Economy
UBA Explains Real Reason for Lower Dividend Payout
By Dipo Olowookere
That the dividend payout of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc for the 2020 fiscal year was cut is no longer news, but the rationale behind the decision will interest shareholders.
A few days ago, the tier-one lender announced its financial performance last year and the key performance indicators recorded improvements, including the gross earnings and profits.
However, the cash reward given to investor was lowered by over 50 per cent as the board recommended a dividend of 35 kobo, lower than the 80 kobo paid for the 2019 fiscal year.
Many investors were not happy about this development and at an analyst call held in Lagos to discuss the results, the Group Managing Director/CEO of UBA, Mr Kennedy Uzoka, explained why the action was taken.
According to him, the fear of any unforeseen circumstances in the future was one of the reasons for the conservative dividend payout this year and the need to deliver better performance.
“Yes, we did not pay a dividend expected from us and this was deliberate because we are building for the future as no one knows what might happen,” he said (referencing the disruption caused to the business environment last year by COVID-19).
The respected banker informed the participants of the call, including Business Post, that, “We have done 73 years as one of the oldest and agile franchises on our continent.
“We have experience in running businesses not just in Nigeria but all over the continent and the world.
“We have seen different challenges and we have experienced many things, and as they say, experience is the best teacher. So we decided to take a conservative stance on dividend payout.”
“What this means is that we have decided to strengthen our capacity to weather any unforeseen development that will come out.
“We have done our stimulation to determine the kind of capacity we want to base on a crystal clear focus of our goals.
“We know exactly what we want to achieve in the current year and in the mid-term and we decided to make sure that we build the right capacity,” Mr Uzoka explained.
However, he expressed optimism that things would get better as the team was working tirelessly to deliver value to shareholders of the company.
“The future looks very promising because we are working very hard to remain a leading operator in Nigeria and on the continent,” he said.
According to him, last year, UBA had a guidance of 25 per cent in deposit growth but “we achieved 48.1 per cent and in 2021, we are looking at a growth of 50 per cent.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) has reiterated its commitment to prioritising shipping activities and promoting importers and exporters in the country.
The Executive Secretary of the Council, Mr Pius Akutah, in a statement on Wednesday, said this after a familiarisation visit to the North East Zonal Directorate in Bauchi State.
The visit marked a strategic step in assessing the activities of the council in the region and reinforcing its role in trade facilitation and port economic regulation.
“The purpose of the visit was to promote regional integration in shipping activities and support exportation.
“This aligns with the current administration’s goal of enhancing the nation’s resources through the blue economy.
“We have had interactive meeting with stakeholders aimed at advancing shipping activities in the region and the role of shippers’ association in representing the interests of importers and exporters.
“The NSC is committed to improving ease of doing business,” he said.
On the Inland Dry Ports project in Bauchi, an initiative by the state government, Mr Akutah said it was laudable as it would attract both import and export activities to the area.
By Adedapo Adesanya
UBN Property Plc further sank the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange in the red territory by 0.48 per cent on Wednesday, April 23.
The property investment company lost 7 Kobo of its share value to settle at N2.10 per unit compared with the preceding day’s price of N2.17 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation of the bourse went down by N9.19 billion to N1.908 trillion from N1.917 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) slumped by 105.70 points to 3,259.08 points from the previous session’s 3,274.78 points.
There was a 500.5 per cent rise in the volume of securities transacted in the midweek session to 1.05 million units from the 174,634 units traded in the previous trading day.
However, the value of transactions decreased by 9.1 per cent to N2.6 million from N2.86 million and the number of deals dropped by 31.3 per cent to 11 deals from 16 deals.
At the close of business, Impresit Bakolori Plc remained the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 153.6 million units sold for N4.9 billion, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 71.2 million units valued at N24.2 million.
Okitipupa Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 153.6 million valued at N4.9 billion, followed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with the sale of 14.8 million units for N572.0 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with a turnover of 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Between April and June 2025, the federal government intends to sell bonds between N900 billion and N1.2 trillion to investors.
This information was revealed by the Debt Management Office (DMO) in its Bond Issuance Calendar for Q2 2025
The sales will take place once in a month, precisely on April 28, May 26, and June 23, according to the data released by the DMO.
It was stated that the debt office will offer the debt instrument in two maturities, with N300 billion and N400 billion offered for sale at each auction.
In April and May, the DMO will reopen the 19.30 per cent FGN APR 2029 and 19.89 per cent FGN MAY 2033 bonds, and in June, it will introduce the FGN JAN 2030 and FGN JAN 2032 and five and seven-year, respectively.
In April, the APR 2029 bond will have a remaining tenor of four years, while the MAY 2033 bond will have six years and one month left.
By May, those terms shorten to three years and eleven months, and six years, respectively. Both bonds retain their original coupon rates of 19.30 per cent and 19.89 per cent.
The DMO has also released details for its April auction. The Federal Government plans to raise N350bn through the reopening of the APR 2029 and MAY 2033 bonds.
According to the circular, N200bn will be offered in the APR 2029 and N150bn in the MAY 2033. The auction will be held on Monday, April 28, with settlement on Wednesday, April 30.
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