Economy
Wema Bank to Pay Biggest Dividend Payout as FY 2022 Earnings Jump 42%
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The board of Wema Bank Plc has sustained the culture of dividend payout to shareholders since the resumption of cash rewards a few years ago.
Recall that for many years, the banking firm did not pay dividends to investors, but after the management team normalised things, and paid the first dividend in 14 years in 2019 for the 2018 financial year.
For the 2022 fiscal year, the company has proposed to pay a cash reward of 30 Kobo after it delivered a stellar performance as it continues its evolution into an unrivalled market leader and efficient bank.
Business Post reports that if approved by the shareholders at its forthcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM), it would be the biggest dividend payout the innovative bank is paying to date.
A look at the lender’s financial performance last year showed that gross earnings improved by 42.3 per cent to N131.08 billion from the N92.14 per cent posted in 2021.
The results, which showed positive fundamentals across the board, revealed a growth of 44.7 per cent year-on-year in interest income to N106.07 billion from N73.30 billion, as non-interest income shot up by 32.8 per cent to N25.01 billion from N18.83 billion.
Similarly, the bank’s profit before tax grew to an all-time high of N14.74 billion from N12.38 billion, while customer deposits went up by 26 per cent to N1.166 trillion from N927.47 billion in 2021, with the loans and advances growing by 24 per cent to N521.43 billion from N418.86 billion.
The impressive results showed that total assets hit N1.434 trillion as against N1.165 trillion, a growth of 23 per cent, as shareholders’ funds moved up by 17 per cent to N82.62 billion from N70.36 billion.
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Wema Bank, Mr Moruf Oseni, while commenting on the results, said, “Our 2022 results show the result of the careful execution of our medium-term strategy as we have deliberately focused on deepening on offerings to the corporate, commercial and retail segments of the market using our digital channels while ensuring best-in-class customer experience platforms to deliver improvements across all customer touch points. We expect the bottom line to improve even further in 2023.”
Also speaking, the Chief Finance Officer, Mr Tunde Mabawonku, explained that the bank’s continuous investment in the digital space had positioned it as one of the leaders in providing digital banking services to individuals and corporates across the country.
“It has been a good full-year performance for Wema Bank with gross earnings growing by 42.3 per cent year on year and earnings by share at 87 Kobo,” Mr Mabawonku said, adding that, “We have also succeeded in making Wema Bank an integral part of the fintech ecosystem in the country with our ubiquitous fintech infrastructure support play,”
By Adedapo Adesanya
Dangote Petroleum Refinery is preparing to raise about $5 billion through an initial public offering (IPO) expected to conclude in October, in what could become the largest stock market listing in Africa’s history.
The company has already submitted an initial application to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), with approval expected in the coming weeks. Once authorised, the refinery is expected to release its prospectus in September ahead of the public offer.
The primary listing will be on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, although investors across Africa are expected to participate through structured investment instruments rather than a dual listing.
The proceeds will be used to expand the capacity of the 700,000-barrels-per-day refinery in Lagos and possibly support plans to replicate the project in Kenya as Dangote seeks to deepen Africa’s energy independence.
The proposed IPO comes after the refinery benefited from increased demand for refined products during the recent Iran conflict, supplying jet fuel across Africa and into Western Europe as global shortages disrupted markets.
As per Reuters, stock exchanges in South Africa, Kenya, Egypt, Ghana and Rwanda have held discussions with advisers to the transaction as interest in the offering continues to build across the continent.
Kenya alone could account for as much as $500 million of the targeted capital raise, driven largely by demand from institutional investors, including pension funds, the publication reported.
While the company is targeting a $5 billion raise, the final amount will depend on the outcome of the SEC’s review. If achieved, the offering would represent more than four per cent of the Nigerian Exchange’s current market capitalisation.
The IPO follows a $2.5 billion private placement completed last month, in which a six per cent stake in the refinery was sold, implying a valuation of about $40 billion.
That valuation, however, would place the refinery well above several listed global refining companies. Turkey’s Tupras, which operates a similar combined refining capacity across four facilities, has a market value of roughly $12 billion, while US-listed HF Sinclair, with a comparable processing capacity, is valued at around $16 billion.
Although the NGX generally requires companies on its main board to maintain a minimum free float of 20 per cent, there have been exceptions. Dangote Cement, for instance, currently has a free float of just over 12 per cent.
The publication also reported that investors outside Nigeria are likely to gain exposure through instruments such as global depositary receipts or exchange-traded products linked to the Nigerian-listed shares, rather than through a cross-listing on other African exchanges.
The founder of the 700,000-barrels-per-day capacity plant, Mr Aliko Dangote, said in April that the refinery aims to increase production capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day.
Mr Dangote is also pursuing plans to build another refinery in Lamu along Kenya’s coast in partnership with other East African governments, although it remains unclear whether part of the IPO proceeds will be allocated to that project valued at an estimated $17 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rallied by 0.89 per cent on Tuesday, August 4 amid renewed buying interest in unlisted stocks.
During the session, the market capitalisation added N24.07 billion to end at N2.739 trillion compared with Tuesday’s N2.715 trillion, while the NASD Security Index (NSI) gained 40.11 points to quote at 4,563.96 points compared with the preceding day’s 4,523.85 points.
The NASD OTC Exchange ended the trading session with two price losers and three gainers, led by Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which chalked up N7.80 to close at N119.80 per unit versus the previous session’s N112.00 per unit. Afriland Properties Plc increased its value by N1.27 to N23.95 per share from N22.68 per share, and Nitrox Industrial Gases Plc expanded by N1.15 to N21.15 per unit from N20.00 per unit.
On the flip side, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc slid by N8.64 to sell at N144.00 per share compared with the previous day’s N152.64 per share, and 11 Plc dipped by 1 Kobo to end at N225.00 per unit, in contrast to Monday’s closing price of N225.01 per unit.
Tuesday’s trading data showed that the volume of securities rose by 9.0 per cent to 1.6 million units from 1.5 million units, and the number of deals climbed by 6.5 per cent to 33 deals from 31 deals, while the value of securities dropped by 26.9 per cent to N47.6 million from N65.2 million.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 76.9 million units exchanged for N5.5 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date with 3.4 billion units transacted for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
A 0.38 per cent loss was suffered by Nigerian stocks on Tuesday on the back of continued selling pressure from investors embarking on profit-taking.
Data from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited showed that the contraction was influenced by the 1.78 per cent decline recorded by the insurance sector, the 0.24 per cent slip printed by the consumer goods index, and the 0.09 per cent drop posted by the energy space, offsetting the 0.75 per cent growth achieved by the banking sector and the 0.21 per cent growth recorded by the industrial goods segment.
Investor sentiment was weak during the trading day, as the bourse ended with 13 price gainers and 40 price losers, representing a negative market breadth index.
LivingTrust Mortgage depreciated by 10.00 per cent to N3.42, Multiverse also shed 10.00 per cent to N22.95, McNichols dropped 9.92 per cent to N5.45, Thomas Wyatt dipped by 9.87 per cent to N3.56, and Eterna lost 8.57 per cent to trade at N33.00.
On the flip side, AVA Capital improved by 9.94 per cent to N9.95, Livestock Feeds expanded by 9.71 per cent to N8.65, Neimeth increased by 8.43 per cent to N9.00, AIICO gained 3.47 per cent to settle at N4.18, and Oando grew by 3.30 per cent to N36.00.
A total of 1.6 billion equities valued at N28.7 billion exchanged hands in 54,160 deals yesterday versus the 923.0 million equities worth N37.9 billion traded in 72,544 deals on Monday, indicating a 73.35 per cent surge in the trading volume, a 24.27 per cent decline in the trading value, and a 25.34 per cent slip in the number of deals.
The busiest stock was Japaul, which transacted 904.4 million units for N2.7 billion. Sterling Holdings sold 54.0 million units valued at N431.9 million, FCMB exchanged 49.5 million units worth N545.9 million, Chams traded 44.9 million units for N199.2 million, and Neimeth sold 42.4 million units worth N327.8 million.
Business Post reports that the All-Share Index (ASI) gave up 927.70 points to 244,802.83 points from 245,730.53 points, and the market capitalisation receded by N599 billion to N158.016 trillion from N158.615 trillion.
