Economy
Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank Eyes N4bn Earnings, 35 Kobo EPS, 40% ROE
By Adedapo Adesanya
The management of Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank Plc (ITMB) has expressed its intention to make its shareholders smile in the coming years, with the mapping out of some strategies to make this happen.
Some day ago, the company was at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to present its Facts Behind The Figures to investors, members of the investing community as well as the media.
During the event covered by Business Post, Managing Director/CEO of Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank, Mr Onabanjo Obaleye, stated that the firm plans to double its investments in the next three years.
According to him, in the past years, ITMB has achieved some successes and would want to cover more grounds and spread its areas of operations.
In the past years, he said total assets in 2013 stood at N7.39 billion, but grew to N10.35 billion in 2018 and stood at N11.23 billion as at July 2019. He further said loan and advances in its first year as a public company stood at N1.31 billion, but rose to N3.8 billion in 2018 and N5.05 billion so far, while the investments have also grown to N2 billion as at the period calculated in 2019.
“We have moved our shareholders from 150 to 500 and we became a national mortgage bank,” he informed the investment community at the event.
Looking ahead, Mr Obaleye said the company seeks to build a strong brand presence in its market and have an improved customer confidence, efficient corporate governance, public and private housing initiatives among other drivers.
He expressed optimism that Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank plans to grow its total assets to N14.23 billion in 2019, N18.50 billion in 2020 and N26.50 billion in 2022.
He also said the firm looks to double is investments from N2 billion currently to about N4 billion in the next three years and its earnings projected to move from N776.92 million to N1.77 billion in 2019 and N4 billion in December 2022.
Mr Obaleye further said the bank also hopes to increase its earnings per share (EPS) from its current 10 Kobo to 18 kobo in 2019, 25 kobo in 2020, 30 kobo in 2021 and as high as 35 Kobo in 2022.
In addition, there are plans to reduce the cost to income reduced from 60.3 percent to 50 percent in the next three years, with the Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) ratio expected to go down to 3.0 percent from the current 6.9 percent.
The firm further said it hopes to have its return on equity at 12.45 percent in 2019 fiscal year, 15.50 percent in 2020, 35.0 percent in 2021 and 40.0 percent in 2020.
For the profit before tax, the company is looking at N761.7 million in 2019, N1.2 billion next year, N1.75 billion in 2021 and N2.00 billion in 2020.
At event, Mr Obalaye admitted that the company has not had it rosy since it commenced operations in Nigeria especially due to harsh economy and security challenges in its core area of operations, the north.
“Rising insurgency and terrorist activities in the North East and spreading South is affecting every business not only mortgage business.
“Concerns about safety and security of persons and goods is taking its toll on business operations
“Also, lengthy court processes, absence of unified foreclosure law and government right to land.
“The policy initiative of government equally needs to be addressed if home ownership in Nigeria needs to be redeemed,” he stated.
But he assured that the board and management were capable of making Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank stronger amid the challenges.
He said one of the strategies to achieve this is collaborating with the relevant stakeholders to increase its issued share capital from N2.085 billion it has remained since 2013.
“We are working on how we are going to increase this,” Mr Obaleye said, adding that discussions were ongoing with its investment partners, Cordros Capital, one this.
By Adedapo Adesanya
About 143 companies that successfully passed the technical and prequalification stages of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission’s (NUPRC) 2025 Licensing Round will, today, compete for 50 oil and gas blocks at the commercial bid conference in Abuja, the final stage in the allocation process for the assets.
The commission said only the prequalified companies have been invited to attend the event, which will hold at the Conference Centre of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, stressing that participation is strictly by invitation.
The commercial bid conference will determine the successful bidders for oil and gas assets located across Nigeria’s producing and frontier basins.
The 50 blocks comprise 16 onshore blocks and 18 shallow water blocks in the Niger Delta, one deep offshore block, three onshore blocks in the Benin Basin, four in the Anambra Basin, four in the Chad Basin, and four in the Benue Trough.
According to the commission, the winning bids will be determined through a transparent evaluation process based on clearly defined commercial parameters. These include the signature bonus offered by bidders, the proposed work programme commitment and the level of performance security provided. The final selection will be based on a weighted technical and commercial score.
The licensing round is being conducted under the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, which requires a transparent and competitive process for the award of petroleum assets.
NUPRC had announced the commencement of the 2025 Licensing Round on November 11, 2025, before opening the online bid portal on December 1, 2025, to enable interested companies to register and participate in the exercise.
To ensure prospective investors fully understood the requirements, the commission organised a pre-bid conference on January 14, 2026, at Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos. The event provided detailed explanations on the licensing guidelines and bidding procedures to registered participants and other stakeholders.
Registration and submission of prequalification documents closed on February 27, 2026, while the prequalification evaluation was completed on March 16, 2026.
NUPRC disclosed that 286 companies initially submitted applications for prequalification.
Following the evaluation process, 196 companies were cleared to participate in the technical and commercial bid stages.
The prequalified 143 companies eventually submitted a total of 200 bids for the available oil and gas blocks. These companies are now set to compete at the commercial bid conference, where the financial offers will be opened and evaluated to determine the eventual winners.
The licensing round is expected to attract fresh investment into Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector, boost exploration activities across both producing and frontier basins, increase crude oil and gas reserves, and support the country’s drive to grow production and government revenue.
It also underscores the regulator’s commitment to implementing a transparent, competitive and investor-friendly licensing regime under the Petroleum Industry Act.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has retained all key monetary policy parameters following the conclusion of its two-day meeting on July 21, 2026, on Tuesday, maintaining its tight monetary policy stance to curb inflation and support macroeconomic stability.
According to the Governor of the apex bank, Mr Yemi Cardoso, who chaired the committee, the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), which serves as the benchmark interest rate, remains at 26.50 per cent. The MPC also retained the asymmetric corridor around the MPR at +50 basis points and -450 basis points.
In addition, the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) for commercial banks was left unchanged at 45.00 per cent, while the CRR for merchant banks remains at 16.00 per cent. The committee also retained the CRR on non-Treasury Single Account (Non-TSA) public sector deposits at 75.00 per cent, with the liquidity ratio at 30.00 per cent.
The decision reflects the apex bank’s continued commitment to containing inflationary pressures through a restrictive monetary policy while safeguarding the resilience of Nigeria’s financial system amid ongoing macroeconomic adjustments.
By keeping all policy tools unchanged, the MPC signalled its intention to continue managing excess liquidity in the banking sector and maintain stability in financial markets.
The move is also expected to provide greater policy certainty for investors and businesses monitoring the country’s monetary policy direction.
The latest decision also means borrowing costs are likely to remain elevated in the near term as the central bank continues to prioritise price stability over monetary easing.
Analysts had expected the CBN committee to retain the rate after Nigeria’s headline inflation came in at 15.91 per cent as of June 2026, marking a slight decline from 15.93 per cent in May.
However, even as overall price growth has moderated significantly compared to previous periods, food inflation remains a persistent challenge, accelerating to 17.52 per cent in June.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Shareholders of Unilever Nigeria Plc will receive an interim dividend of N2 per share, the board of the organisation has said.
The cash reward was announced after the company released its financial statements for the first half of the year ended June 30, 2026.
The payment will be made on Friday, August 14, 2026, only to investors whose names appear on the Register of Members at the close of business on Friday, July 31, 2026.
A quick look at the financial performance of the firm in the first six months of this year showed that revenue improved by 22.22 per cent to N119.9 billion from the N98.1 billion achieved in the corresponding period of last year.
A rise in earnings also resulted in a 16.43 per cent surge in cost of sales, though this did not shrink the gross profit, which rose by 29.93 per cent to N54.7 billion from N42.1 billion. The operating profit stood at N24.4 billion in the period under review, higher than N18.8 billion in the same period of 2025, while the net finance income contracted by 9.43 per cent to N4.8 billion from N5.3 billion due to elevated borrowing costs.
Business Post reports that despite higher taxes paid in the first six months of 2026, the net profit grew by 8.33 per cent to N15.6 billion from N14.4 billion, enabling the board to pass on value to shareholders for their faith in the firm.
