Economy
New Export Fund: Investors in 10 banks to Lose N29b
There are indications that about N30 billion would be pulled out from distributable profits of 10 banks to honour Nigerian Bankers Committees’ (NBC) decision to fund the Central Bank of Nigeria’s, (CBN) export fund in 2017.
The figure would be far above the N25 billion CBN had projected for the first year (2017) as last week’s Zenith Bank Plc’s results, the first to be announced so far, already show a significant overshoot of that estimate.
The leading 10 out of 26 banks in the country are set to announce figures that would cumulatively overshoot the CBN’s estimate.
NBC had last month directed that deposit money banks in Nigeria, from the 2016 audited accounts, will set aside 5 percent of their profit after tax (PAT) and pay same into a pool fund to finance Nigerian export businesses or businesses with import substitution capabilities.
This effectively takes away a significant portion of money from equity investors’ benefits in the quoted banks.
Impact on the Banks Based on the Full Year 2016 PAT estimates put together by Cardinal Stone Partners, a Lagos based investment house, on their coverage banks, total exposure will amount to N29.3 billion.
The Cardinal Stone Reports also indicated the relative exposure of each of the banks.
According to the report, in absolute terms, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (GTB) has the largest exposure with an expected contribution of N7.1 billion (24% of total sector contribution) whilst Diamond Bank Plc will be the least exposed with an expected contribution of N0.4 billion (1% of total sector contribution).
Nigerian banks have consistently paid dividends, with top tier banks such as GTB and Zenith Bank Plc paying as much as 45% of PAT.
At the backdrop of this the analysts at Cardinal Stone stated: “After incorporating the impact of this development on FY’16 expected dividends, we estimate an average 5% drop in dividend per share, translating to an average expected dividend yield of 12% for FY’16.
“Finally, the policy’s impact on our valuation is immaterial as our recommendations remain largely unchanged.
“However, Access Bank Plc and Ecobank Transnational which previously had “BUY” recommendations have been downgraded to a HOLD.
Briefing journalists at the end of the January 2017 NBC meeting, Mr Ahmed Abdullahi, Director, Banking Supervision Department, CBN, said the initiative was to support the federal government’s drive to create and deepen a non-oil economy.
The Bankers Committee considered it necessary “to support the effort of the government in diversifying the economy by coming up with an initiative that will help with export drive and import substitution,” he said.
“Therefore, the committee has decided that we will be contributing 5 percent of each bank’s profit after tax in a pool of funds that will be kept at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and it will be used to finance eligible bankable projects that are meant for export or import substitution.
“The scheme will be controlled by the members of the Bankers Committee. There will be a project review committee that will review submissions from entrepreneurs that require funding. The committee will make a recommendation to the Board of Trustees of the Bankers Committee,” he explained.
He said each bank has an equity holding in the scheme based on its annual contribution from its annual profits. Mr Abdullahi said the scheme will start from the 2016 financials.
“Banks have submitted their 2016 statement of accounts and they are to be published not later than April, 2017.
“So we are starting the programme this year using 2016 financials of banks. Any industry that is going to be export driven will benefit.
“Similarly, any industry that will provide import substitution will also benefit,” he said.
“Based on the banks’ last three years profit and loss accounts, we estimate about N25 billion will be contributed annually by the banks,” he said.
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.
