CAPITAL MARKET
Airtel Africa Joins FTSE100 January 31
The London Stock Exchange has announced that Airtel Africa plc will be joining the FTSE100 on Monday 31 January 2022. Through its mobile telecoms and mobile money services, Airtel Africa plc is transforming lives of over 122 million people across the 14 African markets in which it operates. The Group floated on the London Stock Exchange in June 2019, and has since demonstrated significant growth in its customer base, revenues, profits, margins, and cash generation, as well as strengthening its balance sheet through reduced leverage. This has been increasingly recognised by the market. This Day
Dangote cement, 17 stocks lead NGX N280 billion loss
Transactions on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) closed on a downward note yesterday, occasioned by losses in shares of Dangote cement and 17 companies, causing market capitalisation to decline by N280 billion. At the close of trading yesterday, the All-Share Index declined by 520.76 per cent, representing a decrease of 1.12 per cent, to close at 46,009.23 points. Similarly, the overall market capitalisation value lost N280 billion to close at N24.793 trillion. Guardian
BANKING
FCMB earns N208.5bn revenue as profit rises to N24bn
FCMB Plc sustained its impressive performance last year by earning N208.5 billion in gross revenue for the year ended December 31, 2021, against N199.4 billion in 2020. This represents an increase of 4.6 per cent, with profit before tax rising by 9.2 per cent to N24 billion compared to N22 billion in the previous year. As a result, profit margin, which measures how much revenue has turned to profit, stood at 10 per cent. These figures are contained in the unaudited results of FCMB Group for last year released recently. The Sun
Currency outside banks hits all-time high of N2.9 trillion
Currency outside banks (COB) reached an all-time high ((ATH) of N2.95 trillion in December, money and credit data released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has revealed. Last year, the size of COB rose by 18 per cent, from N2.5 trillion recorded in December 2020. From the end of 2019 to December 2020, currency outside banks increased by a similar magnitude, from N2 trillion to N2.5 trillion, translating to 23 per cent expansion in the fund. Similarly, the money supply increased 13.8 per cent year-on-year (YoY), from N38.6 trillion recorded in December 2020 to approximately N44 trillion in December 2021. The growth in money supply last year was far higher than that of 2020 when it increased by a modest four per cent. Guardian
ECONOMY
FG unveils NIPOST’s debit card, banking platform, courier vehicles
The Federal Government has inaugurated the Nigerian Postal Service debit card, an agency banking platform, and 27 courier service vehicles. The inauguration was made by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami, on Thursday in Abuja. The Nigerian Postal Service debit card and the agency banking platform will deepen financial inclusion and boost Nigeria’s digital economy, while the 27 courier service vehicles will make NIPOST and its partner, Speedaf Express, to compete favourably in the industry, according to the minister. Punch
NNPC to deduct N127bn from FAAC, plans $5bn AfrieximBank loan
The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari, on Thursday announced that the NNPC was working with AfrieximBank to raise $5bn financing for the oil firm. Kyari announcement came as the national oil firm told the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee that it would deduct N127bn from FAAC allocation in February 2022 being fund spent on petrol subsidy. Punch
No dollar spent on cement import in seven years —Emefiele
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Godwin Emefiele, has said Nigeria has not spent dollars to import cement in the last seven years. A statement from the CBN said he spoke at the inauguration of the new BUA cement plant in Sokoto, which was performed by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) in Sokoto, on Thursday. “No dollar had been spent on the importation of cement into Nigeria in the past seven years,” Emefiele said.
The CBN governor pledged the bank’s support for the manufacturing sector in Nigeria and pushed for a reduction in the prices of building materials in the country in order to make housing more affordable. Punch
