The Nation Newspaper

Category: Money

  • Unity Bank eyes N30b profit, N110b earnings

    Unity Bank eyes N30b profit, N110b earnings

    The management of Unity Bank Plc yesterday rolled out its short-term financial forecasts indicating that the bank will grow its top-line and profitability consecutively over the next three years to about N110 billion and N30 billion respectively.

    Managing director, Unity Bank Plc, Mr Henry Semenitari, who addressed the investing public at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) yesterday, said the bank would achieve its financial targets as these are anchored on a viable growth strategy, which will ensure increasing operational efficiency over the years.

    He outlined that the bank plans to achieve profit before tax of N20.26 billion in 2015 and subsequently scale up to N26.13 billion and N30.41 billion in 2016 and 2017 respectively.

    He added that the bank plans to grow top-line earnings consecutively to N76.26 billion in 2015 and N88.52 billion and N109.49 billion in 2016 and 2017 respectively.

    Semenitari assured that the bank has been well-positioned to achieve its financial targets noting that the rebound from a loss position of N33.64 billion in December 2013 to a profit position of N13.6 billion before tax in 2014 financial year evidenced the remarkable turnaround the bank had witnessed.

    According to him, agriculture sector remains a major strategic focus of the bank based on its historical strength while it would also focus on emerging middle market entrepreneurs to remain retail bank of choice.

    He pointed out that the recent share reconstruction by the bank was done to ensure that the bank can begin dividend payment in the nearest future and create better value for all shareholders.

    Key extracts of the audited report and accounts of the bank for the year ended December 31, 2014 showed that gross earnings rose from N62.83 billion in 2013 to N77.07 billion in 2014. Interest income had grown from N52.2 billion in 2013 to N62.64 billion in 2014 while net interest income rose from N30.14 billion to N45.45 billion. Fee and commission income stood at N10.71 billion in 2014 as against N7.33 billion in 2013. Other incomes totaled N3.72 billion in 2014 compared with N3.30 billion in 2013.

    After taxes, net profit stood at N10.69 billion in 2014 compared with net loss after tax of N22.58 billion in 2013. Earnings per share thus turned positive with a modest 17.45 kobo in 2014 in contrast with loss per share of 58.74 kobo recorded in previous year.

    The balance sheet of the bank also firmed up substantially. Total assets rose to N413.31 billion in 2014 as against N403.63 billion in 2013. Total liabilities meanwhile dropped from N375.42 billion in 2013 to N337.04 billion in 2014. Shareholders’ funds closed 2014 at N76.26 billion as against N28.21 billion in 2013.

    Unity Bank had raised N39.22 billion new equity funds in 2014 through a combined rights issue of N19.22 billion and special placement of N20 billion.

  • SEC woos youths to capital market

    SEC woos youths to capital market

    Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), apex regulator of the Nigerian capital market, will this week deploy its staff to all states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja to educate fresh graduates under the National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) on the basic rudiments of the capital market. The lectures on investment and capital market education will take place at the “2015 Batch A Orientation Camps” of the NYSC across the states and Abuja.

    Head, Investor Education, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Obi Adindu, said the lecture series titled “Opportunities in the Nigerian Capital Market” will hold simultaneously in NYSC orientation camps across the country on Thursday.

    According to him, the catch-them-early investment education is in furtherance of the market development mandate of the SEC aimed at raising the bar of capital market awareness among the vital public that are members of the NYSC.

    “The series reflects the strong emphasis placed on investor education by the current leadership of the SEC which is mirrored in a recent statement by the Director General of SEC, Mounir Gwarzo that investor education will constitute the fulcrum of the SEC’s market development effort,” Adindu said.

    He explained that middle-level staff of the SEC will be deployed from the Abuja corporate headquarters of the Commission to carry out the awareness programme adding that these will be complemented by staff of SEC who are located in the Commission’s zonal offices in different geopolitical zones.

    “The lecture series is in line with an existing capital market awareness partnership between the SEC and NYSC on which basis the Corps extended an invitation to its ‘2015 Batch A Orientation Camps’ to the SEC. The central theme of the exercise will devolve into topics and subthemes such as the investor protection role of the sec in the Nigerian capital market; products and services in the capital market; advantages of collective investment schemes as investment vehicles; how to identify investment fraudsters and job opportunities in the capital market,” Adindu said.

    He added that investor education and capital market awareness literature published by the SEC will be distributed to the Corps members at the orientation camps. These publications include We Invest in shares (An Introductory Guide), Beware of Investment Scams (Wonder Banks), Opportunities in the Nigerian Capital Market and e-Dividend, Dematerialization of Share Certificates and Straight – Thru’ – Process (STP).

    According to him, the lecture series has been a remarkable success since it was introduced a few years ago as officials, as well as Corps members of the NYSC, have turned it into a staple diet of the NYSC orientation exercise.

     

  • Tax structure skewed towards oil revenue, says PwC

    Tax structure skewed towards oil revenue, says PwC

    •N2.46tr profit tax from petroleum 

    Price WaterHouseCoopers (PwC) has said Nigeria’s tax structure is skewed towards oil revenues as most of the government’s tax revenue is derived from oil.  Head of Tax & Regulatory Service, PwC Nigeria, Taiwo Oyedele said petroleum profit tax contributed N2.46 trillion, about 53 per cent of the federal government’s tax revenue in 2014.

    Oyedele who spoke during Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) annual tax conference in Abuja, said, that in 2014,  Nigeria became the largest economy in Africa after the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was rebased to reflect a more accurate and up to date information about different sectors of the economy.

    He said the value of the 2013 GDP was revised from an initial N42 trillion to N81 trillion adding that the remarkable difference is due to changes in the number of economic activities considered in calculating the GDP.

    “The new figure took 46 industries and sectors into account rather than 33 which had been used previously. Some of the new industries which made a significant impact on the GDP figures include professional services, manufacturing, entertainment, water, electricity, real estate and telecommunications,” he said.

    Oyedele said Nigeria’s tax to pre-rebased GDP ratio was 12 per cent while post-rebased ratio is eight per cent about five per cent from oil and three per cent from non-oil.  The ratio, he said, is one of the lowest in the world compared to 23 per cent in Ghana, 25 per cent in South Africa and 39 per cent in Brazil to mention a few.

    “Another interesting benchmark though not commonly cited is the tax revenue per capita. This is about N38, 000 for Nigeria compared to over N450, 000 for South Africa; N200, 000 for Ghana and N1.8 million in the United States,” he said.

    He said the low level of tax revenue can be attributed to a number of factors including the cumbersome and inefficient tax administration system, high level of tax evasion, ambiguities in the tax laws and insufficient utilisation of tax revenue for social services and visible development.

    “Some of the key challenges facing the realization of a truly diversified economy capable of generating revenue beyond oil is the difficulty in collecting taxes from the informal sector, which makes up about 76 per cent of the Nigerian Economy. For this reason, the tax authorities seem to focus a lot of their energy on taxing a small number of visible companies and individuals.

    “Another issue is multiplicity of taxes and unclear fiscal federalism. The Second Schedule of the Nigerian constitution 1999 grants the Federal and State governments the power to legislate on tax matters based on the concept of federalism and the devolution of fiscal powers,” he explained.

    Oyedele said both the Federal and State government have been assigned specific areas of tax in which they can legislate, but they have some common areas as well.

     

  • Sovereign Trust Insurance boosts capital with N1.15b

    Sovereign Trust Insurance boosts capital with N1.15b

    Sovereign Trust Insurance (STI) Plc recorded 100 per cent subscription to its recent rights issue, raising N1.15 billion additional capital to support its medium-term growth plan.

    Regulatory filing at the weekend showed that the insurance company added 2.29 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each to bring its total outstanding shares to 9.16 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each. The supplementary listing concluded the rights issue process.

    STI had sought to raise N1.15 billion in new equity funds from existing shareholders through a rights issue of 2.29 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at the nominal price of 50 kobo per share. The shares were pre-allotted to prequalified shareholders on the basis of one new ordinary share for every three ordinary shares held as at the closure of register for the rights issue.

    Securities & Exchange Commission had granted STI additional three weeks to its offer period, moving the initial closing date from February 20, 2015 to Friday, March 13, 2015.

    The net proceeds of the rights issue would be used to finance the insurance company’s five-year blueprint. The blueprint is expected to reinforce the company’s competiveness’ in the Nigerian market, including its market share.

    Several companies are turning to existing shareholders to raise funds as the primary public offer market remains largely inactive.

    Majority and retails shareholders in several quoted companies have been using rights issue to bridge equity financing gaps and reduce dependence on bank loans by injecting their own funds into their companies.

    Against the background of the in investors’ apathy and deteriorating pricing trend at the capital market, several core investors that hold the decisive votes on the success of recapitalisation of quoted companies have opted for rights issue, which allows existing shareholders to recapitalise their companies.

    Rights issue gives the first right of refusal to existing shareholders and thus preserve existing shareholding structure. It however provides window for new investors to buy into the company through rights trading on the secondary market.

    Market analysts said the growing list of rights issues early this year underscores the preparedness of core investors to refinance their companies as well as the undervaluation of several companies at the stock market.

     

  • Heritage Bank boosts financial literacy with My Day as a Banker

    Heritage Bank boosts financial literacy with My Day as a Banker

    Heritage Bank has offered school children across the country an innovative way to celebrate this year’s Children’s Day through the ‘My Day as a Banker’ experience.

    Designed to spice up  the  May 27th Children’s Day celebration with innovative and fun filled way to experience the world of bankers,  ‘My Day as a Banker’  is a Bank-wide activity on Monday May 25th,  where selected secondary school pupils will have the opportunity of handling various banking roles such as tellers, customer service associates etc.

    Managing Director/Chief Executive, Heritage Bank, Mr. Ifie Sekibo said that ‘My Day as a Banker’ is a demonstration of the bank’s commitment to innovation. “Children are very special to us at Heritage Bank, hence we decided to celebrate them in a unique way that offers opportunity to have fun and learn about banking.  ‘My Day as a Banker’  is also Heritage Bank’s unique way of promoting financial literacy among children, which is the core essence of the HB Bud Savings Account, specially designed to promote savings habit among children and youths.

    In addition to the My Day as a Banker, Heritage Bank has lined up series of fun filled events to mark the Children’s Day Celebration.  The events will be anchored by the Heritage Bank Financial Literacy Brand Ambassador, Zuriel Oduwole, the youngest child to have interviewed 9 Incumbent Presidents.

    The events include Treasure Hunt at School on Wednesday May 20th  and at the  Bank on Friday May 22nd,  during which Pupils are expected to locate their fairy god parents from clues designed for them and get a ticket to the Children’s Day carnival.  The god parents are selected Group Heads of Heritage Bank, who would package and offer very substantial gifts to the pupils.

    Furthermore, Heritage Bank will hold a Children’s Day Carnival on Wednesday May 27th at Dreamworld Africana Amusement Park by Chevron Toll Plaza Lekki Expressway – in partnership with Inspiration FM.  Customers who have the Heritage Bank children account – “Bud Account” stands a chance to win tickets to the carnival. Tickets can also be purchased at any Heritage Bank experience Centre. The carnival offers exiting fun filled experience including  bouncing castle, fun rides, loads of food and drinks and plenty more.

    In line with its mission to Create, Preserve and Transfer wealth across generations, Heritage Bank developed the HB Bud Savings Account, to help its customers create wealth for their children, and provide them a future of financial independence.

     

     

     

    The Bud savings account comes in three  variants BUD Mini (0 – 12 years, BUD Teen (13 – 17 years), BUD Maxx (18 – 25 years) and it aims to help these class of customers save towards targeted financial goals and it also helps to enhance the quality of education of children / wards. Among other things, the HB Bud Savings Account gives two percent (2%) above normal savings interest.

    It also offers school fees loans to parents to ensure they give their children sound education. Other benefits include: Savings milestone rewards; Access to Loyalty Reward Schemes and games arcade / mall for entire family;  Special Birthday Treatment; Access to Heritage School Fees Loan by the parent / guardian/Sponsor who is a salary earner in a structured Organization to pay their children/ward’s school fees;  And Free Financial Educational literature.

  • DMO sells N60b bonds, yields dip across all tenors

    DMO sells N60b bonds, yields dip across all tenors

    The Debt Management Office (DMO) sold bonds worth  N60 billion at lower yields on all tenors at an auction on Wednesday, the debt office said yesterday.

    In a statement, it said investors submitted total bids of N183.34 billion compared with N184.72 billion at the last auction.

    The lower yields reflected the trend in the secondary market, which remained at below 14 percent following a sharp rise immediately after the peaceful elections in March. The five-year, 10-year and 20-year tenors each received a total of N20 billion, DMO said.

    The five-year paper was sold at 13.84 per cent, lower than 14.44 per cent it during last month’s auction. The 10-year bond fetched a yield of 13.48 per cent against 14.22 per cent last month, while the 20-year debt attracted a yield of 13.88 per cent compared with 14.45 per cent last month.

    Meanwhile, the economy grew by 3.96 per cent in the first quarter of this year, a sharp slowdown from the same period last year due to the fall in oil prices, the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said yesterday.

    NBS said oil production was 2.18 million barrels per day in the first quarter of the year, unchanged from the previous quarter but lower than 2.24 million barrels recorded in first quarter of last year.

    Expansion in gross domestic product (GDP) eased on an annual basis to four per cent compared with 5.9 per cent a quarter earlier, the NBS said.

    The oil sector shrunk 8.2 per cent after a contraction of 6.6 per cent in the fourth quarter even as production was almost unchanged at 2.18 million barrels per day, NBS said.

    “Rising inflation will put pressure on consumers’ purchasing power and could well prompt monetary tightening. Meanwhile, the cash-strapped government is not really in a position to attempt to boost economic growth,”  analyst Cobus de Hart at NKC Independent Economists in Paarl, South Africa, said in e-mailed comments.

    Early this month,  the government had borrowed more than half the amount it budgeted for the full year as it contends with “cash-flow crunch,” Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) left its key lending rate unchanged at 13 per cent in March.

    The oil industry represented 10.5 per cent of the country’s first-quarter GDP, rising from nine per cent in the three months through December, the statistics agency said. Non-oil growth was 5.6 per cent in the first quarter, compared with 6.4 percent in the fourth quarter of last year. The level of unemployment was at 25.1 per cent last year, according to revised data from the agency.

  • FCMB deepens brand with new campaign

    FCMB deepens brand with new campaign

    First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Limited has launched a new thematic campaign tagged, A World of Opportunity.

    The launch follows the recent unveiling of the bank’s refreshed corporate identity, which has led to the replacement of its former colours of black and gold with a vibrant combination of purple and yellow that speaks to a wider audience.

    The thematic campaign, tied to the refreshed corporate identity of the bank, tells compelling stories of life and business aspirations of diverse Nigerians and how FCMB supports them to bring such dreams and aspirations to reality. The campaign tells the story of the  diverse base of the customers that FCMB serves.

    The campaign comes in two television and two radio commercial versions conveying FCMB’s delivery of great customer experience and service on its channels and electronic banking platform and how it enables its customers through those services to fulfil their life aspirations. It also showcases the new warm, friendly, approachable and energetic brand identity of FCMB and its values as a simple, reliable and helpful bank.

    In its TVC, titled ‘’Waiting’’, the audience is taken through the thoughts and aspirations of diverse Nigerians in a typical office day.

    From the office cleaner to the manager and CEO, the story line captures the fact that everyone has something that they are aspiring to achieve.

    In essence, this commercial imaginatively portrays the more diverse retail and business customer segments that FCMB now serves.

  • ‘Over N2b saved from PAAR’

    ‘Over N2b saved from PAAR’

    The commencement of the implementation of the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) by the Federal Government in December 2013, has yielded about N2 billion annually,  the Customs Area Comptroller, Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA),  Folorunsho Adegoke, has said.

    Adegoke, who  spoke during the unveiling of Indepth News Magazine in Lagos.also said that in 2014, the revenues of the service reached N1 trillion and hoped to build on it this year.

    He said before the introduction of PAAR in 2013 by the leadership of the Nigeria Customs Service, the service was collecting about N2 billion annually from government as subvention, adding that since the introduction of the report, NCS has since stopped the collection of the subvention, while the revenues earned on import and export duties have also increased by 20 per cent within the same period.

    He said with the introduction of PAAR, clearing of cargo has reduced to six hours from its initial six days when it was operating Risk and Assessment Report,

    He said: “PAAR is a Customs baby because we felt we could do it and we are doing it. Before now, we were collecting close to N2bn annually from Federal Government as subvention, but since we started the PAAR in 2013, we have since stopped such collections.

    “Within 12 months, we were able to collect 20 per cent more than what was being collected in the previous regime, which was RAR. The time it takes to get RAR was about six days, but now with PAAR this can be achieved within six hours inasmuch your documentations don’t have any issues. It was really tough when we started, but within a few period, we were able to identify the challenges and acted on them.”

    Earlier in his welcome address, the Publisher of the magazine and the President, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents, ANLCA, MMIA Chapter, Aloy Igwe, said that the magazine was a general news interest publication that would perform the basic duty expected of the media, which are to inform, educate and entertain among others.

    Igwe said the paper would create a platform for all stakeholders in various industries to synergise, while setting an agenda for national economic, political, social and individual growth and development.

  • CIBN holds AGM Saturday

    CIBN holds AGM Saturday

    The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) will hold its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Saturday at Ijewere Hall, Bankers House, in Lagos.

    The body said during the meeting, issues affecting the institute and the industry, such as the yearly reports, accounts and the welfare of the members would be discussed.

    The meeting, which will be chaired by the President/Chairman of Council, Mrs ‘Debola Osibogun, is expected to be attended by chieftains of the industry, Fellows, Honourary Senior Members, Associates and past presidents of the institute.

  • CBN, forex dealers discuss ways to ease trading rules

    CBN, forex dealers discuss ways to ease trading rules

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has started talks with banks and currency dealers on how to loosen foreign exchange trading restrictions while still maintaining stability in the naira, people familiar with the discussions said.

    The Financial Markets Dealers Association, a Lagos-based industry body, met in this week to put a proposal together that may be presented to the regulator as early as next week, two of the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private, said.

    The FMDA would recommend ways to increase trading and liquidity in the foreign-exchange market, while at the same time avoiding speculative demand that might significantly weaken the naira, they said.

    The Central Bank of Africa’s biggest oil producer has implemented several measures since December to bolster the naira, which has weakened 19 per cent against the dollar since the end of June, by limiting the buying of dollars in the interbank market. In February, it introduced a so-called order-based trading system in which banks can only buy foreign currency when they have matching orders from clients that need to import goods.

    The Central Bank hasn’t made any decision to change the trading rules  in place, Ibrahim Mu’azu, a spokesman in Abuja, said by e-mail.

    David Adepoju, the Lagos-based president of the FMDA, said by phone that he was on holiday and referred requests for comment to Adebayo Adeyemo, the vice president, who didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail.

    The naira weakened 0.8 percent to 200.55 per dollar Lagos. The unit has closed at between 198 and 200 almost every day since the start of March. One-month naira-dollar volatility dropped to the lowest level in six years last month as the central bank’s rules took effect.

    The restrictions have left the naira overvalued and stopped many foreign investors, including Morgan Stanley and Aberdeen Asset Management Plc, from buying local-currency bonds until the currency weakens.