As part of efforts to boost activities in the non-oil sector of the economy, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday unveiled a N500 billion low interest rate non-oil export facility. The banking sector regulator in the guidelines of the: “The Non-Oil Export Stimulation Facility (ESF), said the fund was established to support the diversification of the the economy away from oil and to expedite the growth and development of the non-oil export sector.
According to the guidelines for operating the fund,the CBN will invest in a N500 billion debenture to be issued by Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) in line with section 31 of CBN Act.
It further stated that the facility was essentially designed to redress the declining export credit and reposition the sector to increase its contribution to revenue generation and economic development. It will improve export financing, increase access of exporters to low interest credit and offer additional opportunities for them to upscale and expand their businesses in addition to improving their competiveness.
The Nigerian Export – Import Bank (NEXIM) shall be the Managing Agent of the Non-Oil Export Stimulation Facility (ESF). It shall be responsible for the day-to-day administration of the Facility and rendition of periodic reports on the performance of ESF to CBN.
“Facilities with a tenor of up to three (3) years, would be granted at a maximum all-in interest rate of seven and half percent (7.5%) per annum; Facilities with tenor of over three (3) years, would be granted at a maximum all-in interest rate of nine percent (9%) per annum.
“Export of goods wholly or partly processed or manufactured in Nigeria; Export of commodities and services, which are permissible and excluded under existing export prohibition list; Imports of plant and machinery, spare parts and packaging materials, required for export oriented production that cannot be produced locally; Export value chain support services such as transportation, warehousing and quality assurance infrastructure; Resuscitation, expansion, modernization and technology upgrade of non-oil exports industries and; Stocking Facility/Working capital,” the guidelines added.
Furthermore, it stated that the facility shall not exceed 70 percent of the total cost of the project or transaction subject to a maximum of N5 billion. The ESF shall have a tenor of up to 10 years and shall not exceed the 28th of December, 2025. Stocking facility shall be for a maximum tenor of one year with the option of roll-over not exceeding twice. However, this shall attract an additional fee of 0.25 percent per annum of the loan amount and is subject to approval of CBN. Working capital facility shall be for a maximum tenor of one year with the provision of roll-over not exceeding twice. However, this shall attract an additional fee of 0.25 percent per annum of the loan amount and is subject to approval of CBN.
Meanwhile, in a separate circular yesterday, the central bank stated that in other to ensure continuous flow of credit to the export sector at competitive rates, especially against the background of declining export loans and the need to promote sustainable non-oil exports, it has expanded the Export Credit Rediscounting and Refinancing Facilities (RRF) by N50 billion to support the banks in the provision of pre- and post-shipment finance to exporters to undertake export transactions.
To implement the facility, CBN will invest in a N50 billion debenture to be issued by the Nigerian Export – Import Bank (NEXIM) in line with Section 31 of CBN Act. Accordingly, this guideline describes and outlines the revised operational modalities of the RRF towards the provision of a discount window to liquefy the export credit transactions of Deposit Money Banks, thereby improving exporters’ access to export credit at any given time.
According to the CBN, the objectives of the RRF objectives are: to encourage and support banks to provide short-term pre- and post-shipment finance in support of exports by providing a discount window to exports financing banks and therefore improving their liquidity and exporters’ access to export credit; moderation and indirect influence on the cost of export credits to the non-oil sector in order to enhance competitiveness of Nigeria’s exports and thereby assist in export production and marketing; and to enhance the continuous flow of export credits for non-oil exports toward facilitating the diversification of the productive base of the economy and ensuring sustainable external sector development;
Commenting further on the pre-shipment rediscounting facility, it stated: “The objective is to encourage banks to finance incidental expenses necessary to undertake and perform export contracts as well as procurement of inputs / exportable goods, e.g. raw materials / commodities, semi-processed and finished goods for either processing and/or direct exports.”
CAP Plc, a subsidiary of UAC of Nigeria Plc and manufacturer of Dulux, has delivered a N2.17bn profit before tax despite the challenging economic and business environment.
It recorded a turnover of N7.06bn, a growth of one per cent and profit before tax of N2.57bn, which represented an increase of five per cent compared to 2014.
The Chairman, CAP Plc, Mr. Larry Ettah, in his address at the firm’s Annual General Meeting in Lagos, said, “On the strength of this performance, the Board of Directors has recommended a final dividend of N840m representing 120 kobo for every 50 kobo ordinary share to shareholders on the Register of Members at the close of business on May 27, 2016 for consideration and approval.
“This is in addition to the interim dividend of 115 kobo per share paid on December 15, 2015. This brings the total dividend for 2015 financial year to N1.645bn, representing 235 kobo per share.”
On the review of the company’s operations, Ettah said that, “To further improve our brand visibility and accessibility to consumers, we opened additional Dulux Colour Centres in Yola and Gombe and Dulux Colour Shops in Lafia, Ada-George Port Harcourt, Ado-Ekiti, Dugbe Ibadan, Agbor, Suleja, Lugbe Abuja and Jalingo.”
He said the company retained its ISO 9001:2008 and 14001:2004 certifications on quality and environmental standards respectively as it continued to offer high quality products and services to customers while complying with regulatory requirements and conducting its operations in a healthy and safe manner, while ensuring minimal impact on the environment.
On the outlook for 2016, the chairman stated that, “Fiscal policy is expected to be largely expansionary as the government seeks to stimulate economic activities and generate employment. The year has, however, started on an adverse mode, with acute shortage of foreign exchange.
“The cumulative effect of the scarcity of forex, falling oil prices, and the resurgence of restiveness in the Niger Delta, which could endanger the oil production output of 2.2 million barrels per day and the continued depletion of foreign reserves pose serious threats to businesses and social activities in 2016.”
“The board and management of your company is alive to these challenges and have outlined mitigating strategies to ensure that these headwinds do not significantly impact our business negatively in 2016.
As part of its contribution towards the development of entrepreneurs in the country, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) wednesday commenced a three-day training programme for stream one applicants of its Youth Entrepreneurship Programme (YEDP) in the South-west zone.
The central bank explained that the event, which took place in Lagos was one of the activities scheduled to enhance the quality of applications to be funded under the entrepreneurship programme. It said the programme was developed to strategically deploy youthful resources for maximum economic development.
Delivering the welcome address, Director, Development Finance Department, Central Bank of Nigeria, Dr. Mudashiru Olaitan, said the programme, which was aimed at tackling the challenge of youth unemployment in the country, started about three months ago.
Olaitan who was represented by the Head, Development Finance office, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Adebisi Adedeji, said following the opening of the portal after the launch, over 4,000 applicants were received by Heritage Bank Plc, within two months of the first phase, saying that, 1,547 successful applications were selected after the initial screening and that the number constituted the applicants that were benefitting from the capacity building programme nationwide.
He said applicants from other states would be trained from 29th June to 1st July, 2016, adding that as at 15th March,2016 , about 9000 entries were recorded on the portal in various stages of the application process. “I am delighted to welcome you all to this capacity building programme, which is one of the activities scheduled to enhance the quality of applications to be funded under the YEDP,”Olaitan said.
Speaking further, the he said: “This 3-day capacity building programme will expose participants to the rudiments of entrepreneurship and enhance their ability to develop bankable business proposals to qualify for funding. The faculty members were specially selected for their experience and expertise.
“Successful applicants will also benefit from a robust post-disbursement support that includes; peer networking, business development support (BDS), mentoring and attachment programmes where applicable.”
While urging the trainees to make judicious use of the opportunity before them, Olaitan said “I urge you all to seize this opportunity and be innovative in your strive to deliver bankable and realistic bankable business proposal that will avail you the funding opportunity towards actualising your dreams”.
Meanwhile, the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, Africa Leadership Forum, Mr Olumide Ajayi, one of the trainers, gave more insight into the programme.
“This programme is an initiative of the Central Bank of Nigeria, NYSC and Heritage Bank to try and help young graduates to begin to pick entrepreneurial skills that can help them to set up their own businesses and also become employers of labour instead of them looking for employment. It’s all part of job creation scheme of the present administration to try and give space and opportunity for young people to begin to exercise their innate ambitions and dreams. Because we know that these young people are very talented and very innovative. So what this programme is set out to do is to give them space to be able to demonstrate also to help the economy,” Ajayi said.
Ten years after Nigeria’s historic exit from the Paris Club of Creditors, the country’s external debt balance has climbed to $10.72bn, up from $3.54bn, investigation has shown.
The Federal Government had between 2005 and April 2007 paid over $15bn to exit from both the Paris Club and London Club of Creditors after receiving a write-off of about $18bn from the former.
For the Paris Club, the payment included the first tranche of $6.3bn made in November 2005, the second tranche of $1.387bn made in December 2005, and the third tranche of $4.498bn paid in April 2006, as well as a commission of over $30m paid to the Central Bank of Nigeria.
For the London Club, the payment included Par Bond of $1.486bn paid in December 2006; Promissory Notes of $512m paid in early March 2007; oil warrants of $82m paid on April 4, 2007 and a commission of 0.5 per cent paid to the CBN.
After the exit from the Paris Club, the country’s external debt came down to $3.54bn as of December 31, 2006, according to statistics obtained from the Debt Management Office.
Over the years, however, the external debt situation of the country had gradually climbed to $10.72bn as of December 31, 2015, according to the DMO.
This means that within the period, 2006 to 2015, the country’s external debt grew by $7.18bn, or 202.4 per cent.
After Nigeria’s exit from the Paris Club, the Federal Government tried to control the expansion of the country’s debt profile by limiting external borrowing to concessionary loans. However, in the last two years, the World Bank has said that the country is capable of borrowing from its commercial lending window.
However, the Federal Government at the same time opened its doors wide to domestic borrowing, which increased within the period after the exit thereby, raising fears that the country could relapse into the debt trap.
Our correspondent reported that the country’s total debt as of December 31, 2015 stood at N12.6tn.
The total debt is made up of the external debt of the federal and state governments and the domestic debts of both.
In terms of segmentation, the external debts of both tiers of government rose from $9.71bn as of December 31, 2014 to $10.71bn as of December 31, 2015. This shows a rise of $1bn or growth rate of 10.37 per cent within the one-year period.
The domestic debt of the Federal Government, which is the biggest component of the total debt, rose from N7.9tn as of December 31, 2014 to N8.84tn ayear later.
This shows that the domestic debt of the Federal Government rose by N932.97bn or 11.8 per cent within the one-year period.
The 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory held $3,369,911,154.54 of the country’s external debt component, while the Federal Government’s external commitment stood at $7,348,520,340.26.
For 2016, the Federal Government expects to borrow N984bn from domestic sources and N900bn from foreign sources to finance the capital component of the budget.
It also set aside the sum of N113bn as a sinking fund towards the retirement of maturing loans; while N1.36tn was provided for foreign and domestic debt service obligations.
Our correspondent also reported that the Federal Government spent a total of N2.95tn to service domestic debts for a period of five years from 2010 to 2014.
The Nigerian Stock Exchange has announced the expected review of the NSE 30, and the six sectoral indices of the Exchange, which are NSE Consumer Goods, NSE Banking, NSE Insurance, NSE Industrial, NSE Oil & Gas and the NSE Lotus Islamic Indices.
The composition of these indices after the review will be effective on July 1, 2016, the NSE said in a statement on Wednesday. “With the review, we will witness the entry/re-entry as well as exit of some major companies,” it explained.
For NSE 30 Index, the likely new entrants are UACN Plc, Presco Plc, Cadbury Nigeria Plc, FCMB Group Plc and Transcorp Hotels Plc; while Glaxo Smithkline Consumer Plc, Sterling Bank Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, Diamond Bank Plc and Transcorp Plc might leave the category.
For NSE Consumer Goods Index, the likely income firms are Northern Nigeria Flour Mills Plc, DN Tyre & Rubber Plc, Union Dicon Plc and Premier Breweries Plc. But Vitafoam Nigeria Plc, Tiger Branded Consumer Goods Plc, Honeywell Flour Mills Plc and NASCON Allied Industries Plc are likely going to exit the group.
For the NSE Banking Index, Skye Bank Plc and Unity Bank Plc are expected to come on board, while Wema and Fidelity Bank were penciled to leave the category.
The NSE Insurance Index is expected to take in Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc, Law Union & Rock Insurance Plc, International Energy Insurance Plc, UNIC Insurance Plc and Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc. On the other hand, Linkage Assurance Plc, Cornerstone Insurance Plc, Standard Alliance insurance Plc, Universal insurance Company Plc and Equity Assurance Plc are expected to exit the group.
Greif Nigeria Plc and DN Meyer Plc are likely to be absorbed into the NSE Industrial Index, while Avon Crowncaps & Containers Plc, Paints & Coatings Manufacturers Plc would exit.
Japaul Oil & Maritime Services Plc and Eterna Plc are to be admitted into the NSE Oil & Gas Index, while MRS Oil Nigeria Plc and Conoil Plc would exit.
For NSE Lotus Islamic Index, Total Nigeria Plc and Forte Oil Plc are to be admitted, while Lafarge Africa Plc and Chemical & Allied Products Plc would leave the group.
The Nigerian bourse began publishing the NSE 30 Index in February 2009 with index values available from January 1, 2007. On July 1, 2008, the NSE developed four sectoral indices with a base value of 1,000 points, designed to provide investable benchmarks to capture the performance of specific sectors. The sectoral indices comprise the top fifteen most capitalised and liquid companies in the insurance and consumer goods sectors, top ten most capitalised and liquid companies in the banking and industrial goods sector and the top seven most capitalised and liquid companies in the oil and gas sector.
In July 2012, the Nigerian bourse launched the NSE Lotus Islamic index which consists of companies whose business practices are in conformity with Shari’ah investment principles, with the aim of increasing the breadth of the market and creating an important benchmark for investments as the alternative ethical and noninterest investment space widened.
The companies that appear on the Islamic Index have been thoroughly screened by Lotus Capital Halal Investment, in accordance with a methodology approved by an internationally recognised Shari’ah Advisory Board comprising of renowned Islamic scholars.
The new flexible exchange rate policy will be released today (Wednesday), the Acting Director, Corporate Communications of the Central of Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Isaac Okoroafor, has said.
The CBN’ Monetary Policy Committee had on May 24 risen from its bi-monthly meeting and announced plans to adopt greater flexibility in the management of foreign exchange.
Okoroafor, who told our correspondent on Tuesday that the policy would be unveiled on Wednesday, did not elaborate on the modality.
However, our correspondent gathered that the Governor, CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, would release the blueprint during a news conference scheduled to hold at the apex bank’s headquarters in Abuja by noon.
The delay in the release of the details of the policy has led to further depreciation of the naira at the parallel market. It has also made equities to post record losses in the past few weeks.
Experts and stakeholders believe a flexible exchange rate policy is the right way to go for the country.
The Director-General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Muda Yusuf, had said it would lead to the reduction in the arrears of remittances, which had accumulated for the past 18 months; reduce uncertainty that investors had been grappling with over the last one year; and boost investor confidence as well as attract greater forex inflows to the economy.
The Chief Executive Officer, Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Mr. Bismarck Rewane, who lauded the proposed exchange rate policy, said the development would eliminate the fears that foreign investors had been nursing about the Nigerian forex policy.
According to him, the decision may make the naira to depreciate initially, but it will find its equilibrum price later.
Addressing journalists at the end of the bi-monthly MPC meeting in Abuja last month, Emefiele had said, “The MPC voted unanimously to adopt greater flexibility in exchange rate policy to restore the automatic adjustment properties of the exchange rate. Consequently, all nine members voted to hold and introduce greater flexibility in managing the foreign exchange rate.”
Meanwhile, the looming economic recession in the country may have forced the CBN to postpone the announcement of a new Capital Adequacy Ratio for Systemically Important Banks scheduled to begin on July 1, it has been learnt.
The CBN had in 2014 ordered the SIBs to boost their minimum CAR to 16 per cent from 15 per cent to increase their resilience to shocks.
The SIBs are First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc, Access Bank Plc, Skye Bank Plc, Ecobank Nigeria and Diamond Bank Plc.
The eight financial institutions designated as the SIBs by the central bank were required to hold more liquid assets and a liquidity ratio of 35 per cent.
This meant the affected banks were expected to have a minimum liquidity ratio, which is five per cent above the 30 per cent requirement in the industry.
The new CAR, which was the fallout of the 2009 banking crisis in the country, was scheduled to start on July 1, 2016.
However, the central bank is planning to postpone the rule because the “sensible” thing to do is “reflate the economy and encourage lending,” the Director of Banking Supervision, CBN, Mrs. Tokunbo Martins, told Bloomberg on Tuesday.
She said an announcement on the new date of implementation would be made by the end of the week.
The Federal Government is planning to avoid a recession or mitigate the impact of a looming one by boosting banking lending to stimulate economic growth.
The capital adequacy ratio of nation’s biggest banks declined to 16.6 per cent at the end of April from 17 per cent a year earlier as economic headwinds increased, Martins said.
If the rules had to be implemented at the beginning of next month, it wouldn’t leave “much headroom for proper lending,” she said.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation on Tuesday denied claims that it failed to remit $12.9bn dividend from the Nigeria LNG Limited for a period of eight years; instead, it said that part of the funds was reinvested in the gas-producing firm.
According to the NNPC, the funds were reinvested in the development of the Brass LNG and Olokola LNG projects, adding that it was not right for anybody to say the money was missing.
Reacting to the latest report released by the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, which indicted the corporation for the non-remittance of $3.8bn and N358bn in 2013 as well as $12.9bn, being dividends received from the NLNG from 2005 to 2013, the NNPC argued that the funds were utilised legally in running its operations, while the balance had been transferred to the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Speaking on the sidelines of a stakeholders’ dialogue organised by NEITI in Abuja, the Group General Manager, Debt Management/Federal Allocation, NNPC, Mr. Godwin Okonkwo, maintained that the NLNG dividends were never misappropriated nor withheld by the corporation, but that every amount spent was with the approval of the Federal Government.
According to him, a large portion of the funds, with the approval of the Federal Government, was used to fund various gas projects in the country, while the balance has been moved from the Treasury Single Account to the Federation Account in the CBN.
Okonkwo said, “Before now, the position is that the NLNG belongs to the Federal Government and the NNPC is an arm of the Federal Government. The NLNG dividends were there and if there was any kobo that went out of it, it was done with the approval of the Federal Government. No kobo leaves the NLNG dividends without appropriate approval.
“Part of the spending for the NLNG dividends was the development of NLNG trains — Brass LNG and Olokola LNG — and it is not right for anybody to say the money is now missing. And with the current regime that says the NLNG belongs to the federation, the balance of the money has been transferred through the TSA to the CBN. Nothing leaves there without appropriate approval. The NNPC is not an unorganised place where people do things anyhow.”
The NNPC manager stated further that the $393m joint venture cash call refunded by the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company to the National Petroleum Investment Services was not remitted to the Federation Account because the amount was used to finance its operations as stipulated in its budget for the period.
On claims that the NNPC and NPDC had yet to pay about $1.7bn from the transfer of some oil assets to the NPDC, Okonkwo stated that the actual amount would be determined by the Department of Petroleum Resources, which was currently at the last lap of evaluating the amount to be paid.
He, however, admitted that the NNPC and its subsidiaries made some mistakes in the past, but stressed that these errors were being corrected now to prevent a reoccurrence.
The Nigerian equities market recorded its third straight decline as investor sentiment remained dampened just as the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released very disappointing economic data.
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index (ASI) fell 0.26 per cent to close at 27,034.05 while market capitalisation shed N23/8 billion to be at N9.3 trillion. The market has remained bearish in the past three days as investors await details of the flexible foreign exchange policy from the Central Bank of Nigeria.
However, the NBS released economic statistics showing a jump in inflation to 15.6 per cent in the month of May, up from 13.7 per cent in April.
According to the NBS, the upsurge in the headline index in May was due to increase in general price levels across all divisions that contribute to the headline index. Market analysts said the rise in inflation will affect demand for equities.
Yesterday’s decline in the ASI brought the year-to-date loss to 5.61 per cent. The market was dominated by losses by highly capitalised stocks, while the gainers were mostly low capitalised stocks.
Profit-taking activities on banking and consumer good stocks, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc and Nigerian Breweries Plc responsible for the decline in the ASI. GlaxosmithklineConsumer Nigeria Plc led the price losers with 9.7 per cent trailed by Unity Bank Plc with 8.8 per cent. FCMB Group shed 5.4 per cent, while Eterna Plc and Transnational Express Plc went down by 5.0 per cent and 4.8 per cent respectively.
On the other hand, NEM Insurance Plc led the price gainers with 5.0 per cent, trailed by Continental Insurance Plc with 4.7 per cent, just as Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, A.G Leventis Nigeria Plc added 4.6 per cent and 4.4 per cent in that order. A.G Leventis two days ago declared a dividend of 10 kobo per share despite a loss for the year ended December 31, 2015.
Meanwhile, two sectoral indices, the NSE Banking Index and NSE Consumer Goods Index declined 1.03 per cent and 0.99 per cent respectively. On the other hand, the NSE Industrial Goods appreciated by 1.20 per cent, while the NSE Insurance Index rose by 0.80 per cent. Similarly, the NSE Oil & Gas Index appreciated by 0.19 per cent.
Over- The-Counter (OTC) market, last month, recorded a turnover of ₦7.43 trillion. This figure, according to FMDQ OTC report was 21.22 per cent lower than the value recorded in the previous month.
A breakdown of activities in OTC last month, showed that FX transactions accounting for 13.30 per cent of the total value.
In the fixed income market, bearish sentiments prevailed in the short-, mid- and long-term maturities as yields trended upwards.Similarly, open-buy-back and overnight rates remained in the single digit range, averaging 6.54 per cent and 7.08 per cent respectively, while T.bills continued its dominance in the fixed income market, accounting for 82.51 per cent of all trades.
For the month of April, 2016, turnover recorded in the OTC market was ₦9.43 trillion; 9.86 per cent higher than the value recorded in March 2016. FX transactions accounting for 16.69 per cent (March – 18.67%) of the total value. In the fixed income market, bearish sentiments prevailed in both mid- and long-term maturities as yields trended upwards while yields declined on short-term maturities.
Open-buy-back and overnight rates experienced minimal volatility averaging 4.23 per cent and 4.71 per cent respectively, while T.bills continued its dominance in the fixed income market, accounting for 81.72 per cent (March – 78.21per cent) of all trades. FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange had last week, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with NMRC.The agreement, according to FMDQ, was coming on the heels of the Regulatory Supervision Collaboration Agreement, which the Exchange recently executed with the National Pension Commission, to promote enhanced and efficient pension fund governance, regulation and supervision.
The Managing Director of FMDQ, Bola Onadele, explained that the need for effective cooperation and collaboration between FMDQ and NMRC cannot be overemphasised, as the partnership would mark an essential step towards the development of the Nigerian housing sector through the introduction and deployment of initiatives aimed at launching a range of mortgage products.
The partnership would also enhance the articulation of strategies for developing the Nigerian mortgage industry through non-interest finance (e.g. Sukuk); partnership on awareness programmes, investor/market education and capacity building in Nigeria; the expansion of listing opportunities for NMRC debt securities among others.
These initiatives, according to him, are geared towards engendering market confidence and allowing NMRC to effectively connect the Nigerian mortgage industry to the DCM; and collaboration on pricing methodology, valuation framework and index development for mortgage bonds.
He explained that FMDQ, in partnership with NMRC and other key stakeholders, will engage in relevant initiatives and campaigns to educate the market on mortgage-related debt instruments such as Mortgage-Backed Securities, Real Estate Investment Trusts, among others, in readiness for the ensuing housing revolution which the Nigerian market is positioned to experience.
A.G Leventis Nigeria Plc monday recommended a dividend of N264.729 million for the year ended December 31, 2015. The dividend, which translates to 10 kobo per share, was recommended despite the fact that group recorded a loss of N177 million, while the company ended the year with a decline of 54 per cent in profit to N355 million.
The audited results, made available yesterday, showed that the group recorded a revenue of N12.536 billion up by six per cent from N11.7 billion achieved in 2014. Gross profit fell by 20 per cent from N3.469 billion to N4.166 billion, while profit before tax fell by 38 per cent to N329 million, from N524 million in 2014. Finance costs rose to N1.023 billion from N833 million.
The group ended the year with a loss of N177 million, compared with a profit of N211 million in 2014. Despite the loss, the directors recommended a dividend of 10 kobo for the approval of shareholders. According to the directors, the dividend will be paid on September 9, to shareholders whose names appeared on the register of the company as at the close of business on August 19, 2016.
Meanwhile, trading at the stock market continued on a bearish note as the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index (NSE) ASI declined further by 0.47 per cent to close at 27,103.89. Similarly, the market capitalisation shed N44.19 billion to close at N9.31 trillion. Yesterday’s loss extended the year-to-date losses to 5.37 per cent. Twenty-three stocks declined while 15 appreciated.
In terms of sectoral performance, the NSE Industrial Goods Index shed 0.72 per cent, NSE Consumer Goods went down by 2.05 per cent while the NSE Insurance Index lost 0.81 per cent.
On the positive side, the NSE Banking appreciated by 0.76 per cent following gains recorded by GTBank Plc and Access Bank Plc, which rose by 0.69 per cent and 4.17 per cent respectively.
Investors traded was 152.32mn in 3,406 deals, led by FBN Holdings (40.04 million shares ), FCMB (19.13 million shares) and Zenith Bank (11.04 million shares ) as most active, while the most actively traded sectors were Financial Services (124.58 million shares), Consumer Goods (10.80 million shares ) and Conglomerates (8.57 million shares).
However, analysts at Cordros Capital Limited said they expect investors to remain downbeat, as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s delay of the guided forex flexibility details lingers.
