The Nation Newspaper

Category: Equities

  • First Bank awaits CBN’s approval on 2015 earnings

    First Bank awaits CBN’s approval on 2015 earnings

    The Board of Directors of FBN Holdings Plc, the holding company for First Bank of Nigeria and its former subsidiaries, has approved and transmitted the company’s audited annual report and accounts for the 2015 business year to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the apex bank’s review and approval.

    A regulatory filing at the weekend indicated that the company’s much-awaited results would be released soon. The CBN approval is the final stage of the approval process, after which the results will be submitted to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) for onward transmission to the general investing public.

    FBN Holdings’ share price dropped by 4.57 per cent at the weekend to close at N3.34 per share, underlining the anxiety of the investing public that the earnings may further lead to depreciation in the company’s valuation at the stock market.

    The board of FBN Holdings had recently issued a profit warning that its earnings for the year ended December 31, 2015 would fall significantly below targets.

    In a profit warning, FBN Holdings stated that preliminary review of its management account for the business year ended December 31, 2015 has shown that investors should expect “that earnings will be materially below that of the prior year”.

    The holding company said the reduction in earnings was due to the recognition of impairment charges on some specific accounts resulting from a reassessment of the loan portfolio within the group’s commercial banking business.

    It noted that the reassessment was driven by the challenging macro environment, coupled with fiscal and monetary headwinds which have resulted in marked reduction in domestic output.

    “This is a prudent measure being taken while the bank has commenced active remedial action on the specific impaired accounts. Our merchant banking and asset management as well as insurance business remain strong and resilient,” the group said.

    The management of the group however, reaffirmed that it would focus in 2016 on restoring shareholder value by driving improvements in underlying asset quality, cost efficiency, enhancing revenue generation and extracting synergies across the group, as well as growth through innovation.

    Audited report and accounts of FBN Holdings for the year ended December 31, 2014 had shown that gross earnings rose by 21.3 per cent to N480.6 billion in 2014 compared with N396.2 billion in 2013. Interest income had grown by 12 per cent from N323.6 billion to N362.6 billion. Net interest income rose to N243.9 billion in contrast with N230.1 billion recorded in previous year. Profit before tax rose marginally from N91.3 billion to N92.9 billion. Profit after tax also grew by 17.3 per cent from N70.6 billion to N82.8 billion.

    With these, earnings per share had improved from N2.16 in 2013 to N2.55 in 2014, representing an increase of 18 per cent. Total assets rose by 12.1 per cent from N3.87 trillion in 2013 to N4.34 trillion in 2014. Shareholders’ funds improved by 10.8 per cent from N471.78 billion to N522.89 billion.

    FBN Holdings distributed a bonus share of one new share for every 10 shares already held and a dividend per share of 10 kobo for the 2014 business year.

  • Shareholders laud UBA’s 2015 performance

    Shareholders laud UBA’s 2015 performance

    •N22b dividend approved

    Shareholders of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc have praised the board and management of the bank for sustaining growth and returns to shareholders in 2015 in spite of the tough operating environment.

    At the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the bank in Lagos, shareholders approved the bank’s final dividend of 40 kobo per share, bringing the total payout for the 2015 business year to 60 kobo per share or N21.77 billion. UBA had paid an interim dividend of 20 kobo in September 2015.

    National Coordinator, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), Sir Sunny Nwosu, praised the bank for growing profit and increasing dividend payment at a time when many other banks recorded lower profit and had to cut dividends.

    He said noted that the dividend payment reinforces the resilience of the bank amidst challenging operating environment and it also shows the quality of the bank’s management.

    Addressing the shareholders, chairman, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, Mr. Tony Elumelu said the bank’s strong performance in 2015 reflected efficiency gains, prudence and best practice in risk management.

    He pointed out that the bank grew gross earnings by 10 per cent to N315 billion in 2015 in spite of relatively weak liquidity in the Nigerian foreign exchange market, which reduced foreign currency related business and income lines.

    “Our bank offset the macroeconomic challenges with improved customer service and balance sheet efficiency,” Elumelu said.

    He added that the bank successfully managed its costs throughout the year, thus preserving earnings to deliver a profit before tax of N68.5 billion, which translates to 22 per cent growth over its performance in 2014.

    Elumelu warned that developments in financial technology were changing the game in the financial industry, lowering operating costs and broad customer reach and becoming major disruptors within the banking industry.

    He, however, assured that UBA is a part of the leading technology change agents,  and thus well positioned to benefit from the brave new world offered by advancements in technology.

    Also Group Managing Director, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Mr. Phillips Oduoza, explained that management identified and eliminated fats in the system and improved on contract negotiations.

    He added that the bank eliminated overlapping functions and structures and continued to leverage technology in its operations, particularly in servicing its over  eight million customers through low cost service channels, which ensured it delivered improved performance to shareholders.

    Shareholders were introduced to recently announced group managing director-designate; Kennedy Uzoka.

    Uzoka assured the shareholders that the bank is committed to sustainably delivering superior returns to shareholders in excess of their expectations.

    He noted that the bank’s African subsidiaries are growing stronger and the group has a target to increase Africa’s contribution to the group’s profit to over 25 per cent in 2016 from 24 per cent in 2015, without undermining the positive outlook on Nigeria, where he expects to see positive growth from imminent implementation of the 2016 budget.

    Uzoka said that UBA market share is increasing in most of its target markets, as it grows loans and deposits in double digits across most of its operations in Africa.

    Key extracts of the audited report and accounts of UBA for the year ended December 31, 2015 showed that gross earnings rose by 10 per cent while profit after tax grew by 25 per cent.

    UBA Group’s gross earnings closed 2015 at N314.83 billion as against N286.62 billion recorded in 2014. Profit before tax rose from N56.20 billion to N68.45 billion. Profit after tax also increased from N47.91 billion to N59.65 billion. Earnings per share thus improved from N1.53 in 2014 to N1.79 in 2015.

  • Union Dicon Salt scales up agro-allied investments

    Union Dicon Salt Plc has signed new investment agreement to scale up its investments in the agriculture sector to diversify its businesses. Until recently, Union Dicon, which is quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) was the largest producer of salt in Nigeria.

    The management of the company at the weekend stated that the company has signed an agreement that will add 2,000 hectares to its 15,000 hectares of land portfolio.

    The management stated that the combined 17,000 hectares will make the company the largest Cassava producer in Nigeria in furtherance of the company’s transformation strategy and in line with its goal of becoming a fully integrated agro industrial national champion.

    “This transaction will ensure security of feedstock supply, as Union Dicon Salt moves ahead in establishing its Cassava processing facilities in Edo and Delta states. It will also fulfill management’s commitment to become cashflow positive before the end of 2016,” the company stated in a regulatory filing obtained at the weekend.

    The company had secured the approval of the shareholders to diversify into the agro industrial sector, with an initial concentration of cassava, and starch processing.

    The management of the company said it has finalised agreement with GEA Westphalia of Germany to build the largest industrial starch processing facility in Nigeria.

    Union Dicon Salt has been struggling with working capital deficit and poor liquidity as operational losses build up.

    The Nation had exclusively reported that the latest audit report of the company had indicated that there was material uncertainty on the future survival of Union Dicon Salt Plc as the company technically lacks the ability to meet emerging financial obligations and working capital unless it is able to secure loans.

    In the latest audit, external auditors to Union Dicon Salt, BDO Professional Services, said the negative bottom-line and shareholders’ funds of the company could affect its going concern status, referring to its ability to continue operations into the foreseeable future.

    The audit report, which was included in a regulatory filing submitted by Union Dicon Salt, noted that the salt company made a loss of N87.62 million and deficit of N1.01 billion and negative shareholders’ funds of N1.17 billion. The audit, for the year ended December 31, 2014, was submitted to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) last week.

    The report stated that with the current liabilities exceeding current assets by N1.01 billion and negative shareholders’ funds of N1.17 billion as well as the operational loss, there were reasons to doubt the ability of the company to sustain its operations.

    These conditions “indicate existence of a material uncertainty which may cast doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern, unless the bankers continue their financial support and the shareholders introduce additional capital not only to wipe out the negative shareholders’ funds but to enable the company operate profitably,” the audit stated.

    Union Dicon was established in 1984 and until recently, it was the largest producer of salt in Nigeria. It has two factories; one in Lagos and another in Port Harcourt with a total installed production capacity of 700, 000 metric tonnes per year.

    Apart from the production of the iodised edible salt, and the processing of crude salt for wholesale, Union Dicon Salt Plc also manufactured industrial salt for detergent manufacture, animal feeds, leather tanning, oil wells, and other drilling related operations.

  • Federal Government to revitalise commodity exchanges

    The Federal Government plans to revitalise commodity exchange in Nigeria as part of a comprehensive development programme for the nation’s agricultural sector.

    Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, made this known yesterday at the 1st National Economic Forum organised by Vintage Press Limited, the publishers of The Nation Newspapers, in collaboration with CEEDEE Resources at Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos.

    Osinbajo said the government would develop the commodity exchange system to support the development of the agricultural sector.

    He said government would revitalise the Abuja-based Nigeria Commodity Exchange (NCX) and other infrastructure and operators in the whole commodity exchange value chain.

    According to him, a functional commodity exchange would ensure that Nigerian farmers receive good prices for their products.

    Osinbajo said government also plans to introduce a Minimum Price Guarantee scheme under which government will set floor prices at which it would buy agricultural produce from farmers.

    He noted that a Minimum Price Guarantee scheme would encourage the farmers to scale up their production to their highest capacity with the assurance that government will be ever ready to buy the farm produce at guaranteed prices.

    It should be recalled that the NCX had introduced a pilot electronic warehouse receipt system (e-WRS) in 2014. Under the e-WRS, farmers will be able to place their commodities at an NCX-accredited warehouse in different parts of the country and will be issued an electronic receipt stating details such as commodity type, quality and quantity, owner and other relevant information. The depositor will have the choice of using the receipt as collateral to obtain bank loans or for trading on the Exchange. Another option is to keep such commodities in the warehouse until their prices stabilize or appreciate.

    The new initiative would encourage the provision of standard storage facilities for operators in the agricultural value chain and make the warehouse receipts a prime tool of trade while facilitating access to finance. The e-WRS is also expected to strengthen small scale farmers and agro-allied businesses while creating jobs and sustainable economic growth.

  • Skye Bank, Stanbic, five others miss earnings deadline

    Skye Bank, Stanbic, five others miss earnings deadline

    Seven companies have formally admitted their inability  to conclude the audit of their accounts for the immediate past business year in line with the regulatory timeline of three months after the end of the business year.

    Post-listing rules at the NSE require quoted companies to submit their earnings reports, not later than three months after the expiration of the period. Most quoted companies including banks, major manufacturers, oil and gas companies, breweries and cement companies use the 12-month Gregorian calendar as their business year. The business year thus terminates on December 31.

    NSE’s regulatory filing calendar indicates that the deadline for submission of annual report for companies with Gregorian calendar business year, which ended on December 31, 2015, was Thursday, March 31.

    They have, therefore, filed regulatory notice that they were unable to meet the earnings deadline. The companies included Diamond Bank; Skye Bank; Stanbic IBTC Holdings; Learn Africa; Oando; NPF Microfinance Bank and Cadbury Nigeria.

    The management of Oando Plc at the weekend said it had worked diligently with its external auditor, Ernst & Young (EY) to ensure a swift conclusion of the audit process but after reviewing the financials, EY indicated that the accounts may likely need to be referred to the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) pursuant to Rule 5 of the recently publicised FRC Rules.

    Oando stated that it expected the process to be concluded on or before May 31, this year though this is dependent on the completion of the external review process.

    “The company’s management would also like to bring to the attention of its shareholders and the investor community that the accounts of the company at full year 2015 will be in line with its third quarter 2015 performance. The expected decline is attributable to the industry’s downturn, prevalent economic headwinds, as well as fiscal and monetary restrictions driven by a challenging macro environment,” Oando stated.

    Diamond Bank stated that it had completed the auditing of its accounts and submitted the approved accounts and report to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The apex bank has not completed the review of the accounts.

    Learn Africa said the delay in the submission of its accounts was due to the need to manually verify a large part of the sales figure during the year due to a technical hitch in its book sales software package. Learn Africa plans to submit its report by April 12, 2016.

    Skye Bank said its earnings report was delayed by the additional external audit work that arose from its merger with Mainstreet Bank Limited in 2015.

    “Prior to the merger, the two banks operated as separate entities for five months of the financial year, each operating on different information technology platforms and firms of External Auditors. The foregoing has necessitated additional external audit work on the part of the surviving audit firm, being the first post–merger period,” Skye Bank stated.

    Besides monetary sanctions, NSE tags and applies fines on companies that fail to meet earnings reports’ deadline. The NSE however can grant waiver and extension of submission deadline to a company under special consideration.

    Under the corporate governance and rules compliance assessment report known as X-Compliance Report, NSE identified four different kinds of tags or symbols to alert investors about the status of each quoted company. These include below listings standard (BLS), the first degree alert level indicating a company that has not complied with post listing rules such as late submission of financial statements, unauthorized publication, management failures among others.

    Also, financial services companies such as bank and insurance companies awaiting regulatory approval will carry the appropriate symbol of awaiting regulatory approval (ARA). Companies that are undergoing a capital reconstruction exercise including supplementary issue, share buyback, split, share reconstruction among others will be tagged with capital reconstruction exercise (CRE) while companies that have indicated that they will be delisting or companies that are being delisted at the instance of the regulator would be flagged with delisting in process (DIP) symbol.

  • Lagos woos global investors for FDI

    Lagos State will continue to protect the interests of global investors through provision of amenable operating environment and protection of private enterprises.

    The state gave this assurance at the weekend during the formal presentation of its Office of Overseas Affairs and Investment, otherwise known as Lagos Global, to members of the business world, diplomatic community and top government functionaries.

    Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Tunji Bello, reiterated the state’s commitment towards making Lagos an investment destination of choice by creating a favourable environment for local and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

    As the world continues to acknowledge Lagos as a regional financial hub, he said, the government has demonstrated the commitment to strengthen this position through deliberate policies aimed at improving the business climate in the state.

    He outlined that the state has been on investors’ radar by putting in place effective legal and regulatory frameworks such as the Land Reform Act, Double Taxation treaties, Limited Liability Reviews and the development of Free Trade Zones, adding that the ongoing judicial reform is aimed at strengthening the laws for the protection of enterprise.

    Ambode emphasised that public infrastructure development and investment in security as well as the competitive edge are the things its residents enjoyed. Also, according to the Governor, access to local, regional and international markets, readily available labour, bourgeoning middle class with high purchasing power and investor-friendly disposition among the citizenry, had combined to ensure that the state remained investors’ haven.

    He urged investors to take advantage of investment opportunities in the state as government had prioritised the achievement of the four pillars of the Lagos State Development Plan (2012-2015) through the attraction of investments in eight major sectors which are power, agriculture, transportation, health, tourism, housing, ict and manufacturing.

    “With the array of prospects in different sectors, we are confident that you will take advantage of these opportunities by taking the decision to make the next investment here”, Ambode said.

    In his remarks, Special Adviser on Overseas Affairs and Investment, Prof. Ademola Abass said the Lagos Global was created to serve as a one-stop shop for investors to enhance the ease of doing business in the state.

  • Fidson Healthcare grows net profit by 18% to N744m

    Fidson Healthcare grows net profit by 18% to N744m

    Fidson Healthcare Plc grew net profit by 18 per cent to N744.38 million in 2015 as the healthcare company braced through a depressed top-line to sustain a resilient bottom-line.

    Key extracts of the audited report and accounts of Fidson Healthcare for the year ended December 31, 2015 showed that profit after tax rose from N631.83 million in 2014 to N744.38 million in 2015. The board however took a cautious approach to dividend payout, reducing dividend per share from 15 kobo in 2014 to 5.0 kobo in 2015.

    The company will distribute 10 per cent of net profit as cash dividends for the 2015 business year as against about 36 per cent distributed for the 2014 business year. Shareholders will receive a total of N75 million as cash dividends for 2015 as against N225 million paid for the previous year.

    The report showed turnover of N8.21 billion in 2015 as against N9.72 billion in 2014. Profit before tax stood at N838.04 million in 2015 compared with N870.8 million in 2014. The company stated the decline in pre-tax profit was due to 29 per cent increase in finance cost from N554 million to N715 million due to the N2 billion fixed rate bond issued in November 2014.

    The management of the company attributed the decline in top-line to challenges to sales and distribution faced during the first half of 2015 largely due to the general elections.

    Directors of the company noted that the upturn in sales witnessed in the second half of the year was curtailed by the paucity of foreign exchange for the importation of products and essential raw materials, which severely affected product availability.

    The management pointed out that the six per cent increase in operating profit from N1.45 billion in 2014 to N1.52 billion in 2015 was due largely to the company’s cost optimization strategy and a reduction in selling and distribution expenses.

    The management said the cost improvement trend, which it embarked on a couple of years ago, is in line with its strategy to drive efficiency in the face of a challenging business environment.

    “The company continues its focus on extensive brand building as part of its long term strategy and will be introducing a number of new products into the Nigerian market. This is a direct result of the move to the company’s new World Health Organisation Good Manufacturing Practice (WHO-GMP), where local production is being ramped up. A new product line – Intravenous fluids – to be added to five existing product lines at the new factory will enable Fidson to consolidate its manufacturing base in the near future,” the management stated at the weekend.

  • Unilever Nigeria’s net profit drops by 50% to N1.2b

    Unilever Nigeria’s net profit drops by 50% to N1.2b

    Unilever Nigeria recorded mixed performance in  2015 as marginal top-line growth of 6.2 per cent depressed into a 50.6 per cent declined in net profit.

    Key extracts of the audited report and accounts of Unilever Nigeria for the year ended December 31, 2015 showed that turnover rose slightly from N55.75 billion in 2014 to N59.22 billion in 2015. Operating profit also inched up by 0.65 per cent from N4.61 billion to N4.64 billion. Profit before tax however dropped by 38.3 per cent while profit after tax halved to N1.19 billion in 2015 as against N2.41 billion in 2014. Earnings per share followed the trend, dropping from 64 kobo to 32 kobo.

    The board of the company has recommended payment of a dividend per share of 5.0 kobo.

    Commenting on the results, the company said trading conditions remained difficult throughout the year, but have continued to demonstrate resilience in tackling the growing drop in consumer’s purchasing pattern amidst other extraneous factors.

    Unilever Nigeria assured shareholders of continued efforts to ensure a sustained and steady growth in the company’s operations to achieve better returns on their investments.

    “Although the operating environment remains challenging, we have continued to see momentum behind process improvements, costs and operational efficiencies.  We will continue to focus on driving cost efficiencies, increasing market share across key categories and reinvesting behind our core brands,” the company stated.

    The management of the company said it had been addressing the issue of significant finance cost through a number of initiatives and the traction on these initiatives have started to impact on performance.

    Meanwhile, Exotix, a global research and investment firm, described Unilever Nigeria’s 2015 performance as poor, stating that the Unilever Nigeria’s performance fell within the “lower quartile of local consumer peer performance during the same period”.

    In a review of the 2015 earnings report, Exotix noted that while the company rebounded strongly in the fourth quarter of 2015, the last-quarter performance might not be sustainable  citing relatively challenging market conditions and concern that gains from recently-implemented initiatives  aimed at returning the company to growth are yet to consolidate.

    The review outlined that the factors that weighed on the company’s performance, outside the weaker economic backdrop which was broadly a headwind for peers, included higher input cost pressure following a devaluation in the naira, given the company’s relatively higher exposure to imported raw materials than local consumer peers; a surge in operating expenses owing to deliberate marketing and distribution efforts to expand its route to market; surge in interest expense; plant impairment charge and relatively greater effective corporate income tax.

    The report stated that Unilever Nigeria’s profit margins were lower across the board and remained relatively weak in comparison to local branded consumer company peers. Net margin was notably weaker at 2.0 per cent in 2015 as against 4.3 per cent in 2014 while earnings before interest and tax fell to 8.7 per cent in 2015 as against 9.1 per cent in 2014.

    The report, however, commended the decision of the board to pay a dividend per share of 5.0 , noting that while the payout and yield are much lower than consumer peers,  the decision to cut dividend per share was prudent.

    “We believe that “cash is king”, as in the current environment it provides a buffer in the event that the economy deteriorates further. To that extent, we observe a sharp improvement in the company’s net operating cash flow, quite consistent with that of local consumer peers. This accommodates a cut in the company’s gross debt at the end of 2015,” Exotix stated.

    Exotix placed a sell recommendation on Unilever Nigeria.

  • Equities sustain modest rally with N70b gain

    Nigerian equities surmounted a mid-week increase in benchmark interest rate to sustain a modest rally last week as investors continued bargain-hunting for dividend-paying and undervalued stocks.  Key indices at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) indicated a week-on-week gain of 0.80 per cent, equivalent to about N70 billion.

    The market faltered on Wednesday, the first trading session after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) increased interest rate, but equities rallied back on Thursday after investors discounted the double-digit yields for fixed income securities against the mid-to-long-term values of mostly undervalued equities.

    The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the apex bank had on Tuesday announced the increase in the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) from 11 per cent to 12 per cent.

    Equities have sustained a largely positive outlook this month, riding on the back of announced and prospective earnings. Not less than five companies announced their audited annual reports and accounts last week, with dividend recommendation in most instances running around double-digit dividend yields.

    The considerable dividend yields and prospects of capital gains have quickened investors’ appetite in recent trading sessions. The rally has however remained around influential highly capitalised stocks while underlying selling sentiments continued to depress several stocks.

    Aggregate market value of all quoted equities rose from its week’s opening value of N8.839 trillion to close the four trading-sessions week at N8.909 trillion. The All Share Index (ASI)- the common index that tracks prices of all quoted equities, closed the week at 25,899.91 points as against its week’s opening index of 25,694.79 points.

    There were 22 advancers against 38 decliners last week as against 20 advancers and 41 decliners recorded in the previous week. The larger chunk of quoted equities, especially in the insurance and information and communication technology sectors, remained dormant. A total of 129 stocks were unchanged last week as against 128 stocks that closed flat in previous week.

    Sectoral analysis underlined the continuing widespread selling pressure in spite of the positive overall market position. While gains by highly capitalised stocks boosted many indices, most indices closed on the negative. The NSE Main Board Index, which tracks all quoted equities on the main board, rose by 1.68 per cent. The NSE 30 Index, which tracks the 30 most capitalised stocks, recorded a week-on-week gain of 1.47 per cent. The NSE Banking Index appreciated by 1.37 per cent while the NSE Consumer Goods Index increased by 4.96 per cent.

    On the negative side, the NSE Premium Index, which tracks the trio of Dangote Cement, FBN Holdings and Zenith Bank Internationals, dropped by 0.66 per cent. The NSE Insurance Index depreciated by 1.65 per cent. The NSE Oil and Gas Index recorded the highest loss of 3.69 per cent. The NSE Industrial Goods Index declined by 0.37 per cent. The NSE ASeM Index, which tracks emerging stocks, dropped by 0.21 per cent. The NSE Lotus Islamic Index, which tracks stocks that comply with Islamic investment rules, slipped by 0.90 per cent while the NSE Pension Index, which tracks some 40 stocks specially screened in line with pension investment rules, depreciated by 0.31 per cent.

    United Capital recorded the highest percentage gain of 17.65 per cent to close at N2. Fidelity Bank followed with a gain of 14.17 per cent to close at N1.37. Nigerian Breweries rose by 12.10 per cent to close at N117.70. Vitafoam Nigeria rallied 10.02 per cent to close at N4.72 while Transnational Corporation of Nigeria rose by 6.25 per cent to close at N1.19 per share.

    On the other hand, African Prudential Registrars dropped by almost a quarter with a loss of 21.56 per cent to close at N2.51. Nascon Allied Industries dropped by 14.21 per cent to close at N6.52. Cadbury Nigeria declined by 14.13 per cent to close at N14.77. Tiger Branded Consumer Goods dropped by 12.07 per cent to close at N2.55 while Honeywell Flour Mills dropped by 11.11 per cent to close at N1.44.

    Total turnover stood at 1.55 billion shares worth N10.45 billion in 14,994 deals last week as against a total of 11.91 billion shares valued at N18.34 billion traded in 19,508 deals. Financial services sector led the activity chart with 1.19 billion shares valued at N7.30 billion in 10,457 deals; representing 76.5 per cent and 70 per cent of total equity turnover volume and value respectively. The consumer goods sector followed with a turnover of 160.33 million shares worth N1.55 billion in 2,167 deals. The conglomerates sector recorded a turnover of 79.55 million shares worth N122.75 million in 527 deals.

    The trio of Zenith Bank International Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc and United Capital Plc were the most active with a joint turnover of 536.25 million shares worth N5.85 billion in 4,735 deals, representing 34.55 per cent and 55.98 per cent of the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

    Also traded during the week were a total of 118,976 units of Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) valued at N1.267 million executed in 20 deals compared with a total of 294,047 units valued at N3.209 million traded in 42 deals in the previous week.

    In the bond segment, a total of 91,918 units of Federal Government Bonds valued at N100.479 million were traded in seven deals compared to a total of 12,470 units of Federal Government Bonds valued at N14.348 million traded in eight deals in the previous week.

  • Learn Africa forewarns of loss

    The management of Learn Africa Plc has forewarned investors that the company will report loss and low performance for the 2015 business year.

    In a profit warning filed yesterday at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the management of the publishing company stated that its review of the management accounts for the year ended December 31, 2015 showed that earnings will be materially lower than the previous year.

    The company stated that it had to reassess its books due to the challenging business environment as it had to make provisions for impairment of debts in the books prior to the divestment by its former majority shareholder, Pearson Education.

    “As a result of this, the financials of the company are indicative of a loss and a reduction in the performance of the company for the year 2015,” the company stated.

    Directors of the company however said they have put in place strategies and measures to enhance revenue generation and improve operating cost efficiency by rationalizing the company’s product lines and focusing on more profitable opportunities.

    The board reiterated its commitment towards restoring shareholders’ value and maximizing returns.

    The company said it would continue to review and develop new book titles while ensuring that its titles remain the preferred choice of customers nationwide.

    Learn Africa joined the group of companies that have alerted on declining earnings. These included FBN Holdings, FCMB Holdings and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated.

    Learn Africa’s share price remained unchanged yesterday at 88 kobo as the equities market sustained a rally driven by bargain-hunting for some highly capitalised stocks. The benchmark index at the NSE, the All Share Index indicated a gain of 0.45 per cent to close at 26,020.32 points as against its opening index of 25,902.95 points. Aggregate market value of all quoted equities rose from N8.910 trillion to close at N8.951 trillion. This moderated the average year-to-date return to -9.15 per cent.

    “The appreciation recorded in the share prices of Nigerian Breweries, Unilever Nigeria, Guinness Nigeria, Nestle Nigeria and FBN Holdings were mainly responsible for the gain recorded in the index,” FSDH Securities, a Lagos-based dealer on the NSE, stated.

    Nestle Nigeria led the gainers with a gain of N22 to close at N702. Nigerian Breweries followed with a gain of N5.20 to close at N109.20. Guinness Nigeria added N4.01 to close at N112 while Unilever Nigeria rose by N1.47 to close at N30.92 per share.

    Total turnover stood at 344.11 million shares valued at N2.46 billion in 4,386 deals.