The Nation Newspaper

Category: Money

  • FBNQuest is Money Market Fund of the Year

    FBNQuest Asset Management has emerged winner of the Money Market Fund of the Year category at the recently concluded BusinessDay Banks & Other Financial Institution Awards (BAFI), which held in Lagos.

    The BAFI award ceremony, seeks to identify the contribution of financial institutions to the industry, across a number of areas including financial performance, sustainability and corporate governance.

    Managing Director, FBNQuest Asset Management,  Ike Onyia, said:  “In the past three years and based on our strong fundamental and quantitative research capabilities, our portfolio management team’s performance has remained consistent and our clients have benefited immensely from exposure to our solutions, including the FBN Money Market Fund”.

     

     

  • Reps debate CBN’s N1.3tr budget in camera

    By Victor Oluwasegun, Abuja

    Journalists were shut out by the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Banking and Currency, Hon. Victor Nwokolo on Wednesday as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) defended its N1.3 trillion budget proposal  for the 2020 fiscal year.

    Before the closed door budget presentation the  representaive of the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele’s representative, Mr. Adamu Edward Lametek, was allowed  to give a breakdown of the 2019 budget before going into the presentation of the N1.3 trillion in the 2020 budget estimates.

    No one knew the cause of the sudden change of mind by the chairman who had earlier called for coverage of the proceedings,.

    He ordered that all the management staff, journalists and other supporting staff should vacate the venue before delving into the budget defence.

    Read Also: CBN won’t cut interest rate, says FXTM chief

     

    On Thursday last week,  one of the concerned members of the House of Representatives, Rep. Gudaji Kazure had during a press briefing queried the N1.3 trillion proposed by the CBN which he described as outrageous and alarming.

    Kazaure spoke of the need for downward review of the proosed budget in the nation’s interest, and also expressed concern for CBN’s disregard for the House resolution over the implementation of the money deposit and withdrawal charges by banks, after the House advised that the policy should be suspended.

    His words: “In 2019, budget of the CBN was N420 billion, but the same CBN brought a budget of N1.3 trillion for 2020. What are they producing? Which revenue are they generating?”.

    The lawmaker vowed to persuade the House to ask his colleagues in the appropriation committee to bring down the  budget of the CBN to N300 million.

    He said  health, education and the federal government’s N-Power social intervention programme, should benefit from the balance of one trillion naira.

     

  • Elumelu seeks more jobs for African youths

    Daniel Essiet

    The Founder, Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) and Chairman, United Bank for Africa Group (UBA), Tony Elumelu   has proposed job creation, and inclusive growth, as priority areas for Africa’s development agenda to achieve peace and stability on the continent.

    He spoke while on a high-level panel with President of Senegal, Macky Sall and President of Mauritania, Mohamed Ould Ghazouani. Other speakers on the panel included Defence Minister of France, Florence Parly and former President of Burundi and representative of the African Union, Pierre Buyoya.

    Elumelu stressed the urgency in tackling poverty, the root cause of extremism in Africa.

    He said: “We know, and we say, that poverty anywhere is a threat to mankind everywhere. What manifests itself in what we call security breakdown or terrorism, or extremism is actually deeply rooted in poverty, in joblessness So with due respect, we can have 101 seminars like this but unless and until we begin to address these issues of poverty, joblessness amongst our young ones, they will continue to allow themselves to be brainwashed by people who see no future, and they will continue to engage in extremism.”

    He said while it is important to discuss weaponry, and other means to deal with insurgency, a lasting peace can only be attained in the long run by investing in our young people across Africa.

    Read Also: Elumelu seeks $2.5b Japanese investment for Africa

    Elumelu cited the impact of the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s $100 million Entrepreneurship Programme as one of the practical ways the private sector in Africa can intervene to bring about peace and stability on the continent.

    Speaking further, he referenced the partnership between the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) to empower 100,000 young Africans in 10 years with a focus on the Sahel region for its first year.

    Referring to TEF partnerships with other international development agencies such as Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ )and International Committee of the Red Cross( ICRC), Elumelu said: “activities and interventions like this will help to bring economic hope to people in this part of the world and they will become less involved in extremism.

    “We support these young ones and we are beginning to see how their successes are translated into better and more secure communities.”

    He pointed out that businesses cannot flourish where there is extremism and people are afraid for their lives. It will be even harder to attract the global private capital needed for large infrastructure projects and long-term investments which can help to fix our economy.

    Elumelu called  on all stakeholders to collaborate to win the war on poverty and insecurity. “There is a lot we all can do – the private sector, government, and development partners – in making sure that we focus on winning the war on terrorism; that we make sure we stem the migration of our young people crossing the Mediterranean through harsh conditions, in search of hope, when indeed we have more opportunities and resources in our continent. We need to work together to ensure that extremism is totally annihilated in Africa. It is possible but we need to work together to achieve this.”

  • Caverton posts N3.9b Q3 PBT

    Our Reporter

    Caverton Offshore Support Group Plc has posted N3.9 billion Profit Before Tax (PBT) in the third quarter ended September 30, 2019. The result was an improvement from N2.6 billion achieved by the company in 2018, despite a seven per cent increase in direct operating costs.

    The Chief Financial Officer, Caverton Offshore, Mrs. Titi Adigun, while speaking during the company’s facts behind the figures at at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), said the company recorded a total increase of N2. 6 billion in its revenue.

    The exercise was done to intimate the market of the company’s ongoing activities and future business projects.

    She said the company’s revenue for the period stood at N25.8 billion, compared to the N23.3 billion which was recorded in the same period of 2018.

    Read Also: NAHCo generates N7.38b revenue in Q3

    According to her, revenue growth was boosted by the increase of Helicopter/Airplane contracts and agency service income.

    The company also grew its profit before tax for the period to N3.9 billion from N2.6 billion in 2018 despite a seven per cent increase in direct operating costs.

    She noted that the administration expenses also increased by N850 million on the back of increased employee benefits of N735.5 million and increase in salaries of ground staff.

    The Chief Executive Officer, Caverton Offshore, Bode Makanjuola, said: “We are determined to end 2019 on a strong note by continuing to provide the quality of service our clients have become accustomed to. Our clients are our topmost priority and our performance reflects this commitment, which hopefully translates into positive financial returns for our shareholders.”

    Makanjuola stated that the company was committed to improving cost efficiencies with scope for enhanced performance.

    He added that the company was able to improve on its cost to income ratio and operating expenses despite the inflationary environment and maintained a stable capital adequacy ratio, which balanced the support for growth initiatives.

    According to him, with a positive outlook for the global Gross Domestic Product, trade and oil demand, Caverton Offshore Support Group is well positioned to extend its service value as a leading provider of marine and aviation logistics to major crude oil exporters.

    Makanjuola said the company’s direct involvement in the crude oil production value chain through service provision offered the advantage of unique market access to optimise its business capabilities.

    He noted that with the significant volumes, and in collaboration with capable technical partners in the crude oil transport business, the company was well positioned to thrive and grow in the sector.

  • Afrinvest sees N4.9tr gross earnings for banks

    Collins Nweze

    Afrinvest West Africa Limited has projected that the banking industry gross earnings will hit N4.9 trillion by this year end.

    Its Group Managing Director, Ike Chioke, who stated this at the 14th edition of the Afrinvest Banking Sector Report Launch titled: Beyond the Precipice: Pulling back from the Brink, said the industry, which is expected to recover strongly this year, will grow by 19.5 per cent from N4.1 trillion in 2018 to N4.9 trillion in 2019.

    He also predicted that the industry profit will hit N1.178 trillion from N497.9 billion in 2015.

    To achieve the desired level of strong economic growth and prosperity as well as improve on the performance in key sectors of the Nigerian economy, financial experts at the launch stressed the need for adjustments in structural reforms.

    Read Also: Afrinvest posts positive outlook on Seplat

    Chioke explained that the current administration is facing challenges in key sectors of the  economy adding that the Federal Government needed to reduce the level of borrowing, subsidise petrol consumption, reduce the cost of governance and prioritise more infrastructures.

    Corroborating him, Partner and Chief Economist, PwC Nigeria, Andrew Nevin, said structural changes are needed to fix some of the challenges facing the economy.

    He said: “The entire states spending in all three levels of government in Nigeria is about N14trillion, the economy is about N143 trillion. Take out the interest payment, you have N12 trillion and by my calculations, that is about N60,000 for every Nigerian. It is impossible to cover education, healthcare infrastructure, power, security with that N60,000 per Nigerian.”

    Chairman, Afrinvest Securities Limited, Fatumata Coker, called on the government to focus more on education and technology while adding that broadband penetration ought to be pursued vigorously so as to compete with its peers in the African market.

    “We keep adopting the same concept and we need to look at this in our own context. Singapore, for example, took a step back to understand what they had mapped out for their economy,” he said.

  • Seplat appoints new CEO as Avuru retires

    Taofik Salako

    Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc announced that its pioneer Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Austin Avuru will be retiring in July 2020 after 10 years of leading the company.

    The board of the company has appointed its chief financial officer, Mr Roger Brown as the new chief executive officer. While Brown will assume substantive role in July 2020, the board also decided that Brown will lead the restructuring during the transition period between now and final exit date of Avuru on July 31, 2020.

    The company also reaffirmed its plans to position itself for a next phase growth ambition which would see the expansion of its footprint in terms of energy business activities, a plan to pursue offshore assets as well as opportunity driven entry into different geographies.

    “The company believes that such a corporate transition would require a different kind of organisational structure, people skills set and mentality to compete well in the expanded space. In view of this, Seplat will be reviewing its current organisational and systems structure,” Seplat stated.

    Read Also: Seplat declares $29m Q3 dividend to shareholders

    Brown joined Seplat in 2013 as the CFO and played a key role in the successful dual listing of the company on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and London Stock Exchange in 2014.

    The board noted that since joining the company, Brown has played significant roles in various asset acquisitions by the company.

    “Mr. Brown brings to the CEO role, a deep knowledge of the company in his six years as the CFO and a member of the board.  He has strong financial, commercial and mergers and acquisitions experience as well as proven people skills which will be an asset as the company embarks on the next phase of its growth plan,” Seplat stated.

    Prior to joining Seplat, Brown was an advisor to the company since 2010 while he was the Managing Director and Head of EMEA Oil and Gas at Standard Bank Group.  During his time at the bank, he was instrumental in providing advice and deploying capital across the African continent in the oil and gas, power and infrastructure and the renewable energy sectors.

    The board commended Avuru fr his sterling performance noting that in his decade of service to the company, Avuru led the development of a strong organisation, the deployment of agile systems, processes and stakeholder relationships that allowed the organisation to grow rapidly from a gross production of 22,700boepd as at December 2010 to peaks of 111,368boepd gross production as at December 2018 through major drilling campaigns and major new oil and gas plants development.

    According to the company, the acquisition of 45 per cent of OML 53, post company’s IPO of 2014, created an opportunity in partnership with NNPC, to spawn a mid-stream subsidiary, ANOH Gas Processing Company Ltd currently progressing what will ultimately be a 300MMscf/d of Gas, 22,500bdp of condensate and 1,200boepd of LPG processing company.

    “All these could not have been achieved without Mr. Avuru’s leadership skills, personal dedication and hard work, at the head of the company. The board of Seplat is grateful to Mr. Avuru for these accomplishments and is looking forward to his continued service at the board level,” Seplat stated.

  • Stock Exchange delists Dangote Flour Mills

    Taofik Salako

    The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) delisted Dangote Flour Mills (DFM) Plc from its official list, ending the 11 years history of the company as a quoted public limited liability company.

    The delisting marked the formal conclusion of the acquisition of DFM by Crown Flour Mills, a subsidiary of Olam International Limited. The reversion of DFM to a private limited liability company and delisting from the NSE were part of the acquisition deal that saw conversion of DFM to a wholly owned subsidiary of Crown Flour Mills.

    From a modest start as a division of Dangote Industries Limited in 1999, DFM was incorporated and commenced operations as a public limited liability company on January 1, 2006. It was listed on the NSE in 2008. Alhaji Aliko Dangote’s Dangote Industries Limited (DIL) owned the majority equity stake.

    Read Also: Royal Exchange grosses N14.7b premium

    Shareholders of DFM had approved a N120 billion takeover of the flour-milling company by Olam International Limited. Olam International offered N120 billion for the acquisition of 99.9 per cent equity stake in DFM.

    At their court ordered meeting in October, 2019, shareholders of DF< had approved the scheme of arrangement transferring DFM’s shares to Olam at a price of N24 per share. They also approved a resolution affirming Olam as the legal beneficial 100 per cent owner of DFM after the transfer of the shares.

    This is the second time Dangote will be selling DFM. Dangote, in 2012, had sold its majority equity stake to Tiger Brands Limited, South Africa’s largest food company. However, Tiger Brands was unable to unlock the assets and faced with the dire situation of outright liquidation and bankruptcy, Tiger Brands Limited on December 11, 2015 reached agreement with DIL to resell the troubled flour-milling company to DIL.

  • Report: Public-finance reform to unlock $125b for Africa

     Collins Nweze

     

    NEW research from McKinsey & Company shows that improvements in revenue collection and public-spending efficiencies have the potential to deliver  annual impact of between ( $85 billion and $125 billion) a year for Africa’s governance. And the good news is that the mechanisms to achieve this are already proven.

    “African governments have more scope than is often assumed to mobilise domestic resources for their own development and improve efficiencies in public spending,” said Acha Leke, a senior partner in McKinsey’s Johannesburg office and co-author of the report.

    The solutions to Africa’s public finance challenges already exist, he said. “If scaled up across the continent, such solutions could eliminate Africa’s entire budget deficit – or unlock sufficient funding to close the $100 billion infrastructure-spending gap – within a few years.”

    But urgent action is needed, he said. Many African governments are currently battling serious fiscal challenges including declining revenues and rising deficits that are threatening to stall development gains made by the continent in recent years.

    African countries collected $443 billion in government-revenue in 2018, representing 19 percent of the continent’s GDP – down from 23 per cent in 2016. By contrast, the ratio of public revenues to GDP in most non-African emerging economies stands at between 25 and 35 percent. In some developed economies the ratio is between 35 and 55 percent.

    McKinsey’s analysis shows that compared with countries around the world, Africa’s overall low ratio of public revenues to GDP makes it a global outlier and that the continent is not “monetising” its economy as much as it could.

    “Africa right now faces a perfect storm of a slowdown in growth, depressed commodity prices, stagnant tax revenues and rising public debt,” said Yaw Agyenim-Boateng, co-author of the report and a partner in McKinsey’s Lagos office. “Without appropriate action, many governments will face mounting fiscal pressure and find their ability to invest severely constrained.”

    “A balanced focus on aggressive revenue growth and on cost control, with sustained pressure to maximise impact on both sides of the equation, will yield best results,” said Agyenim-Boateng. “With sufficient commitment to transformation, governments can create new headroom to pursue spending priorities without threatening fiscal sustainability.”

    He added that several African countries have already delivered significant efficiencies by applying these levers. The authors highlight that strong leadership, political will and disciplined execution will be crucial factors in success. “The lessons learnt from successful public-finance transformations in Africa show that solutions are widely known, but that implementation can be difficult,” said Leke.

  • Firm rewards Lagos Women Run winners

    Collins Nweze

     

    EMZOR Pharmaceuticals has rewarded winners in the 2019 edition of the  Lagos Women Run (LWR)  in Lagos.

    The 10 Kilometers run which is an Initiative of the Gym Assured and Marathon and Road Race Company in partnership with the Lagos State Government held on November 9. The race started at Tafawa Balewa Square and finished at Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos. This year, the run witnessed a massive turn out of women from all walks of life, with over 15,000 participants.

    Cheptoeck Careen of Kenya emerged as the winner of this year’s edition. She completed the race in 28 minutes 55 seconds, taking home the grand price of N750,000 and other gift items such as the Emzor hamper which contained Emzor branded souvenirs and wellness medications, while Deborah Pam and Elizabeth Nuhu where first and second runners up respectively and were  rewarded accordingly. For the veteran race, Genevieve Njoku emerged as the winner with AunSeriki and Bolanle Karim finishing first and second runners up respectively.

    Group Managing Director, Emzor Pharmaceuticals, Stella Okoli,  who presented the prizes to the winners alongside the First Lady of Lagos, Mrs. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, said:“The Lagos Women Run is a laudable initiative and I have a passion for supporting and empowering women. That is why I came here today to witness this race for myself. The initiative fits perfectly into Emzor’s drive to ensure overall wellness of African’s, especially women, through exercise and accessibility to quality and affordable medicine.”

  • FCMB, Wakanow partner on travel

    Collins Nweze

     

    CUSTOMERS of First City Monument Bank (FCMB) who plan to travel abroad at highly convenient and affordable arrangements now have the opportunity to do so.

    This follows a new partnership between the top-rated financial institution and Wakanow, Africa’s leading online travel agency, for the purpose of offering tourist visa processing, flight bookings, hotel bookings and related travel packages for prospective travelers to countries in Europe, America, Asia, Australia as well as Africa.

    The development is aimed at boosting the hospitality business in Nigeria, while also delivering high quality service and satisfaction for the generality of the people. Already, FCMB and Wakanow have established travel desks at 20 select branches of the bank across Lagos, Abuja, Rivers, Oyo, Kano, Ogun, Anambra and Abia States to offer this value-added travel package. It can also be seamlessly accessed on the Bank’s mobile and internet banking platforms.

    Speaking at a recent event in Lagos which heralded the launch of the partnership, the Divisional Head, Corporate Banking, FCMB, Mrs. Folake Fajemisin, described the deal as another demonstration of the dynamism and commitment of the Bank to meet the needs of its array of growing customers.

    Chief Executive Officer of Wakanow, Adebayo Adedeji, said, ‘’we are excited to officially launch this partnership with FCMB to bring Wakanow’s travel services closer to our customer base and the public at large. At our desk within the branches of FCMB, customers can conveniently enjoy our travel products which include flights, hotels, prepaid cards and travel Sim and visas to over 50 destinations.

    They can also access our value-packed add-on services such as flight reminders, VIP protocol service, travel insurance and many more. With our Pay Small Small product, our customers can lock down great deals with only 25 per cent of the value and spread balance payment up to three months. We look forward to serving you, our customers within the branches’’.