CAPITAL MARKET
Despite Economy Challenges, Dangote Cement, MTN, 7 Others Record N1.29trn Profit in 9 Months
Amid macro economy challenges, orchestrated by COVID-19 pandemic, among others, nine most capitalised stocks on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) reported 22 per cent increase in profit before tax to N1.29 trillion in nine months ended September 30, 2021 from N1.06 trillion reported in nine months of 2020. The nine highly capitalized companies on NGX are Dangote Cement, MTN Nigeria Plc, BUA Cement Plc, and Nestle Nigeria Plc. Others are Guaranty Trust Holdings Company Plc (GTCO), Zenith Bank Plc, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, NB Plc, Lafarge Africa Plc. This Day
Wema Bank: Impressive Performance Rekindles Robust Dividend to Shareholders
Wema Bank Plc reported stronger profits in its nine months ended September 30, 2021 to position the lender’s dividend payout sustainability to shareholders. After 14 years of non-payment of dividend, the lender in 2018 financial year declared dividend of N0.03 amid its capital restructuring exercise. Following its consistent impressive performance, the lender in 2019 and 2020 financial year also declared dividend of N0.04 respectively, to underline the management determination to reward shareholders who invested in the bank’s shares. The nine months ended September 30, 2021 result and accounts is a continuation of the 2020 full year impressive performance that saw the bank paying dividend to its shareholders for the third year consecutively. This Day
BANKING
Banks begin deduction of loans from chronic debtors’ accounts
The Deposit Money Banks are recovering debts owed by chronic debtors from their accounts in other banks to curb the growth of non-performing loans in the industry, findings have revealed. Figures obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria and the National Bureau of Statistics showed that the NPLs in the banks recorded a slight decline from N1.2tn at the end of second quarter of 2020 to N1.1tn at the end of July 2021. This is despite an increase in the gross loans in the industry in the period. The CBN said the measures it introduced such as the Global Standing Instruction to reduce banking sector risks was helping to reduce the NPLs in the sector. Punch
Fraud still a menace in banking sector –Hassan, NDIC boss
Bello Hassan, FCA, is the managing director/chief executive of the Nigeria Depodit Insurance Corporation (NDIC). In this interview on the sidelines of the Annual Business Editors and FICAN Seminar, in Gombe, he clarified some issues bordering on limits on insured deposits, stressing that Nigeria’s standard remains about the world’s best because of its coverage (about 97 per cent) and the robust dimension of its implementation. The NDIC boss also touched several other issues in the operations of the corporation, highlighting reasons for the proposed amendment to the NDIC Act. The Sun
ECONOMY
CBN unveils framework to empower 100 companies
The Central Bank of Nigeria has commenced the 100 for 100 Policy on Production and Productivity with the unveiling of an operational framework to guide interested companies in participating in the initiative. The framework which was released on Sunday revealed the conditions interested companies must meet to qualify for the programme. “This is the operational framework for a robust and transparent process for identifying and selecting high-impact companies and projects under the CBN’s 100 for 100 PPP. “These are projects that must catalyze sustainable employment-led economic growth through increased domestic production and productivity in the near term,” the framework read in part. Punch
‘Public debt expansion rate outweighing revenue mobilization capacity’
Stakeholders in the financial sector of the economy have expressed concerns that Nigeria’s public debt in the last five years had increased at an average of 21.02 per cent while the economic growth figure averaged 0.15 per cent. One of such stakeholders, the Fiscal Policy Partner and Africa Tax Leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Taiwo Oyedele, who is also the guest speaker with a paper titled “Nigeria’s Rising Debt Profile: Issues and Implications for Sustainable Economic Development” at the 2021 Fellowship Investiture programme of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), held in Lagos, said revenue, on the other hand, expanded by an average of 5.19 per cent. Guardian
