Economy
ARM Life Records N588.6m Loss in Q1 2020
By Adedapo Adesanya
Underwriting company, ARM Life Plc, completed the first quarter of the year in a loss, recording a loss after tax of N588.6 million.
According to the interim returns of the company for the period ended March 31, 2020, the loss posted in the period was in contrast to the profit after tax of N1.1 billion achieved in the corresponding period of 2019.
In the results filed to the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange, where it trades its equities, the firm said a loss before tax of N588.6 million compared with N1.1 billion pre-tax profit in the same time of last year, while its earnings per share (EPS) stayed flat at 11.41 kobo.
On its top line, the company recorded a Gross Premium Written (GPW) of N4.03 billion, lower than N11.19 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2019.
The gross premium income reduced to N3.6 billion between January and March from N9.6 billion in the comparative period of last year.
ARM was left with a net premium of N3.4 billion for the period versus N9.2 billion after a reinsurance expenses of N131.2 million in Q1 2020 as against N397.4 million in Q1 2019.
From January to March of this year, ARM Life Plc incurred underwriting expenses of N3.2 billion from re-insurance recoveries, gross benefits and paid claims, acquisition expenses for the period, and increase on annuity contract liabilities. This was in contrast to N12.8 billion used for the same purpose between the same period of last year.
The firm recorded an underwriting profit of N251.9 million in the period under review compared with an underwriting loss of N3.5 billion in the corresponding time of 2019.
The net income in Q1 2020 was at -N220.7 million compared with N2.8 billion in Q1 2019, while the administrative and finance cost amounted to N367.9 million versus N1.6 billion.
The balance of ARM Life Plc, which has remained the most active stock at the NASD Exchange this year, showed that total assets for the period stood at N34.4 billion as at March 31, 2020 in contrast to N32.9 billion as at December 31, 2019.
The company’s liabilities during this period stood at N29.9 billion from N27.8 billion in FY 2019.
Business Post reports that the company’s shares at the NASD Securities Exchange, as at the time of this report, were trading at 50 kobo per unit.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Five securities pulled down the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.72 per cent on Friday, August 14, cutting the market capitalisation by N47.04 billion to N2.689 trillion from N2.727 trillion, and slicing the NASD Security Index (NSI) by 78.37 points to 4,465.83 from 4,532.03 points.
11 Plc led the price decliners yesterday after its price went down by N15.03 to N230.00 per share from N245.03 per share. MRS Oil Plc weakened by N13.20 to N118.80 per unit from N132.00 per unit, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc slid by N10.30 to N99.46 per share from N109.76 per share, Okitipupa Plc fell by N6.99 to N270.01 per unit from N277.00 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc dipped by N2.00 to N20.00 per share from N22.00 per share.
Business Post reports that the OTC securities exchange recorded four gainers during the session, led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which appreciated by N9.85 to N169.85 per unit from N160.00 per unit. IPWA Plc gained 70 Kobo to close at N10.41 per share versus N9.71 per share, Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc rose by 4 Kobo to 54 Kobo per unit from 50 Kobo per unit, and Geo-Fluids Plc improved by 1 Kobo to N2.06 per share from N2.05 per share.
The volume of trades soared by 64.8 per cent to 3.2 million units from the previous session’s 1.9 million units, the value of transactions jumped by 78.2 per cent to N375.7 million from N210.8 million, and the number of deals surged by 35.3 per cent to 46 deals from 34 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 79.0 million units exchanged for N5.7 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units traded for N415.7 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The dominance of the bears on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited was consolidated on Friday, after further inflicting an 0.12 per cent loss at the close of trading activity.
All the key sectors of the local stock market turned red yesterday as a result of sustained profit-taking, though the industrial goods space was flat.
The insurance counter lost 1.49 per cent, the energy index shed 0.63 per cent, the consumer goods segment declined by 0.46 per cent, and the banking sector tumbled by 0.23 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) retreated by 398.18 points to 242,619.20 points from 243,017.38 points, and the market capitalisation receded by N257 billion to N156.624 trillion from N156.881 trillion.
Fortis Global Insurance lost 9.31 per cent to trade at N2.63, Omatek depreciated by 9.04 per cent to N1.51, John Holt slipped by 9.00 per cent to N9.10, RT Briscoe slumped by 7.94 per cent to N11.60, and Dangote Sugar went down by 7.79 per cent to N64.55.
But International Energy Insurance gained 9.92 per cent to sell for N5.32, Trans-Nationwide Express appreciated by 9.65 per cent to N2.84, Guinea Insurance improved by 6.67 per cent to 80 Kobo, Regency Alliance grew by 6.25 per cent to 85 Kobo, and Japaul jumped by 5.36 per cent to N2.95.
The market breadth index remained negative, with 30 price losers and 21 price gainers, indicating weak investor sentiment.
The level of activity contracted yesterday, with the trading volume, value, and number of deals down by 66.67 per cent, 10.65 per cent, and 5.60 per cent, respectively.
This was because market participants transacted 1.4 billion shares worth N45.3 billion in 39,134 deals during the session compared with the 4.2 billion shares valued at n50.7 billion traded in 41,454 deals on Thursday.
Fortis Global Insurance was the most active equity for the day, with a turnover of 874.1 million units valued at N2.4 billion, Cornerstone Insurance sold 100.3 million units worth N506.5 million, Universal Insurance traded 56.7 million units for N44.5 million, Sterling Holdings exchanged 53.3 million units worth N402.9 million, and MTN Nigeria transacted 44.6 million units valued at N31.4 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira maintained stability against the United States Dollar in the different segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Friday, August 14, according to data obtained by Business Post.
At the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), the local currency remained unchanged at N1,357.65/$1, but lost N6.05 against the Pound Sterling to trade at N1,840.10 versus the previous session’s N1,834.05/£1, and depreciated against the Euro by N4.70 to sell for N1,571.70/€1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,567.00/€1.
At the black market, the Nigerian currency traded flat against the Dollar at N1,395/$1, but gained N3 at the GTBank forex desk to quote at N1,364/$1 versus Thursday’s exchange rate of N1,367/$1.
Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed that interbank FX transactions surged by 51.2 per cent to $119.594 million from $79.097 million. These transactions were executed in 137 deals, higher than the 98 deals recorded a day earlier.
FX inflows from exporters, remittances and other sources, alongside demand from importers and individuals requiring Dollars, continue to shape market conditions.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market recovered yesterday after experiencing a downturn in the previous sessions following reports that index provider MSCI has proposed new “non-operating company” screens for its Global Investable Market Indexes. Although the framework does not explicitly target cryptocurrency, it evaluates whether a company’s core operating assets constitute more than 50 per cent of its total holdings.
Heavy digital asset treasury adopters, including Strategy and Metaplanet, fail the proposed criteria and face potential removal during upcoming index rebalancings. While inclusion in major equity benchmarks previously allowed passive index funds and ETFs to automatically acquire these stocks, their removal could trigger forced institutional selling.
Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.7 per cent to $0.07, Binance Coin (BNB) expanded by 0.6 per cent to $611.34, Ethereum (ETH) added 0.4 per cent to trade at $1,879.65, and Bitcoin (BTC) increased by 0.2 per cent to $63,045.87, with Ripple (XRP), the US Dollar Tether (USDT), and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) flat at $1.00, respectively.
But Cardano (ADA) lost 1.2 per cent to trade at $0.1795, TRON (TRX) shed 0.4 per cent to finish at $0.3323, and Solana (SOL) declined by 0.2 per cent to $75.60.
