInA’s Access to Financial Services in Nigeria 2014 survey revealed that 16.8 million adults, representing 18 per cent of the adult population who do not use non-interest banking products said they are likely to take up such products if they are readily available.
“The Lotus Health is Wealth products add to the diversity and range of affordable financial products to low and middle income segments of the population who may be unbanked and under-banked.
“Insurance penetration is still low in Nigeria, as the survey showed that only one million adults representing 1.1 per cent of the total adult population have insurance, while 14.3 million representing 15.3 per cent of adults said they would be interested in micro insurance products.
“Through the project, Lotus Capital will drive awareness on non-interest finance and enhance financial literacy among the low income targets; given that the company’s direct sales agent will interface with customers to showcase the product.”
The Managing Director of Lotus Capital, Hajara Adeola, said: “Since our founding, we have being dedicated to creating wealth ethically for our clients. Our firm belief is that with the right financial plan and education, everyone can and should improve the quality of their life.
“Through this project, we hope to encourage the development of an investment culture among the low income and financially excluded segment of the population. The Plan’s tie-in with health insurance is intentional as we believe that a healthy body is essential to creating and sustaining wealth.
“While health insurance is mandatory for workers in the formal sector, there are millions of Nigerians who work outside the formal sector and do not have access to health insurance or even formal financial services.
“It is for this reason that the Plan is providing both an investment outlet and discounted health insurance. Our vision is a Nigeria where Nigerians regardless of their position on the economic or social ladder will have access to formal financial services and quality healthcare. “The project is expected to deepen financial inclusion by broadening the array of non-interest products available to the banked, unbanked and under-banked population. “The Plan will also contribute to the growth of small and medium scale enterprises via the financial advisory services offered to customers. The Lotus Health is Wealth Savings Plan, and indeed all our services are available to people of all faiths”, she added.
EFInA, through this innovation grant aims to promote financial inclusion through market development by enabling provision of appropriate financial products and services at an affordable price to individuals who are under-banked or may be financially excluded.
Sifax Group has announced a 25 per cent drop in volume decline across its subsidiaries for the first half of 2016.
The Group Managing Director, Sifax, John Jenkins, said in a statement that the decline had greatly affected the company’s revenue.
He listed some of the challenges being faced by the company in the cause of doing business to include the inability of customers and importers to source for foreign exchange; their sole reliance on diesel for power generation, which had greatly increased the cost of doing business; and the deplorable condition of the access roads to the ports.
Jenkins said, “Taking into consideration the subsidiaries business performances mid-year, Sifax Group has recorded between 20 and 25 per cent volume decline.
“The first half of the year has been a very challenging one for us as a company. However, the resilience of the management and the dedication of a supporting workforce have been the driving force for the marginal success we have recorded.”
In a review of its key subsidiaries, Jenkins said Ports and Cargo Handling Services Limited had recorded a 10 per cent drop in container business operations.
He added that all the measuring indices for the company in the first half of the year recorded a negative return when benchmarked against the same period in 2015.
He said, “From vessel operations, throughput figures to gate activities, all recorded a sharp decline in volume and activities.
“Being a multi-purpose terminal, the PCHS Limited, aside from containers operations, also handles general/project cargoes, which was the most badly-affected arm of the business during the period under review.
“There was a 50 per cent drop in volume for general cargo goods between January and June, 2016 when compared with the first half of 2015.”
One of the biggest players in the industry, Sifax Haulage and Logistics Limited, was said to have recorded a 20 per cent decline in volume between January and June 2016, when compared with its 2015 mid-year performance.
This is despite the signing of new business deals with clients like APM Terminals Kano and Lilypond containers.
Of the three subsidiaries, only Sifax Off-Dock Nigeria Limited recorded an improved business performance for the period under review.
Jenkins said, “The throughput volume for January to June, 2016, compared with that of 2015 shows approximately a 54.11 per cent increase for the containers received into the facilities whilst deliveries improved also by 50.23 per cent.
“Though the business performance in this subsidiary has been encouraging, its overall impact in the group has been minimal due to its small size and limited financial contributions to the whole group.”
An inland container depot, Sifax Off-Dock, with three terminals at Okota, one at Trinity and another at Ijora, is used to ease congestion at the Ports & Cargo Terminal, according to the firm.
Jenkins expressed the hope that the business environment for the second half of the year would be friendlier and more conducive, with the recently introduced monetary and economic policies by the Federal Government.
He said, “Sifax Group will continue to explore available and emerging opportunities to contribute meaningfully to the growth of the economy of Nigeria.
“We intend to increase our market share with an aggressive marketing strategy and expect to see a recovery from the sharp decline in our business volume.”
Jenkins also appealed to the Federal Government to urgently address the challenges being experienced by the company and the maritime sector at large.
Diamond Bank Plc and First City Monument Bank Limited (FCMB) have disclosed plans to raise fresh capital.
Diamond Bank said it is considering raising fresh capital and selling some assets in order to strengthen its capital base, its chief executive said on Wednesday.
Uzoma Dozie said the bank’s capital plan will ensure it meets all regulatory requirements both in the short term and in the future.
Diamond Bank’s capital adequacy ratio had fallen to 15.6 percent of assets by mid-year from 18.6 percent a year ago. “We are doing a capital management plan and that will determine how much capital we want to raise, tenor and size,” Reuters quoted Dozie to have told an analysts’ conference call.
“We don’t have any need to grow our branch network any more. We are also looking at some assets that we can dispose of and we are a long way into that,” he said.
Diamond Bank’s non-performing loan ratio rose to 8.9 percent in the first half, above the central bank’s target level of 5 percent where it stood a year ago. It expects to bring down the ratio to 7.5 percent by year end, he said. In a related development, FCMB plans to raise N10 to N15 billion ($47 million) of tier II capital to boost its balance sheet and will target its retail investors for the offering, its chief executive officer, Ladi Balogun, said on Wednesday.
Balogun said its capital adequacy ratio was close to the regulatory limit of 15 percent of assets at mid-year, and that it was undertaking the capital raising to provide an additional cushion.
He said the bank was also slowing down loan growth, adding that a rate of increase of 14.8 percent in the first half was largely due to the 40 percent drop in the value of the naira against the dollar since the dollar exchange rate peg was removed in June. Otherwise loans declined by 1.9 percent, said Balogun, whose term as CEO ends next year. “For the Tier II we would be looking at anywhere in the range of 10 to 15 billion naira. It’s really going to be targeted at retail because we feel that the rates from institutions will be high,” Reuters quoted Balogun to have told an analysts’ conference call.
“We have interest from some depositors who want higher yields.” Balogun said the bank would also retain profits in addition to the bond sale to boost capital and tap into buffers at its holding company, if necessary. FCMB, which closed 19 branches in the first half to cut costs, had $225 million in retained earnings, he said.
The central bank has told lenders to set aside extra provisions against their dollar loans in the wake of the sharp fall in the naira since it floated the exchange rate in June.
Balogun said its dollar loans were fully covered as of the end of June and that the bank expects to restructure 25 percent of loans to the oil and gas sector in the third quarter after it restructured 50 percent of those loans last year.
FCMB Group Plc has reported a profit before tax (PBT) of N16.3 billion for the six-months ended 30 June 2016, showing an increase of 70 per cent from N9.6 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2015. FCMB Group Plc – which consists of FCMB Limited, FCMB Capital Markets Limited, CSL Stockbrokers Limited and CSL Trustees Limited, partly attributed the development to foreign exchange revaluation gains, following the recent implementation of the flexible exchange rate policy by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
FCMB Group Plc’s gross revenue for the six months increased by 14 per cent to N88.3 billion, compared to N77.4 billion for the same period in the previous year. Non-Interest Income surged by 110 per cent to N26.0 billion, up from N12.4 billion recorded in 2015.
Customer confidence in FCMB remained strong, as deposits were up five quarter-on quarter (QoQ) to N689.4 billion in June 2016, compared to N657.2 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2016. Total assets increased by 13 per cent QoQ to N1.3 trillion in June 2016 versus N1.1 trillion in March 2016. The Group’s loans and advances, also grew by 17 per cent QoQ to N657.0 billion in June 2016, compared to N561.6 billion at the end of Q1 2016.
Commenting on the results, the Managing Director of FCMB Group Plc, Mr. Peter Obaseki, said: “Our group’s half year 2016 profit before tax came in at N16.3 billion, up 70 per cent on same period in 2015 and driven largely by treasury upsides, cost optimisation and sustained momentum in the commercial and retail banking group.”
Equity Assurance Plc has recorded a loss of N1.51bn for the half year ended June 2016. This represents the group’s loss before tax, which is higher when compared to the loss of N200.8m recorded a year ago.
This figure was contained in the group’s financial report presented to the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Wednesday.
It also reported a net premium income of N1.86bn when compared to N1.66bn recorded a year ago
In a related development, sell pressure persisted on the Nigerian bourse on Wednesday as all key sectors remained underperforming for the third consecutive session.
On the global scene, Asian markets closed lower amidst smaller than expected stimulus package approved by the Bank of Japan. European markets slipped amid a slew of mixed earnings and a slump in oil prices while the United States markets also opened lower as recently released private sector job data revealed loss of jobs in the construction and goods-producing sector.
The oil and gas sector remained at the heart of market declines following persistent pressure on Seplat Petroleum Development Company Limited (9.75 per cent loss) and a reversal in Oando Plc (0.56 per cent loss).
Next in line were industrial goods and financial services, which were down by 1.04 per cent and 1.45 per cent, respectively amid declines in Lafarge Africa Plc (3.90 per cent loss), Zenith Bank Plc (2.08 per cent loss) and United Bank for Africa Plc (4.82 per cent loss).
The consumer goods sector also weighed on the All-Share Index, although marginally at 0.23 per cent, on the back of losses in Honey Well Flour Mill Plc (five per cent loss) and Flour Mills Nigeria Plc (five per cent loss).
Market breadth remained negative with 17 advances and 29 declines.
On what will shape the next trading session, the analysts at Vetiva Capital Management Limited said, “A look at Wednesday’s intraday performance reveals a choppy trading amid a relatively quiet session.
“With no major catalyst for the market to ride on at the moment, we think the lukewarm sentiment would probably persist in the session ahead, with chances of another negative close.”
Indices plummet by N129b in five trading days Market operators have bemoaned the recent decision by Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to increase interest rate from 12 to 14 percent, stating that it may depress investors’ appetite for equities.
They argued that in portfolio management, the logical assumption is that relationship between interest rate and stock market is reverse. Indeed, the stock market indices have plunged by N129 billion on the announcement of decision last week Tuesday.
Specifically, market capitalisation of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) dropped by N129 billion or 1.3 per cent from N9, 687 trillion recorded last week Wednesday to N9,558 trillion yesterday, while the All- share index fell by 362.62 points from 28,205.96 to 27,831.95
Reacting to the development, a stockbroker and the Chief Executive Officer of Sofunix investment, Olusola Oni explained that when interest rate is low, speculators move their funds from the money market instruments to the stock market for higher yield.
He added that the same speculators move from the stock market to other asset classes, especially, fixed income securities when the interest rate is high.“In portfolio management, the logical assumption is that relationship between interest rate and stock market is inverse. This implies that when interest rate is low, speculators move their funds from the money market instruments to the stock market to make a kill.
“As a corollary, the same speculators move from the stock market to other asset classes, especially, fixed income securities when the interest rate is high.“By this logic, one can assume that the current increase in the MPR would boost investment in the fixed income securities while it may depress investors’ appetite for equity investment.”
However, he noted that there are many exogenous factors that affect investment decision at the level of investment objective, adding that the stock market mirrors the economy.The Managing Director of Highcap securities, David Adonri explained that when interest rate increases, it favors fixed income investments and drives assets from equity.
“The rate at which interest rate may crowd out the productive sector because Iam sure it is only government that can issue fixed income securities at high interest rate. “I understand that foreign investors are asking for a yield of about 20 per cent so the productive activities in real sector may not be profitable at that interest rate so we may have government crowding out the productive sector together with the equities market.
“The big decisions have been taken already, the flexible exchange rate is a major one that will impact positively on the economy, then the partial deregulation of the price of petrol is another major one. So far, those two policies will appropriately manage the demand side of the economy.
“It is left for the fiscal entities to come up with measures that would stimulate the supply side of the economy that means, they have to come up with incentives that would enable supply of goods in the economy to be stimulated.” The President, Renaissance Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Timothy Olufemi said: “ It will be hard to get good returns on investment at 2016 year-end. The year is definitely going to favor less forex dependent companies.
“There will be great losses to Forex & interest rate on loans. There will be greater apathy to stocks market investment going forward in 2016. Times are hard,” he added. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), had on July 26, 2016, favored the increase of the Monetary Policy Rate by 200 basis points, saying it is to curtail negative rates against inflation level and attract foreign investment.
Against expectations of financial analysts that the Monetary Policy Rate would remain unchanged at 12 per cent, CBN, has kept the rate at which it lends to banks at 14 per cent, which serves as the barometer for the direction of interest rate charged by banks.
The apex bank said when considered from the standpoint that the primary mandate of the CBN was to maintain price stability, the committee decided to focus on its mandate by checking inflationary pressures.
CBN added that members of the committee agreed that the economy was passing through a difficult phase, adding that the concern was that headline inflation had risen significantly in June.
The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, yesterday, directed banks operating in the country to accept deposit of cheques into savings account and to begin to embed Bank Verification Number, BVN in payment cards.
The CBN, in a circular signed by Director, Banking & Payments System Department, Dipo Fatokun, dated July 28, 2016, sent to all banks and financial institutions and released, yesterday, stated: “The CBN in furtherance of its efforts at strengthening the Nigerian payments system hereby issues the following directives:
“The removal of fixed interest rate on credit cards; Discontinuation of actual address verification in account opening for customers with customers with the BVN; Banks should begin to embed BVN biometric data in payment cards issued henceforth, to facilitate offline BVN verification and biometric based customer authentication on such payment devices as Automated Teller Machines, ATMs, Point of Sales Terminals, POS, Kiosks, etc.”
Other directives by the CBN to banks include: “Approval of BVN Watch-listing modalities and release by CBN of necessary Credit Risk Management System (CRMS) data, to facilitate its use for enriching the BVN watch-list; savings account customers with BVN should be allowed to deposit cheques worth not more than N2,000,000.00 (Two million naira) into their accounts, per customer, per day.
It will be recalled that in furtherance of efforts in the development of a safe, reliable and efficient payments system in Nigeria, the CBN in conjunction with the Bankers’ Committee, undertook some major initiatives. One of such was the launching of the BVN Project in February 2014, which was sponsored by the bankers committee.
The CBN had observed the progress so far in the implementation of BVN Project. In order to increase the tempo in the enrolment by the Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) customers on the the BVN, and to start reaping the benefits of the project, it is imperative to stipulate milestone for the implementation of the Project.
The CBN had in an earlier circular stated: “All stakeholders are hereby advised to note and implement the following: That by March 2015, transactions valued at N100,000,000.00 (One hundred million Naira) and above, should be allowed for customers with the BVN; (These include, but not limited to, money transfers, loans, contingencies, etc). It saidt that by June 2015, all banks’ customers should have BVN. Any bank customer without the BVN would be deemed to have inadequate Know Your Customer, KYC. DMBs should intensify efforts to sensitize their customers on the aforementioned development and enrol them for the BVN accordingly. It further said that DMBs are required to submit to NIBSS, as part of their weekly returns on Customers Account Details, the account status of customers that have submitted their BVN and those that have not. NIBSS in turn, will render consolidated returns to the CBN, on weekly basis, starting from 1st October 2015.”
It should be noted also that the CBN had told banks operating in the country that bank accounts without the BankVerification Number (BVN) would be operated as “No Customer Initiated Debit”. The apex bank said this in a circular titled: “Classification on Accounts with BVN Related Issues” sent to all commercial banks and posted on its website.
The circular had said that such accounts would remain dormant until the account holder obtains and attaches the BVN to the account. The circular read: “It has, however, come to our notice, that some customers could not link their BVN to their accounts.This is due to discrepancies between the record on the BVN database and the records on the core banking applications of the DMBs. “Such customers can approach their bankers for correction, but some of the banks could not effect the corrections.”
The apex bank, in the circular, said that in view of this development, it had become imperative for the CBN to issue the clarifications. It said that such clarifications included corrections of Date of Birth on the BVN record. This should be allowed once, with supporting documents, evidencing the correct date of birth. The CBN said that change of names due to marriage should be allowed with supporting documents, such as marriage certificates or affidavits, among others. The apex bank said that minor correction of names, due to misspelling should be allowed, with supporting documents such as international passport, showing the correct name. According to CBN, change of names that are totally different should only be allowed after customer has produced supporting documents. The CBN had said that this should be reported to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) as a suspicious transaction by the bank customer.
