By Dipo Olowookere
The management of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, the parent company of the Ecobank group, has announced its intention to raise fresh capital from the bond market.
In a notice to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Tuesday, the financial institution it intends to source for $50 million from investors.
According to the lender, the debt instrument will have a tenor of five years, with proceeds used for the company’s general corporate purposes.
Already, the bank has directed Deutsche Bank, Renaissance Capital, Standard Bank and Standard Chartered Bank to serve as joint lead managers for the offering.
“Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, a leading pan-African banking group with presence in 36 African countries, rated B (stable) and B- (stable) by Fitch and S&P respectively, has mandated Deutsche Bank, Renaissance Capital, Standard Bank and Standard Chartered Bank as joint lead managers to issue a 5-year $50 million tap on its Rule 144A/Reg S 5-year USD denominated senior unsecured bond offering.
“The issue is rated B and B- by Fitch and S&P respectively.
“The proceeds from the offering will be used for Ecobank’s general corporate purposes,” the statement from the lender today said.
Business Post recalls that last month, the financial institution issued Eurobonds worth $450 million to investors at 9.75 percent, with proceeds to be used by the bank to meet its general corporate obligations, including the refinancing of a portion of debt it owes banks.
Last year, Ecobank raised $200 million in loans, which are due for repayment in November.
In the 2018 fiscal year, the lender grew its gross earnings by one percent to N773.3 billion from N763.6 billion, while the revenue also rose by same margin to N567.4 billion from N560.8 billion.
However, the bank recorded a 1.2 percent decline in interest income to N475.2 billion from N480.9 billion, while net interest income dropped to N289 billion from N299.3 billion.
Ecobank said during the year, its profit before tax went up by 53 percent to N135.5 billion from N88.3 billion, while the profit after tax appreciated by 46 percent to N102.2 billion from N70 billion.
In addition, total assets improve significantly by 20 percent to N8.2 trillion, while the loans and advances to customers rose by 17 percent to N3.3 trillion, with the deposits from customers increasing by 25 percent to N5.8 trillion.
During the year, the earnings per share improved to N3.30k from N2.22k in the previous year.
