Stories by Chinenye Anuforo
trading on Lagos floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) yesterday closed in the red as market capitalisation of traded equities depreciated further by N55 billion.
This was as the NSE All Share Index dropped by 156.66 basis points to close at 28,046.96 from 28,205.62 points it opened the day’s trading.
The performance of the benchmark index was dragged by profit taking in Zenith Bank, Nigerian Breweries, ETI and FBNH. Similarly, market activity weakened as volume and value of traded equities declined 44.6 per cent and 53.5 per cent to close at 270.72 million shares worth N2.2 billion, exchanged in 4, 609 deals.
The watered performance of the ASI was further highlighted in the bearish performance across sectors. The Insurance and Banking indices depreciated 1.5 per cent and 1.4 per cent as investors took profit in Mansard, AIICO, Zenith , ETI and Access.
After the trading session, 35 stocks appeared on the price movement table with eight gaining price advantage as against 27 decliners. MRS, Pharma Deko and Law Union led the gainers while Skye Bank, Berger Cutix and FCMB led the losers.
An analyst with Afrinvest believes that the upward review of the benchmark rate by the MPC coupled with the current attractive yields in the money market will dampen interest in equities in the short term as they expect investors may redirect funds to the money market.
Union Bank’s half year profit hits N8.3bn
Union Bank of Nigeria Plc has reported a half year (H1) profit before tax of N8.3 billion for the period end June 30, 2016. The result was an increase of 23 per cent over N6.3 billion. The result was recorded in the same period in 2015. The unaudited results made available at the stock market Wednesday showed that the group recorded gross earnings of N58.2 billion, showing an increase of nine per cent above the N53.7 billion in the corresponding period of 2015.
The financial institution ended the period with interest income that rose 3 per cent to N43.3 billion compared to 41.9 billion in H1 2015). Improved asset yields of 16.1 per cent in H1 2016 from 14.6 per cent in H1 2015.
The profit after tax rose N8.4 billion in 2016, compared to N7.0 billion in 2015 while customers’ deposits rose by six per cent to N604.5 billion from N569.1 billion in December 31, 2015.
Commenting on the bank’s half year results, Emeka Emuwa, Chief Executive Officer said:
“Our sustained focus on executing Union Bank’s strategic transformation objectives during the first half of 2016 has delivered growth in our core business, notwithstanding a difficult economic environment.
The bank recorded 9 per cent year-on-year growth in core gross earnings, driven primarily by balance sheet optimisation. With the combination of an improved retail portfolio of product and service offerings, securities trading and efficient cost management, the Bank was able to deliver N8.2 billion in core PBT, up 23 per cent when compared to N6.7 billion in the same period in 2015.”
Chief Financial Officer, Oyinkan Adewale said: “We are pleased that our focus on building the business fundamentals is yielding significant value across the bank. With increasing consumer confidence in our products and services, we have increased our low cost deposits, making us less reliant on more expensive alternative funding sources.
This has led to a 20 per cent reduction in cost of funds year-on-year. We are also seeing impact on non-interest revenue, which grew during the period.”
Excluding one-time gains on sale of subsidiaries, non-interest revenue is up by 27 per cent to ₦14.9bn in H1 2016 compared to H1 201.”