₦airaland Forum

Transcorp Committed To Transforming Nigeria’s Power Sector- Elumelu


Tony Elumelu, chairman of the Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (Transcorp) says the group is committed, more than ever before, to transforming the country’s power sector.
Addressing shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting in Lagos on Monday, April 30, 2018, Elumelu said the board and management of Transcorp is working towards continually touching lives and improving the wellbeing of Nigerians.

In line with this resolve, he said, Transcorp will sustain development of its oil and gas assets, while optimizing the huge gas deposit in OPL 281, by constructing a 40 km gas pipeline for dedicated gas supply to Transcorp’s plant at Ughelli, Delta State.
This, he noted, is part of the energy value-chain optimization strategy of Transcorp, which was directed at creating the leading infrastructure player in Nigeria, playing the dominant role in bridging Nigeria’s infrastructure and power deficits.

In summary, according to Elumelu, the corporate ambition of Transcorp “is nothing less than the transformation of Nigeria’s power sector, which in turn is the critical enabler of Nigeria’s broader economic transformation.”
Meanwhile, shareholders commended the board and management of Transcorp for the impressive contribution to transforming the nation’s power sector, through its subsidiary, Transcorp Power.

Acknowledging the company’s efforts and contribution to the nation’s power sector development, the shareholders applauded the generation plant capacity from 160 megawatts, when it was acquired in 2013, to 701MW by November 2017. This surpassed the demand performance target of 670MW by August 2018, set by the Bureau for Public Enterprises in 2013.

The group’s President/CEO, Adim Jibunoh, while thanking the shareholders for their continued support, noted that beyond the company’s power sector strategy, Transcorp is aggressively pursuing the conclusion of its $100m upgrade of the Transcorp Hilton Abuja hotel, with a target of July 2018 for completion, while plans have been concluded for the development of Transcorp Hilton hotels in Lagos and Port Harcourt.

Photo Caption: Chairman of Transcorp, Tony Elumelu (2nd right); President/CEO, Adim Jibunoh (3rd right); Company Secretary, Mrs Helen Iwuchukwu (1st right); Directors – Dr Stanley Lawson and Emmanuel Nnorom, at the company’s 12th AGM in Lagos on Monday, April 30, 2018.

https://investdata.com.ng/2018/05/transcorp-committed-transforming-nigerias-power-sector-elumelu/

Election Concerns Hinder NSE Indicators In April, As Investors Hope For Quick 2018 Budget Passage


Trading for the month of April, the first in second quarter of 2018 ended on Monday, with the composite All-Share index continuing its third consecutive month of decline after recording 17.9% return on investment in January, the highest in 15 years which demystified the market’s January effect.
The January rise followed high investor expectations of positive 2017 full year earnings season, boosted by the optimism that greeted Nigeria’s exit from a painful recession and the improving macro-economic indicators in the domestic and global economy. These were supported by rising commodity prices, improving nation reserves, relative stable exchange rate sustained by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) interventions and a declining inflation rate.

In our opinion, the three months of decline recorded by the NSE between February and April is beyond profit taking, given that the strong market fundamentals and upbeat economic data failed to support a much-expected healthy stock price recovery. This therefore gives credence to the fact that investors are concerned about the political risk associated with the coming 2019 general elections, which is linked to the decision by investors and traders (mostly foreign) to stay on the fence. The decision has resulted also in the oscillating mood and sideways trending of the market in search of direction. The weak response to earnings surprises as at released dates, is evident of low liquidity in the market, especially that at April-end, Nigeria’s 2018 budget is still facing so much uncertainty, leaving the economy to run entirely on monetary stimulus.

Meanwhile, in the 20 trading sessions of April, the composite NSE index oscillated to close lower after recording 11 trading days of down market and nine sessions for up market for the period. The composite index NSEASI for the month of April shed 235.95 points to close at 41,268.56 from an opening figure of 41,504.51, representing 0.57% decline over the period.

The buying volume of total transactions for the month was 75%, while selling position was 25% to continue the previous months down market as volume index for the period was 1.17. Market capitalisation for the month lost N4.2bn to close marginally lower at N14.9tr, from an opening value of N14.99tr, representing 0.02% depreciation in value, with the market having a mixed sentiment in expectations of Q1 scorecards that eventually beat investors and analyst’s estimates. The month’s traded volume was down by 12.71% at 8.24bn shares from 9.44bn in the previous month.

The NSE All-Share index’s year-to-date returns position stood at 7.91%, just as market capitalisation adjusted up to N1.34bn, representing 9.84% gain YTD from the opening value.
Market breadth for April was negative as decliners outpaced advancers in the ratio of 57:31 to continue the bear transition, despite the fact that over 68% of quoted companies with December year-end released their first quarter earnings reports to the market. The earnings reports were nonetheless mixed, but mostly surpassed market expectations especially the banking and oil sectors, which helped the industries, including the financial service providers and others to emerge on the best performing stocks chart for April.

The sectoral performance chart below shows that Oil/Gas sector propelled the market the most in the period under review, gaining 4.92%, compared to the loss by the benchmark NSE All Share Index. It was followed by the NSE Consumers Goods, which rose by 2.74% to reflect improvement in the manufacturing sector and purchasing power of Nigerians; ahead of followed by the NSE Pension index, which moved 1.20% up.
This was attributed to higher dividend payment by the blue-chip companies- mostly banking, consumer and industrial stocks, amidst their low Price-To-Earnings attraction in the sector. Other indexes that closed green during the month were: NSE 30 Index and NSE Premium. On the flip side, the NSE Industrial goods led by 5.21%; followed by NSE Insurance, 3.57%; and NSE Banking 0.16%.



The month’s best performer was Oando, which is finding its true market value following the recently lifted technical suspension, its improved 2017 full-year and first quarter 2018 earnings reports, despite the non-declaration of dividend in the full year. Oando closed the month better by a significant 52.75% of its opening price; followed by Learn Africa, which chalked 39.18%; while Ecobank Transnational Incorporated grabbed 22.94%; and AIICO Insurance, 16.13%.
High and medium cap stocks dominated the top gainers for the month included: Nestle, 15.87%; Seplat, 15.02%; and Prestige Assurance, 13.33%; among others.


The top losers were led by Mutual Benefit Assurance, which lost 29.41%, linked to market forces and the new price policy, UACN Property shed 21.90%; Japual Oil declined by 18.64%; Unity Bank 18.03%; and Dangote Flour, 16.61% on the back of weak payout in 2017 full-year and flat first quarter numbers.



Where To Invest And Expectations For May, June
The global economy and market remain strong as the World Bank recently upgraded the world economic growth outlook despite mounting concern by the investing public about political risks and fear of a trade war which can easily destroy investments due to dwindling confidence.
Back home, the seeming economic recovery will continue in the new month as we expect more encouraging economic data and the eventual passage of the much awaited 2018 budget into law, after which investors expect implementation to complement the CBN’s effort at boosting productivity that will create employment and sustain recovery. Reasons for this are not far-fetched, given the relative peace and security that have since returned to the nation’s troubled Niger Delta region, resulting in oil production stability, all of which would impact the nation’s revenue positively in the coming months.

In May, we expect the release of April consumer price index (CPI) by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), with inflation dropping further; just as the CBN’s Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) improved slightly in April to 56.9%, indicating an expansion in the manufacturing sector for the 13th consecutive month, even while that of NOIPoll and the FBNQuest saw a marked fall from 59.4 to 51.0 in April (the first time both reports would reveal a divergence. The nation’s GDP is also expected this month and would confirm the true state of the economy.
As the Q1 earnings reporting season officially comes to close just as the month of April, company fundamentals have come out relatively stronger, leading to more positive numbers to kick start the 2018 financial year, while providing a guide for investors to know where to seek returns depending on their investment horizon, especially as the 2019 elections draws nearer with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) scheduling political parties primaries for between August and October.

Traders and investors who understand the importance of combining fundaments and technical analysis in making investment decisions in the stock market should take this opportunity to position in some sectors for medium and short-term gains, especially the banking, Industrial, agribusiness and consumer goods after a carefully study of recent numbers made available to the market.

What to expect in May and June
• Release of few quarterly and full year earnings. Earnings from blue-chip companies may strengthen market fundamentals, if positive.
• Continuation of oscillating trend of equity prices as a result of repositioning of portfolio along the line of positive numbers and profit
taking. Also due to fear of the coming elections, the second half of this year will be dominated by weaker sentiment.
• Market outlook for May is always dicey, in line with popular saying that traders always “sell in May and come back in October,” which
necessarily depresses the market in May. In the Nigerian market, however, this theory has been defiled four time over the past six years
when the market was up, contrary to the expected down market for the period. But with the better Q1 numbers than expected; the 2018
budget that would likely be approved by the National Assembly this month; the CBN’s readiness to sustain its intervention in the FX
market; and with the nation’s external reserve still robust, there is a likelihood of improvement in liquidity; and business activity ahead of
second half of the year.
• The sustained low valuation in the market may trigger high demand for stocks as electioneering campaign activities kick-off very soon.
However, there is need to invest wisely, using bids, offers and volume when taking decisions as a trader.
• Managing risk and protecting capital at this point is very important, so you will be able to determine when to buy or sell, by watching the
stocks and the market, using technical analysis. Look for investdata daily sentiment timing report
• Let numbers released by the companies guide your decision and time to stay in that position.
• Full-year earnings reports of March year-end companies will start hitting the market this month until June.

As the market phase is changing, it is time to combine fundamentals and technical tools to take decision by knowing the support and resistant levels to reposition or exit any position. You must know the cycle it, or particular stocks therein are to successfully manage your trading and investment risk. For stocks that should be on your shopping list to buy in these seasonal changes as the year unfolds, sign up to INVESTDATA BUY AND SELL signal setup by calling 08032055467.

Get your home study pack of the INVEST 2018 Traders & Investors Summit and ride with the current recovery on Nigeria’s stock market and economy, thereby ensuring that you invest and trade with knowledge. You can also access stocks analysed in the home study pack of the Chart Summit held on February 24, 2018, including the 15 stock-picks for 2018 are available now to guide your positioning as trading for the year.
Comprehensive training materials on stock Trading and Investing for Financial Independence series are Available, you can play and watch on your mobile phone, laptop, desktop and TV set. Kindly call or send yes to 08032055467, 08028164086 or 08111811223.

Ambrose Omordion
CRO|Investdata Consulting Ltd
info@investdataonline.com
info@investdata.com.ng
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ambroseconsultants@yahoo.com
Tel: 08028164085, 08032055467
https://investdata.com.ng/2018/05/election-concerns-hinder-nse-indicators-april-investors-hope-2018-budget-passage/

Nigeria’s Fidelity Bank Plans Bond Issuance To Boost Lending


Helped by the favourable domestic bond market conditions and sliding inflation that may encourage an eventual cut in Monetary Policy Rate by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Fidelity Bank is considering issuing domestic bond to raise funds to boost lending.
The recourse to the domestic bond market is coming at a time Nigeria’s Federal Government is shifting towards borrowing overseas to cut yields at home, according to Reuters.

Reuters quoted Fidelity Bank’s Chief Operations and Information Officer, Gbolahan Joshua, as saying the mid-tier lender could look to the local funding market this year after it raised a $400m Eurobond in October to refinance existing debt and boost lending.
Joshua said the bank would target the consumer goods sector, manufacturing and retailers, aiming to boost total loans this year by between 7.5 and 10%, up from 7% growth last year.

He said the bank increased provisions against indebted telecoms firm 9mobile, placing it on a watchlist, after raising provisioning on its N17.3bn loan to the company to 50%.
In October it said it had taken only a 5% impairment charge against 9mobile.
Formerly Etisalat Nigeria, 9mobile obtained a $1.2bn syndicated loan from Fidelity and 12 other local banks in 2013 but failed to make repayments last year. It is now up for sale.

Joshua said Fidelity expected 9mobile’s sale to new investors to be concluded by the second half of the year, by which time the exact loss on the loan would be known.
“By H1 2018, the 9mobile sale may have been completed and there would be clarity for all lenders. We’ve made 50 percent (provision) on the exposure to 9mobile, we don’t expect that by the time the sale would be concluded we would see another classification,” he told an analysts’ call.

Joshua said that if the bank took a 100 percent provision on loans to 9mobile it would amount to less than 40 percent of its 2017 annual profits and it would be able to generate sufficient earnings to continue its business.
Fidelity Bank reported an 84% jump in pretax profit for 2017 to N20.3bn, driven by higher interest rates on loans, and it paid out 17 percent of its income as dividend.

Joshua said the mid-tier lender decided to maintain a conservative payout ratio after the regulator introduced a stricter accounting standard which affects capital ratios.
Fidelity ended 2017 with a capital ratio of 16%, Joshua said, noting that the bank aimed to compete with local rivals that have international subsidiaries and require higher capital ratios. But he added that Fidelity had no plans to expand outside Nigeria.

https://investdata.com.ng/2018/05/nigerias-fidelity-bank-plans-bond-issuance-boost-lending/

Forte Oil To Sell Power, Upstream Arms, Exit Ghana Over Loss, Debts

Femi Otedola’s Forte Oil says it plans to sell its upstream services and power businesses in Nigeria and divest from Ghana to focus on its core fuel distribution operation at home.
The unit in Ghana has declared losses over the last three years and has uncollectible trade debts due to tough economic conditions and a currency devaluation in the cocoa-rich country.
Forte Oil said proceeds from the divestment would be used to expand its downstream fuel distribution business and to invest in storage infrastructure.

It said interest costs attributable to the businesses for sale stood at N2.2bn as of December and now plans to seek shareholder approval for the sale on May 23 and appoint advisers, it said in a notice to investors.
The move comes as a surprise about-turn for a company whose Chief Executive Akin Akinfemiwa told investors in Lagos in August that he wanted to aggressively pursue mergers and acquisition opportunities along the energy value chain and acquire marginal oilfields to boost its upstream business, according to Reuters.

The company had also been in talks with a major refinery to form a strategic partnership for local refining of petroleum products.
It did not give a reason for the change in direction but said the downstream sector in Nigeria had gone through changes in recent years and was expected to evolve further.
It added that the industry has operated under a tightly regulated fixed margin but could be deregulated especially given its impact on the Nigerian currency and import bill.

The government increased petrol prices by 67 percent to N145 in 2016 to cut subsidies paid for fuel imports after a plunge in oil prices hit state revenues, caused dollar shortages and halted infrastructure projects with firms laying off tens of thousands of workers.
Its 57% owned power unit, Amperion Power Distribution Company, has a lot of receivables due from the state-backed offtaker and its upstream unit has contributed less than 7% to group earnings over the past three years.

“The changing landscape also suggests backward integration would be essential to remain competitive within the sector, particularly in the face of impending deregulation,” it said in the notice.
Forte’s pretax profit nearly doubled in 2017 to 10.63 billion naira, though sales fell by 15% to N129.4bn, the company said in March.

https://investdata.com.ng/2018/05/forte-oil-sell-power-upstream-arms-exit-ghana-loss-debts/

Seplat Petroleum Reports Three-Digit Q1 Growth, Nets N6.287bn Profit


Shareholders of Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc can begin to hope for a superlative financial year, post-December 31, 2018 year-end, given the three-digit growth in revenue and profit at the end of the first quarter-ended March 31, 2018. The company reported Q1 profit from the previous N5.855bn loss, resulting to Earnings Per Share of N10.68, up from the previous N10.39 Loss Per Share.

Seplat reported total revenue of N55.236bn, up by 281.62% from N14.474bn, a breakdown of which showed that crude oil sales contributed a total N43.138bn, compared to the N9.214bn earned in the prior Q1; while gas sales fetched N12.098bn, up from N7.668bn. The company named the major off-taker for crude oil as Mercuria, while that for gas is the Nigerian Gas Marketing Company.

Cost of sales climbed to N26.833bn, representing a 211.14% rise over the N8.624bn reported in the corresponding period of 2017, comprising the handling fees of N4.567bn, up from just N168m; royalties, N9.758bn, as against N1.513bn; while depletion, depreciation and amortization cost N9.704bn, almost three-fold that of N3.474bn. Niger Delta Development Commission levy paid by Seplat Petroleum for the period rose to N519m, compared to N350m in the 2017Q1; just as rig related expenses dropped significantly to N8m, from N306m; just as operations and maintenance expenses was flat at N2.277bn, from N2.158bn; following which gross profit climbed to N28.403bn from N5.85bn.
Other income stood at N2.628bn, being what the management of Seplat Petroleum termed “c,” defined as revenue related “to shortfalls of the crude oil sold during the period below the participant’s ownership share of production.

“The amount is initially measured at the market price of oil at the date of lifting, consistent with the measurement of the sale and purchase. Subsequently, they are measured at the current market value,” with the change arising included as other income.
General and administrative expenses dropped 17.14% to N4.25bn from N5.129bn, the bulk of which was the employee benefits of N2.355bn, up from N1.787bn; followed by the N1.088bn in professional and consulting fees, up from N1.361bn. Gains on foreign exchange rose marginally to N572m from N529m. Fair value movements in contingent consideration rose to N1.73bn from N1.662bn.

Operating profit stood at N25.623bn, an improvement of 6,319.17% over the N412m recorded in the prior Q1. Finance income rose 582.81% from N63m to N437m, being interest income from bank deposits; while net finance costs climbed 53.57% from N5.257bn to N8.073bn, the lion’s share of which was the interest on bank loans of N7.35bn, compared to N5.25bn.

Profit before tax of Seplat Petroleum therefore stood at N17.987bn, up by 420.91% from the prior year’s N5.605bn loss; just as tax expenses soared by an equally significant 4,580% from N250m in 2017Q1 to N11.7bn.
This left the profit after tax of Seplat Petroleum at N6.287bn, 207.38% better than the N5.855bn reported in the preceding Q1.

https://investdata.com.ng/2018/05/seplat-petroleum-reports-three-digit-q1-growth-nets-profit/#more

Oando Leads April Gainers, As Industrial Stocks Drag Nigeria’s Index Down


Trading for the month of April on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) closed marginally red, as the composite All-Share index fell 0.57% to close the month of April at 41,268.01bps on Monday, after losses by blue-chip stocks led by Dangote Cement and Nigerian Breweries, as well as banking stocks, among. Market capitalization was slightly better, as it lost N44.45bn or 0.29%, reflecting the impact of new listings during the month.

The NSE industrial sector lost all of 5.21%; followed by its insurance peer’s 3.57%; while ASeM shed 3.04%; ahead of the 0.38% by the Lotus Islamic index; 0.26% by the NSE50; and 0.16% by the banking index.
These weakened the impact of the impressive 4.92% gain by the oil and gas index, led by integrated energy giant- Oando Plc’s 52.75% impressive recovery; as well as the 2.74% notch by the consumer goods index; or 1.2% rise in the pension index; or 0.1% by the NSE30.

Mutual Benefit Insurance suffered a 29.41% setback; followed UACN Property Development Company’s 21.9%. Japaul Oil Services and Unity Bank, two companies which were involved in the widely reported plans by U.S-based investment group- Milost Global to invest in some Nigerian firms, which also included Aso Savings and Loans until it was called off after with went sour. Share prices of Japaul and Unity Bank lost 18.64% and 18.03% respectively.

For the month of April also, Dangote Flour Mills’ share price fell 16.61%; ahead of the 16.05% loss by NPF Microfinance Bank; Wema Bank shed 15.15%, in apparent investors’ displeasure with the Q1 performance score-cards of these companies, among others. Livestock Feeds followed with a 14.44% loss; Jaiz Bank, 13.58%; Continental Insurance, 12.85%; Courtville Business Solution shed 12.5%; Equity Assurance lost 12.12%; Niger Insurance, 11.76%; and C&I Leasing, 11.63%.

Other stocks on the decliners side for the month were Total Nigeria, which shed 10.76%; Cadbury Nigeria, 8.61%; Transnational Corporation of Nigeria, 8.11%; Flour Mills, 7.51%; Lafarge Africa, 7.28%; Zenith Bank, 6.31%; Dangote Sugar Refinery, 5.96%; Double One, 5.92%; Eterna, 5.71%; Dangote Cement, 5.38%; Fidelity Bank, 4.85%; and Nascon Allied, 3.57%.

Following Oando on the gainers’ side for the month of April was book publishers- Learn Africa, which lost 39.18%; Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, 22.94%; AIICO, 16.13%; Nestle Nigeria chalked 15.87%; and Seplat Petroleum Development Company, 15.02%. Prestige Assurance closed 13.33% green, just as peer- UNIC Diversified, 11.11%; Northern Nigeria Flour Mills, 9.6%; Cement Company of Northern Nigeria, 9.36%; Lasaco Assurance closed 9.09% up; among others.

https://investdata.com.ng/2018/05/oando-leads-april-gainers-industrial-stocks-drag-nigerias-index/#more

Nestle Nigeria Q1 Profit Limps To N8.6bn


Directors of Nestle Nigeria Plc, on Monday presented its unaudited financials for the first quarter ended March 31, 2018, indicating that revenue from sales could only limp by 10%, which was way better than profit for the period, which crawled 3% up.
Turnover of Nestle Nigeria for the period rose to N67.463bn up by 10% from N61.151bn, while cost of sales increased by N4.037bn or 10.72% to N41.705bn, up from N37.668bn; leaving gross profit at N25.757bn, up from N23.483bn.

Marketing and distribution expenses increased from N8.047bn to N9.029bn; administrative expenses stood at N2.208bn from N2.225bn; while results from operating activities was a profit of N14.519bn, as against the N13.209bn in the first quarter of 2017.
Finance income dropped significantly by N2.319bn or 89.18% from N2.601bn to N281.299m; while finance costs dropped to N1.159bn from N1.528bn; as net finance cost for the period stood at N878.591m from an income of N1.072bn in 2017.

Profit before tax dropped to N13.64bn from N14.282bn; while net profit inched to N8.605bn from N8.358bn in 2017Q1; translating to Earnings Per Share of N10.86, up from N10.55 in the 2017Q1.

A segment analysis of the financials of Nestle Nigeria showed that the bulk of revenue was the N43.014bn, up from N40.253bn; while beverages segment fetched N24.449bn, as against the N20.897bn garnered in 2017Q1; while profit from food business stood at N10.346bn from N10.21bn; just as beverages revenue increased from N3.019bn to N4.177bn.

Further analysis showed that N66.348bn of the turnover by Nestle Nigeria for the period came from Nigeria, up from N60.759bn; while export revenue climbed to N1.115bn from N391.523m.

https://investdata.com.ng/2018/04/nestle-nigeria-q1-profit-limps-n8-6bn/#more

Corporate Actions In Nigeria As At April 27, 2018


https://investdata.com.ng/2018/04/corporate-actions-nigeria-april-27-2018/

How We Plan To Repay Our Debt, Improve Profit, By Oando Management


The management of Oando Plc, says it has developed strategies to return the group to profit, pay its debt, improve working capital and cash flows as part of ensure it is able to propose a dividend as soon as practicable and for the good of shareholders.
Such key strategic initiatives developed to return the group to the path of prosperity, profit and improve working capital and cash flows, were listed as: restructuring “the Reserve Based Loan and Corporate Loan Facilities at Oando Energy Resources.

It will therefore ensure that the loans become not only default free and fully comply with credit agreements, besides achieving “a tenor extension of up to two years, and reduce debt service requirements in the near term.”
The net effect of the initiative, Oando Plc management assured, “will be to reclassify up to N117 billions of current liabilities into long-term liabilities thus creating a substantial remedy to the negative working capital position.”

Implementation of this initiative, it recalled, started in 2016 and will be completed between April and June this year; in addition to the planned refinancing of approximately N9bn credit facility provided by one of its bilateral lenders.
Oando Plc says it would sell its stake in Oando Energy Resources, a move expected to raise up to N84bn this year also “in order to prepay debt across the Group.”

It will be complimented with the sale of 25% stake held by Oando Plc in Glover BV, expected to fetch up to N24bn over the next 18 months, proceeds of which will be used to make repayment of principal of debts across the group.
This is in addition to raising capital N18bn via private placement by December 2020.
All of these initiatives, Oando Plc added, “are expected to improve the profitability of the group through interest savings arising from repayment of borrowings.”

According to its audited financials for the year ended December 31, 2017, Oando Plc reported comprehensive losses of N30.6bn, up from N28.1bn in prior year; despite a net profit of N19bn during the period.
In a note to the account on the group’s going concern basis, the managed also noted the net liabilities of N10.5bn, compared to the net assets of N18.1bn in 2016; following which the group’s reported net current liabilities stood at N293.1bn, from net current liabilities of N263.8bn in prior year. These, it noted further, “indicate the existence of material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt on the company’s ability to continue as a going concern and, therefore, the company may be unable to realise its assets and discharge its liabilities in the normal course of business.”

Meanwhile, a statement by Ayotola Jagun, Company Secretary and chief compliance officer of Oando Plc, which followed the release of its 2017 full-year audited result by Oando Plc, quoted Wale Tinubu, its Group Chief Executive, as describing the 2017 full year as an important and positive milestone for the Company.”
Also important, Tinubu added, was “the continued strengthening of our business model through the effective implementation of our strategic initiatives of Growth through our dollar earning upstream portfolio; Deleverage through asset divestments and the expansion of our oil export trading business.

“Against this backdrop we experienced challenges; the most significant being the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) investigation into the Company which led to the technical suspension of free trading of our shares on the Nigerian and Johannesburg Stock Exchanges and the instituting of a forensic audit; we have and continue to provide full support to the SEC and are hopeful of a smooth and speedy conclusion. We have commenced 2018 buoyed by our unrelenting commitment to our strategy and remain confident in its success.”

Photo Caption: Oando Plc’s chairman and Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo, with Jubril Adewale Tinubu, Group Chief Executive of the company during the commission of the new head-office complex on Ozumba Mbadiwe Street, Lagos.

https://investdata.com.ng/2018/04/plan-repay-debt-improve-profit-oando-management/

Investors Crunch Earnings Reports, Reposition Ahead Of Economic Data


Trading for the last full week of April ended on Friday. During the four weeks, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) experienced a new trend of oscillation that reflected the changing strategies of traders and sentiments in the market amidst the influx of Q1 earnings reports. This was particularly true since the onset of the correction mode in February, as the indicators tried to form strong support levels by resisting further decline, especially as seen in the last few sessions of the month. Keen followers of the market’s trend would have noticed that the Nigerian equities’ market suffers loss this week and gains in the next one.

The composite NSE All-Share Index moved higher over the past week, reversing the previous week’s down market on a low traded volume and improved sentiment for impressive Q1 scorecards as more corporate earnings hit the market during the period under consideration after the market had side-trended, searching for direction.

Despite the mixed performance in the score-cards within the period under review, helped by the influx of quarterly corporate earnings and few audited results which had reflected the improving economic activities. There is also the impact of the monetary stimulus of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) that shows the economy is still on a strong recovery and growth path, a situation that many expect the coming Q1 GDP data to confirm.

The Q1 earnings reports have been so far positive and mixed in performance, with good margins and positive revenue surprises, which means that demand has remained in the upward direction, supporting company numbers. This is expected to drive prices on the long run, regardless of the continue price correction on the exchange, as earnings are already in growth direction waiting for GDP to confirm.
One positive side of the development is the expectation that the sustained rise in oil prices will drive activities and support Nigeria’s external reserve which equally will help support the relative stable exchange rate and the Naira.

With more numbers expected to roll in on the last trading days of April and usher in the new month on May on Tuesday, which is a public holiday as declared by the Federal Government. Market players are likely to reposition their portfolios. Already, investors and traders are interpretating and digesting of these reports will guide their investment decisions, realising the political risks associated with the 2019 general elections. The coming elections, the foretaste of which are the governorship elections in Osun and Ekiti States, is reason foreign investors are cutting short their outlook, despite the rise in the number of domestic players in the market.

It must be noted here that some of the earnings reports beat market expectations, while others came flat and even below forecast which made the week’s trading highly volatile, besides the high number of companies whose share prices were adjusted for dividend payment within the period, contributing to the up and down movement of the market despite the low volume traded but high buying pressure of 100% for the week.

Meanwhile, the All-Share Index gained 430 basis points to close the period at 41,244.89 from an opening figure of 40,814.89 points, representing a 1.05% growth on a low volume of trade, compared to the previous week’s level. The volume index of total transactions for the week was 0.65, buying pressure of 100%, while selling volume was 0% to reverse the previous week’s loss and moved above the psychological line of 41,000 mark. In the same vain, market capitalisation for the period gained N105.45bn to close at N14.94tr from an opening value of N14.74tr, representing a 1.34% gain which was boosted by listing of Flourmills right issue within the week.

Weekly Time Frame
The top performing stocks for the week (which dominated the advancers table) were low and high cap stocks as investors reacted to the released Q1 earnings reports in expectation of more results as the Q1 earnings reporting season officially comes to a close on Monday April 30, 2018. The numbers reported so far reveal stronger economic fundamentals despite the low liquidity in the equities’ market as a result of fear in the political environment as we move closer to end of first half. In the second half of the year, serious governance will be consigned to the background, as political parties and electioneering campaigns take centre stage, until the elections kicks-off in February 2019.

The value appreciation in Nestle Nigeria shares (which hit a new 52-week high), Forte Oil, International Breweries and others during the period further boosted the NSEASI’s year to date return to 7.85%, just as the gain in market captalistion stood at N1.5tr, representing a 9.51% growth from the year’s opening value.

Market breadth for the week was negative as the number of decliners outweighed advancers in the ratio of 33:41 on low volume of trades that were on a strong demand for stocks as the scorecards are being analyzed.
The index opened the week on a bearish note to extend the previous day’s loss position by 0.12%, which was however halted on Tuesday when it recovered 0.10%, a situation that was short-lived at the midweek with another pullback of 0.11%. This could not be sustained on Thursday as it reversed up again by 0.12%, which was extended on the last trading of the week recording a significant gain of 1.15%, bringing the week’s total gain to 1.05%.

Sectorial performance for the period were mixed and bullish as the NSE Industrial and Insurance sectors were down, whereas the NSE Consumer, Banking and Oil/Gas closed north, as gains by Nestle, International Brewery, Forte Oil, Seplat, ETI, and Zenith Bank impacted the sectors positively for the period.
Market activities in volume and value were down by 64.48% and 18.65% to 1.83bn shares worth N24.65bn, from previous week’s 3.01bn units valued at N30.3bn.

Forte Oil and Nestle were the best performing stocks for the week to top the advancers table with 20.69% and 13.53% gains respectively to close at N45.20 and N1,613 per share, on the back of positive market sentiments. The worst performing were Unity Bank and GSK that fell 21.26% and 20.79% to close at N0.55 and N172.00 respectively on profit taking and price adjustment for N7.50 dividend.

During the week also, the share prices of Dangote Flour, Lafarge Africa, GSK, AXA Mansard Insurance, Law Union, Caverton, May and Baker were adjusted for dividend recommended by their directors. Sterling Bank and Regency Insurance will be mark down on Monday.

Market Outlook
We expect a mixed performance for the week as investors digest the numbers to reposition their portfolios in the midst of low valuations, ahead of first quarter economic data and corporate earnings that is coming to an end, especially the Q1 GDP, Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) and April inflation to reveal the true state of the economy.
Meanwhile, dividend income players are taking position ahead of more economic data, even amidst the expected sustained volatility and repositioning.

However, we would like to reiterate that investors should not panic but go for equities with intrinsic value, especially during this season when dividend payment is approaching.
We advise investors to allow numbers guide their decisions while repositioning for the rest of the year’s trading activities, especially now that stock prices remain volatile amidst improving company, economic and market fundamentals.

It is time to combine fundamentals and technical tools to take decision by knowing the support and resistant level to reposition or exit any position. A stock market is in cycles. You must know the cycle it, or particular stocks therein are to successfully manage your trading and investment risk. For stocks that should be on your shopping list to buy in these seasonal changes as the year unfolds, sign up to INVESTDATA BUY AND SELL signal setup by calling 08032055467.

Get your home study pack of the INVEST 2018 Traders & Investors Summit and ride with the current recovery on Nigeria’s stock market and economy, thereby ensuring that you invest and trade with knowledge. You can also access stocks analysed in the home study pack of the INVEST 2018 traders and the investors’ summit held on February 24, 2018, including the 15 stock-picks for 2018 are available now to guide your positioning as trading for the year.

Comprehensive training materials on stock Trading and Investing for Financial Independence series are Available, you can play and watch on your mobile phone, laptop, desktop and TV set. Kindly call or send yes to 08032055467, 08028164086 or 08111811223.

Ambrose Omordion
CRO|Investdata Consulting Ltd
info@investdataonline.com
info@investdata.com.ng
ambrose.o@investdataonline.com
ambroseconsultants@yahoo.com
Tel: 08028164085, 08032055467
https://investdata.com.ng/2018/04/investors-crunch-earnings-reports-reposition-ahead-economic-data/

Photo News: ICAN Honours Adeosun, Others At Merit Award Night

Caption: Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun (left); Wife of the President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Mrs. Mairo Zakari and the ICAN President, Alhaji Isma’ila Muhammadu Zakari, during the Institute’s Merit Award Night in Lagos on Saturday, April 28, 2018.

https://investdata.com.ng/2018/04/photo-news-ican-honours-adeosun-orders-merit-award-night/

Oscillating Trend Amidst High Volatility, As Q1 Earnings Season Draws To Close


The oscillating trend in the midst of high volatility on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) continued on Thursday, reversing previous day’s down market on mixed sentiments as Q1 earnings season draws to a close. Even so, stock prices are losing momentum, despite the better-than-expected numbers released so far, and those of the 2017 December year-end reporting season.

This has remained, evidently, a source of worry for many discerning investors, especially as inflow to Nigeria’s equity market remain unstable to reflect the current weak liquidity in the economy. There is no doubt that cautious trading on the part of market players, particularly the foreign investors due to political risk associated with the 2019 general elections has kept the market in this mood as it awaits a breakdown of this level or a reversal.

Thursday’s trading started out with the benchmark All-Share index moving up, away from the lows, after opening weak in the morning, reaching intraday highs of 40,798.01 from lows of 40,727.26 and thereafter rebounding in the last trading minutes. It then closed above its opening figure at 40,777.67 on a low volume that is below the market traded average.

Despite the indication that Q1 GDP will be upbeat as we are already seeing plenty economic activities, which has translated to the Q1 corporate earnings pouring in and helped by the monetary stimulus of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Not only do we see positive and mixed performances, especially against the backdrop of record margins and positive revenue surprises by some listed companies, which means demand has remained in the upward direction. This has supported company numbers that will drive prices on the long run regardless of the continued price correction on the exchange, as earnings continue growing waiting for GDP to confirm the development.

Market technicals on Thursday were positive and mixed as volume traded was low amidst an increasing sell pressure and negative market breadth. The selling position was 64%, while buying volume was 36% on a volume index of 0.91 of the day’s total transaction. The reversal for the day was driven by demand in highly capitalized equities as money flow index continues to weaken at 40.99 points, compared to previous day’s 42.26 points, this is an indication that funds are still leaving the market, despite the seeming rally.

Index and Market Cap
The NSE All Share Index gained marginal 21.94 points to close at 40.777.67 basis points after opening at 40,755.73bps, representing a 0.12% growth on a low volume that was higher than the previous day’s. Similarly, market capitalisation was up by N49.5bn, closing at N14.77tr from an opening value of N14.72tr, also representing a 0.36% value gain.

The upturn recorded was due to price appreciation in Okomu Oil, Nigerian Breweries, Oando, Unilever, Flourmills and May & Baker which impacted positively on the NSE’s Year-to-Date returns, to rise at 6.69%. Market capitalisation gains for the period stood at N1.14tr, representing 8.42% above the year’s opening value.

Bearish Sector Performance
The sectorial performance for the day was bearish except for the NSE Consumer goods that closed green as a result of gains in Unilever, NB and Flourmills, while others declined due to continued sell-offs in Lafarge Africa (due to its sustained bad numbers), 11 Plc, UBA (which presented flat Q1 numbers) and Continental Reinsurance.

Market breadth was negative as decliners outnumbered advancers in the ratio of 26:14 to short-live the two-day bear market.
Market activities were up in volume and value by 8.0% and 36.1% respectively to 378.19m shares worth N6.26bn from the previous day’s 350.99m units valued at N4.6bn.

Transaction volume was boosted by financial services, services providers and conglomerates stocks like: Guaranty Trust Bank, Diamond Bank, FBNH, C/I Leasing and Transcorp which witnessed increased trading to top the activity chart.
The best performing stocks for the day were Oando and Okomu Oil that topped the advancers’ table with gain of 5.2% and 5% respectively to close at N9.15 and N77.15 each. This was due to positive market sentiments and forces
On the flip side, NPF Microfinance and Jaiz Bank were the worst performing, after losing 8.9% and 8.0% respectively to close at N1.84 and N0.69 purely on profit taking.

Market Outlook
Being the last trading week ahead of month-end, we expect profit taking even as investors react to earnings reports that are hitting the market in the midst of Q1 GDP expectation that is likely to confirm the positive impact of monetary stimulus and extraneous factors like upswing in oil price, among other global events now closely under watch.

Even so, value investors continue to position for the short and long-term on the strength of company fundamentals.
However, we would like to reiterate that investors should not panic but go for equities with intrinsic value, especially during this season when dividend payment is ongoing and Q1 results are expected in the market arena.
We advise investors to allow numbers guide their decisions while repositioning in any stock, especially now that stock prices remain volatile amidst improving company, economic and market fundamentals.

It is time to combine fundamentals and technical tools to take decision by knowing the support and resistant level to reposition or exit any position. A stock market is in cycles. You must know the cycle it, or particular stocks therein are to successfully manage your trading and investment risk. For stocks that should be on your shopping list to buy in these seasonal changes as the year unfolds, sign up to INVESTDATA BUY AND SELL signal setup by calling 08032055467.

Get your home study pack of the INVEST 2018 Traders & Investors Summit and ride with the current recovery on Nigeria’s stock market and economy, thereby ensuring that you invest and trade with knowledge. You can also access stocks analysed in the home study pack of the Chart Summit held on February 24, 2018, including the 15 stock-picks for 2018 are available now to guide your positioning as trading for the year.
Comprehensive training materials on stock Trading and Investing for Financial Independence series are Available, you can play and watch on your mobile phone, laptop, desktop and TV set. Kindly call or send yes to 08032055467, 08028164086 or 08111811223.

Ambrose Omordion
CRO| Investdata Consulting Ltd
info@investdataonline.com
info@investdata.com.ng
ambrose.o@investdataonline.com
ambrose.o@investdata.com.ng
ambroseconsultants@yahoo.com
Tel: 08028164085, 08032055467
https://investdata.com.ng/2018/04/oscillating-trend-amidst-high-volatility-q1-earnings-season-draws-close/

Despite Limping Earnings, FBN Holdings 2017 Profit Up 226.88%, Offers N0.25 Dividend


Directors of FBN Holdings Plc, on Wednesday presented its audited result for the full year ended December 31, 2017, indicating significant improvement in the management of the operating entity- First Bank of Nigeria Limited.
This can be inferred by the fact that while gross earnings was flat at 2.34% up, net profit soared by 226.88%, helped by the N75.613bn or 33.45% drop in impairment charge for credit loss from N226.037bn to N150.424bn, as ratio of Non-Performing Loans to total stood at 22.8%, up from 52.7%.

The impairment charge related to its banking subsidiary- First Bank of Nigeria), whose commercial banking segment reported N148.579bn. Net profit therefore translated to Earnings Per Share of N1.21, up from just 39 kobo in the preceding full year. The directors have offered a 25 kobo dividend per share, with register of shareholders closing between May 7 and 13; while payment is slated for May 16 to those whose names appear on the register of members as at May 4. Payment shall be subject to approval by the shareholders at the annual general meeting on Tuesday, May 15, in Lagos.

Nonetheless, the result showed that there is still significant room to explore the group’s huge assets, judging by the fact that Net Profit Margin stood at 6.72%, as against 2.1%; which translates to the fact that management could only convert 6.72 kobo of every Naira earned into profit, far lower than its peers.

Specifically, gross earnings for the period rose from N581.83bn to N595.44bn, the bulk of which was the N469.586bn interest income, which increased from N405.281bn, while interest expense rose from N138.064bn from N100.839bn; resulting in net interest income of N331.522bn, as against the previous N304.442bn.

A further breakdown revealed that commercial bank fetched N536.554bn of total revenue, with interest income of N436.392bn; followed by the N38.857bn and N25.26bn from merchant banking and asset management; while insurance yielded N18.168bn and N6.09bn respectively.
Net interest income after impairment charge for credit losses therefore stood at N181.098bn, as against the previous N78.405bn, a 130.97% growth.
Insurance premium revenue increased to N12.973bn from N9.606bn; insurance premium revenue ceded to reinsurers climbed by 133l1% to N2.739bn from N1.175bn; leaving net insurance premium revenue at N10.234bn from N8.431bn.

Fee and commission income stood at N74.453bn from N71.36bn; fee and commission expense rose marginally from N11.073bn to N12.117bn; net gains on foreign exchange fell sharply from N89.077bn to N21.062bn. Net gains on investment securities dropped from N3.93bn to N2.61bn; net gains from financial instruments at fair value through profit soared to N11.117bn from a N6m loss

Dividend income improved to N2.053bn from N897m; other operating income rose to N3.901bn from N2.868bn; insurance claims jumped from N2.19bn to N4.041bn; while personnel expenses grew to N85.678bn from N83.805bn.
Operating expenses climbed from N120.03bn to N132.496bn; bringing total cost of sales dropped slightly to N538.64bn from N558.93bn; translating to operating profit for the year of N56.395bn, up from N22.948bn.

Profit before tax of FBN Holdings for the period stood at N56.825bn from just N22.948bn, representing a 147.63% growth, while income tax at N9.05bn, up from N5.807bn left after tax profit at N40.011bn, an improved from N12.243bn in the 2016.
Unrealised net gains arising during the year stood at N50.899bn, as against a N17.8bn loss; even as exchange difference on translation of foreign operations dropped to N13.362bn, from N26.724bn. Other comprehensive income for the year stood at N64.156bn from a loss of N3.099bn in prior year; resulting in total comprehensive income for the year of N104.167bn from just N9.144bn in 2016.

Also, total assets recorded 10.55% improvement at N5.236tr from N4.736tr, with customer loans and advances falling slightly to N2.001tr, up from N2.083tr in 2016. Of the customer loans, overdrafts rose slightly from N282.687bn to N296.135bn; while term loans remained flat at N1.67tr from N1.687tr in 2016.
Total liabilities rose at a slightly lower pace to N4.558tr, up from N4.154tr, of which customer deposits remained the biggest, rising marginally from N3.104tr to N3.143tr; resulting in shareholders’ fund of N678.19bn, up by 16.41% from N582.58bn.

Commenting on the results, Urum Kalu Eke, Group Managing Director of FBN Holdings said the performance, coming ahead of projections, is the outcome of initiatives put in place, especially cost containment as shown by the 7.7% operating expense growth, down from 15.4%.
More significant improvement, he inferred, could come from accelerated resolution of the group’s “legacy assets to demonstrate sustainable improvement in asset quality as the progress we made during the year was moderated by developments in Q4 which kept our performance below guidance.

“This was largely as a result of the impairment of 9mobile, which was across the industry, as well as the foreign currency translation impact on our existing portfolio. These are one-off events and we assure that appreciable progress would be made on NPL in 2018 in line with our three-years strategic plan.

https://investdata.com.ng/2018/04/despite-limping-earnings-fbn-holdings-2017-profit-226-88-offers-n0-25-dividend/

Diamond Bank Sells UK Arm, Says To Concentrate On Nigerian Market


At a time it is fast becoming fashionable for its peers to make inroad into the United Kingdom in view of the competition of the future, the board of Diamond Bank, on Wednesday announced sealing a Share Sale and Purchase Agreement to sell its entire stake in that country.
In a statement to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Diamond Bank said its entire shareholding in Diamond Bank (UK) Plc is being sold to a member of GFG Alliance for an undisclosed amount.

The statement, signed by Uzoma Uja, the company Secretary and Legal Adviser, said “the disposal is in line with (Diamond) Bank’s objective of streamlining its operations to focus resources on the significant opportunities in the Nigerian retail banking market.”
The decision to focus on the Nigerian market, the bank said arises from the vast potential therein, due to its strong fundamentals, “including millions of people who are either underbanked or unbanked, and changing lifestyles that favour the use of mobile devices to complete multiple financial transactions at the consumer’s convenience.

This is also underpinned by significant economic potential driven by an entrepreneurial spirit, and a growing culture of innovation.”
Diamond Bank said both parties “are committed to, and are pursuing a quick completion of the transaction subject to approval of the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority who regulate banking business in the United Kingdom.”
The sale of the UK arm is coming shortly after the bank’s divestment from its West African business completed in November 2017.
Commenting on the transaction, Diamond Bank’s Chief Executive Officer, Uzoma Dozie said: “Diamond Bank’s strategic objective is to be the fastest growing, and most profitable technology-driven retail banking franchise in Nigeria.

“This strategic intent requires the Bank to optimize the use of its resources which means, where necessary, divesting from its non-core assets, and focusing on the priority area, namely Nigerian retail banking.
In recent years, the bank said it has laid the foundation for growth in Nigeria with acquisition of over 15m customers, many of whom are owning bank accounts for the first time.

By harnessing technology and fostering a digitally led approach, the bank says it will have further positive impact on the overall development of the financial system, and the Nigerian economy in general.
The sale of the international subsidiaries, the statement assured, “is not expected to cause service disruptions for the bank’s customers located around the world as they can continue to enjoy enhanced and convenient banking services through the Bank’s digital channels.

https://investdata.com.ng/2018/04/diamond-bank-sells-uk-arm-says-concentrate-nigerian-market/

Nigerian Equity Index Suffers Reversal, Amidst Profit Taking, Weakened Money Flow


Nigeria’s equity market, on Wednesday, closed lower again, reversing previous day’s gain, oscillating amidst volatility, driven by resumed profit taking in highly capitalized equities amidst weakened money flow. The reversal was despite the market entry into the peak of Q1 earnings season, and notwithstanding the relatively impressive numbers emanating from quoted companies so far.

The volatility has become of serious concern to investors, as money flow index continues to move up and down, reflecting weak liquidity in the market arena which had also reflected on the volume traded since the side-trending started on April 10.

However, the day started out with a marginal gain, which held during mid-morning session before it rallied sharply to consolidate at midday, tested intraday highs of 40,926.72 (which is becoming the recent resistance level). It pulled back to a low of 40,589.60 by the afternoon on the strength of value loss by high cap stocks, before retracing up in the last trading minutes of the session, closing at 40,755.73 on a low volume that is below the market traded average.

The foreign portfolio investment flows report for March has actually revealed and supported INVESTDATA’s position that foreign investors are stylishly exiting the market, judging from percentage outflow for the period, which was higher than inflows despite the increase in transactions for the month of March. The prevailing trading pattern in the market revealed a sustained cherry-picking of dividend stocks by smart money and the seeming indecision among short term players. Any breakdown or rally by the market at this point will be massive. So, steady your gaze at this level.

Market technicals at midweek’s trading were positive and mixed as volume traded was low amidst a improving buying pressure and positive market breadth. The buying position was 49%, while selling volume was 51% on a volume index of 0.84 of the day’s total transaction. Arising from the day’s reversal, money flow index lost 42.26 basis points, compared to previous day’s 49.54 points notch, an indication that funds left the market

Index and Market Cap
The composite NSEASI dropped slightly 47.05points to close at 40.755.73 basis points after opening at 40,802.78bps, representing a 0.11% decline on a low volume that was higher than previous day’s. Similarly, market capitalisation went south, shedding N16.54bn to close at N14.72tr from an opening value of N14.74tr, also representing 0.11% value loss which kept investors in their losing position.

The downturn recorded was due to price depreciation in Total Nigeria, Dangote Cement, FBN Holding, an apparent indication that investors were not enamoured by the 25 kobo dividend per share offered by its directors as they released its delayed audited result for the full-year ended December 31, 2017. The market also ignored the impressive growth in net profit, helped by the huge reduction in provisioning for loan loss during the period (READ). Others stocks that contributed to the day’s index slide included: Lafarge Africa, whose Q1 outing also failed to give any sign of hope that current year could be different from the last when the company reported huge loss after tax (READ); while Oando and Zenith Bank suffered profit taking. The reversal impacted negatively on the NSE’s Year-to-Date returns, to contract at 6.57%, just as market capitalisation gains for the period stood at N1.11tr, representing 8.17% above the year’s opening value.

Bullish Sector Performance
Sectorial performance for the day was bullish except for the NSE Industrial and insurance that were down as a result of selloffs in Dangote Cement, Lafarge Africa and Continental Reinsurance, while the NSE Oil/Gas, Banking and Consumer goods closed north, due to value gain in Seplat, Forte Oil, Nestle, Guaranty Trust Bank and UBA.
Market breadth was positive as advancers outnumbered decliners in the ratio of 24:22 to short-live the two-day bear market.
Market activities were up in volume and value by 42.1% and 43% respectively to 350.99m shares worth N4.6bn from the previous day’s 246.58m units valued at N3.22bn.

Transaction volume was boosted by financial services and consumer goods stocks like FBNH, UBA, Fidelity Bank, Access Bank and Flourmills, all of which witnessed increased trading to top the activity chart.
The best performing stocks for the day were Forte Oil and Presco that topped the advancers’ table with gain of 10.16% and 5.00% respectively to close at N47.70 and N69.30 each. This was due to positive market sentiments.
On the flip side, FBNH and Skye Bank were the worst performing, after losing 8.96% and 5.73% respectively to close at N12.20 and N0.82 on profit taking, boosted by other heavy weights that enhanced the reversal.

Market Outlook
We expect a reversal as investors react to earnings reports that are hitting the market in the midst of profit taking and expected Q1 GDP data likely to be supported by monetary stimulus and extraneous factors like upswing in oil price, among other global events now closely under watch.

Even so, value investors continue to position for the short and long-term on the strength of company fundamentals.
However, we would like to reiterate that investors should not panic but go for equities with intrinsic value, especially during this season when dividend payment is ongoing and Q1 results are expected in the market arena.
We advise investors to allow numbers guide their decisions while repositioning in any stock, especially now that stock prices remain volatile amidst improving company, economic and market fundamentals.

It is time to combine fundamentals and technical tools to take decision by knowing the support and resistant level to reposition or exit any position. A stock market is in cycles. You must know the cycle it, or particular stocks therein are to successfully manage your trading and investment risk. For stocks that should be on your shopping list to buy in these seasonal changes as the year unfolds, sign up to INVESTDATA BUY AND SELL signal setup by calling 08032055467.

Get your home study pack of the INVEST 2018 Traders & Investors Summit and ride with the current recovery on Nigeria’s stock market and economy, thereby ensuring that you invest and trade with knowledge. You can also access stocks analysed in the home study pack of the Chart Summit held on February 24, 2018, including the 15 stock-picks for 2018 are available now to guide your positioning as trading for the year.
Comprehensive training materials on stock Trading and Investing for Financial Independence series are Available, you can play and watch on your mobile phone, laptop, desktop and TV set. Kindly call or send yes to 08032055467, 08028164086 or 08111811223.

Ambrose Omordion
CRO|Investdata Consulting Ltd
info@investdataonline.com
info@investdata.com.ng
ambrose.o@investdataonline.com
ambrose.o@investdata.com.ng
ambroseconsultants@yahoo.com
Tel: 08028164085, 08032055467
https://investdata.com.ng/2018/04/nigerian-equity-index-suffers-reversal-amidst-profit-taking-weakened-money-flow/

Dangote Cement Blames Slow Q1 Growth On Tanzania, Ghana Plants Shutdown, Ethiopia Conflict


The management of Dangote Cement Plc said it would have achieved much more than the 16.31% growth in sales revenue and 29.1% in profit after tax, if not for the shutdown in its Tanzania and Ghana operating plants, made worse by conflict in Ethiopia.

In a management commentary at Tuesday’s 2018Q1 conference call, the management announced a 10% price increases in Ethiopia; 5% in South Africa; and “very marginal” increase in Tanzania during quarter.
A bit of a price increase is still expected in Ethiopia, to fully cover the impact of last year’s currency devaluation; just as price was increased by N50/bag in Nigeria this month, “in reaction to inflation”.

Dangote Cement also noted a growth in its Nigerian volume, reflecting the country’s post-recession activities, just as rising monthly government revenue continues to support infrastructure spending. This has been supported by the company’s marketing initiatives, following which the directors project a 10% volume growth or more this year.
The company also a deliberate shut down of by-road shipment of cement from Nigeria to Ghana owing to the high cost involved, to prepare for exports by sea to Ghana early in 2019.

According to the result presented to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Tuesday, 2018 first quarter revenue rose to N242.116bn, up from N208.166bn; while profit before tax increased by 40.21% from N77.317bn to N108.403bn; while net profit climbed 29.1% to N72.123bn from N55.866bn, representing Earnings Per Share of N4.23, from N3.28 each.
A statement by the company Dangote Cement for the period exported a total of 211 kilotons of cement to Ghana, Togo and Niger, just as volume in Nigeria increased significantly by 5.3% to nearly 4 million tons for the period under review.
A breakdown of the results indicated that total volume of cement sales by the Group went up by 2.8% to 6.2m tonnes with Nigerian volumes up by 5.3% to nearly 4.0 million tonnes.

The statement also announced the appointment Engineer Joe Makoju was appointed Group Chief Executive, while Cherie Blair and Mick Davis also joined the board as Independent Non-Executive Directors.
Commenting on the performance, Makoju said: “The first quarter of 2018 has started strongly with substantial increases in revenues and profitability that drove excellent cash generation across the Group. Despite a slightly slower start to the quarter, Nigerian volumes increased significantly in March and underpin our confidence that 2018 will be a good year for the Group.
“Across our Pan-African operations, higher revenue per tons boosted revenues and increased EBITDA margins, with great potential to improve further when Tanzania switches to gas,” he added.

Speaking on the capacity of the company, Makoju said “Dangote Cement is Africa’s leading cement producer with nearly 46Mta capacity across Africa. A fully integrated quarry-to-customer producer. The company has a production capacity of 29.25Mta in its home market, Nigeria. Our Obajana plant in Kogi state, Nigeria, is the largest in Africa with 13.25Mta of capacity across four lines; our Ibese plant in Ogun State has four cement lines with a combined installed capacity of 12Mta and our Gboko plant in Benue state has 4Mta. Through our recent investments, Dangote Cement has eliminated Nigeria’s dependence on imported cement and has transformed the nation into an exporter of cement serving neighbouring countries.

“In addition, we have operations in Cameroon (1.5Mta clinker grinding), Congo (1.5Mta), Ghana (1.5Mta import), Ethiopia (2.5Mta), Senegal (1.5Mta), Sierra Leone (0.5Mta import), South Africa (2.8Mta), Tanzania (3.0Mta), Zambia (1.5Mta). “
Also, the company’s chairman, Aliko Dangote said: “I am delighted to welcome Cherie and Mick to the Board of Dangote Cement. They bring diverse and valuable experience of emerging-market business, sustainability and governance to our board.”

https://investdata.com.ng/2018/04/dangote-cement-blames-slow-q1-growth-tanzania-ghana-plants-ethiopia/

More Earnings Surprises Reveal Stronger Companies, Hope For Impressive Q1 GDP Data


Market volatility continued on the Nigerian Stock Exchange Tuesday, halting the two trading sessions of red market, as more companies released impressive Q1 scorecards to the investing public, further revealing the stronger state of quoted companies, while giving insights into what investors should expect going into the future.

NSE Index opened the day on a little gap up in the early hours of the session, which was sustained in the mid-morning before rallying in the midday until mid-afternoon when it finally reached intraday highs of 40,970.31 basis points, testing the recent resistance level from the 40,757.19 lows, before pulling back to close the day at 40,80278bps.

The ability of the market to break through this resistance level will be a function of long term positioning on the strength of better company numbers as they are being posted. Due to political risk and investors would play short for safety.
Right now, the index is side-trending at a KEY short-term support as revealed by the chart below, and if it can’t hold, the level may easily see lower lows. After this big earnings week when players analyse the numbers and the impact of the political risk environment, where majorly foreign and institutional funds are the ones running the market.

For this reason, oftentimes, it is their interpretation of the days ahead of the 2019 general elections in Nigeria that will give direction to equity pricing, despite the impressive numbers. In any case, these stronger numbers, if they continue as expected, will become more meaningful and useful after the election in 2019.

Setting The Stage
It is true, that market correction, sell-offs, continued profit taking and political risks have shaken sentiments as days come by, but as we have discussed in our home study packs, seminars, radio programmes and other platforms that earnings will continue to roll in with big positive surprises (Dangote Cement, Zenith Bank, Transcorp, NEM and others), as far as the Nigeria economy continues on the path of recovery and growth trajectory, there is no doubt that electioneering spending. This is just as related activities will boost demand and support company earnings, making them stronger after the election to attract funds back into the market and indeed the economy, especially as we are expecting positive surprises in Q1 GDP which would hit the market any moment from now.

This combination should set the stage for a sustained recovery and fundamentals to drive stock prices and ultimately lead to a very good year for the stock market. The robust growth that would have otherwise been unleashed on the market would be hampered by the political risk associated with coming election, depending on how it plays out.

Market technicals on Tuesday were positive and mixed as volume traded was low amidst the weak buying pressure and positive market breadth. The buying position was 21%, while selling volume was 79% on a volume index of 0.59 of the day’s total transaction. The reversal for the day was helped by the improved money flow as can be seen through the index that is looking up at 49.54 points, compared to previous day’s 44.26 points, this is an indication that funds are gradually entering the market.

Benchmark Indicators
The benchmark NSE All-Share Index gained a marginal 38.85 basis points to close at 40.802.78bps after opening at 40,763.93bps, representing a 0.10% growth on a low volume that was lower than the previous day’s. Similarly, market capitalisation was up by N14.04bn to close at N14.75tr from an opening value of N14.72tr, also representing 0.10% value gained, reducing the losing position of investors.

The upturn recorded during the day resulted in price appreciation in medium and high cap stocks like Nestle, Forte Oil, Dangote Flour, Flourmills, Zenith Bank, Dangote Sugar, ETI, UBA and Access Bank. This impacted positively on the NSE’s Year-to-Date returns, which rose to 6.69%. Market capitalisation gains for the period stood at N1.12tr, representing 8.29% above the year’s opening value.

Bullish Sectoral Indices
Sectoral performances were bullish except for the NSE Industrial and Insurance that were down as a result of selloffs in Lafarge Africa that continued its string of bad numbers in Q1; as well as Continental Reinsurance and AXA Mansard. The NSE Oil/Gas, Banking and Consumer goods were up, due to value gain in Forte Oil, Eterna, Nestle, Dangote sugar, Zenith Bank, Access Bank and UBA.

Market breadth for the day was positive as advancers outweighed decliners in the ratio of 26:25 to short-live the two day bear market.
Market activities were down in volume and value by 53.5% and 58.55% respectively to 246.58m shares worth N3.22bn from the previous day’s 530.22m units valued at N7.77bn.

Transaction volume was boosted by financial services, oil service and conglomerates stocks like Transcorp, Zenith Bank, Caverton, FBNH, NB and Transcorp which witnessed increased trading to top the activity chart.
Forte Oil and Honeywell were best performers for the day to top the advancers’ table with gain of 10.18% and 5.99% respectively to close at N43.30 and N2.83 each. This was due to positive market sentiment.

On the flip side, Fidson Healthcare and Julius Berger were the worst performing, after losing 9.60% and 5% respectively to close at N5.46 and N25.65 on profit taking and market forces

Market Outlook
We expect a sustained uptrend as more earnings surprises hit the market in the midst of profit taking and expected Q1 GDP that is likely to be supported by monetary stimulus and extraneous factors like upswing in oil price, among other global events now closely under watch.
Even so, value investors continue to position for the short and long-term on the strength of company fundamentals.
However, we would like to reiterate that investors should not panic but go for equities with intrinsic value, especially during this season when dividend payment is ongoing and Q1 results are expected in the market arena.

We advise investors to allow numbers guide their decisions while repositioning in any stock, especially now that stock prices remain volatile amidst improving company, economic and market fundamentals.

It is time to combine fundamentals and technical tools to take decision by knowing the support and resistant level to reposition or exit any position. A stock market is in cycles. You must know the cycle it, or particular stocks therein are to successfully manage your trading and investment risk. For stocks that should be on your shopping list to buy in these seasonal changes as the year unfolds, sign up to INVESTDATA BUY AND SELL signal setup by calling 08032055467.

Get your home study pack of the INVEST 2018 Traders & Investors Summit and ride with the current recovery on Nigeria’s stock market and economy, thereby ensuring that you invest and trade with knowledge. You can also access stocks analysed in the home study pack of the Chart Summit held on February 24, 2018, including the 15 stock-picks for 2018 are available now to guide your positioning as trading for the year.

Comprehensive training materials on stock Trading and Investing for Financial Independence series are Available, you can play and watch on your mobile phone, laptop, desktop and TV set. Kindly call or send yes to 08032055467, 08028164086 or 08111811223.

Ambrose Omordion
CRO|Investdata Consulting Ltd
info@investdataonline.com
info@investdata.com.ng
ambrose.o@investdataonline.com
ambroseconsultants@yahoo.com
Tel: 08028164085, 08032055467
https://investdata.com.ng/2018/04/more-earnings-surprises-reveal-stronger-companies-hope-for-impressive-q1-gdp-data/

More Earnings Surprises Reveal Stronger Companies, Hope For Impressive Q1 GDP Data

Market volatility continued on the Nigerian Stock Exchange Tuesday, halting the two trading sessions of red market, as more companies released impressive Q1 scorecards to the investing public, further revealing the stronger state of quoted companies, while giving insights into what investors should expect going into the future.

NSE Index opened the day on a little gap up in the early hours of the session, which was sustained in the mid-morning before rallying in the midday until mid-afternoon when it finally reached intraday highs of 40,970.31 basis points, testing the recent resistance level from the 40,757.19 lows, before pulling back to close the day at 40,80278bps.

The ability of the market to break through this resistance level will be a function of long term positioning on the strength of better company numbers as they are being posted. Due to political risk and investors would play short for safety.
Right now, the index is side-trending at a KEY short-term support as revealed by the chart below, and if it can’t hold, the level may easily see lower lows. After this big earnings week when players analyse the numbers and the impact of the political risk environment, where majorly foreign and institutional funds are the ones running the market.

For this reason, oftentimes, it is their interpretation of the days ahead of the 2019 general elections in Nigeria that will give direction to equity pricing, despite the impressive numbers. In any case, these stronger numbers, if they continue as expected, will become more meaningful and useful after the election in 2019.

Setting The Stage
It is true, that market correction, sell-offs, continued profit taking and political risks have shaken sentiments as days come by, but as we have discussed in our home study packs, seminars, radio programmes and other platforms that earnings will continue to roll in with big positive surprises (Dangote Cement, Zenith Bank, Transcorp, NEM and others), as far as the Nigeria economy continues on the path of recovery and growth trajectory, there is no doubt that electioneering spending. This is just as related activities will boost demand and support company earnings, making them stronger after the election to attract funds back into the market and indeed the economy, especially as we are expecting positive surprises in Q1 GDP which would hit the market any moment from now.

This combination should set the stage for a sustained recovery and fundamentals to drive stock prices and ultimately lead to a very good year for the stock market. The robust growth that would have otherwise been unleashed on the market would be hampered by the political risk associated with coming election, depending on how it plays out.

Market technicals on Tuesday were positive and mixed as volume traded was low amidst the weak buying pressure and positive market breadth. The buying position was 21%, while selling volume was 79% on a volume index of 0.59 of the day’s total transaction. The reversal for the day was helped by the improved money flow as can be seen through the index that is looking up at 49.54 points, compared to previous day’s 44.26 points, this is an indication that funds are gradually entering the market.

Benchmark Indicators
The benchmark NSE All-Share Index gained a marginal 38.85 basis points to close at 40.802.78bps after opening at 40,763.93bps, representing a 0.10% growth on a low volume that was lower than the previous day’s. Similarly, market capitalisation was up by N14.04bn to close at N14.75tr from an opening value of N14.72tr, also representing 0.10% value gained, reducing the losing position of investors.

The upturn recorded during the day resulted in price appreciation in medium and high cap stocks like Nestle, Forte Oil, Dangote Flour, Flourmills, Zenith Bank, Dangote Sugar, ETI, UBA and Access Bank. This impacted positively on the NSE’s Year-to-Date returns, which rose to 6.69%. Market capitalisation gains for the period stood at N1.12tr, representing 8.29% above the year’s opening value.

Bullish Sectoral Indices
Sectoral performances were bullish except for the NSE Industrial and Insurance that were down as a result of selloffs in Lafarge Africa that continued its string of bad numbers in Q1; as well as Continental Reinsurance and AXA Mansard. The NSE Oil/Gas, Banking and Consumer goods were up, due to value gain in Forte Oil, Eterna, Nestle, Dangote sugar, Zenith Bank, Access Bank and UBA.

Market breadth for the day was positive as advancers outweighed decliners in the ratio of 26:25 to short-live the two day bear market.
Market activities were down in volume and value by 53.5% and 58.55% respectively to 246.58m shares worth N3.22bn from the previous day’s 530.22m units valued at N7.77bn.

Transaction volume was boosted by financial services, oil service and conglomerates stocks like Transcorp, Zenith Bank, Caverton, FBNH, NB and Transcorp which witnessed increased trading to top the activity chart.

Forte Oil and Honeywell were best performers for the day to top the advancers’ table with gain of 10.18% and 5.99% respectively to close at N43.30 and N2.83 each. This was due to positive market sentiment.

On the flip side, Fidson Healthcare and Julius Berger were the worst performing, after losing 9.60% and 5% respectively to close at N5.46 and N25.65 on profit taking and market forces

Market Outlook
We expect a sustained uptrend as more earnings surprises hit the market in the midst of profit taking and expected Q1 GDP that is likely to be supported by monetary stimulus and extraneous factors like upswing in oil price, among other global events now closely under watch.

Even so, value investors continue to position for the short and long-term on the strength of company fundamentals.
However, we would like to reiterate that investors should not panic but go for equities with intrinsic value, especially during this season when dividend payment is ongoing and Q1 results are expected in the market arena.

We advise investors to allow numbers guide their decisions while repositioning in any stock, especially now that stock prices remain volatile amidst improving company, economic and market fundamentals.

It is time to combine fundamentals and technical tools to take decision by knowing the support and resistant level to reposition or exit any position. A stock market is in cycles. You must know the cycle it, or particular stocks therein are to successfully manage your trading and investment risk. For stocks that should be on your shopping list to buy in these seasonal changes as the year unfolds, sign up to INVESTDATA BUY AND SELL signal setup by calling 08032055467.

Get your home study pack of the INVEST 2018 Traders & Investors Summit and ride with the current recovery on Nigeria’s stock market and economy, thereby ensuring that you invest and trade with knowledge. You can also access stocks analysed in the home study pack of the Chart Summit held on February 24, 2018, including the 15 stock-picks for 2018 are available now to guide your positioning as trading for the year.

Comprehensive training materials on stock Trading and Investing for Financial Independence series are Available, you can play and watch on your mobile phone, laptop, desktop and TV set. Kindly call or send yes to 08032055467, 08028164086 or 08111811223.

Ambrose Omordion
CRO|Investdata Consulting Ltd
info@investdataonline.com
info@investdata.com.ng
ambrose.o@investdataonline.com
ambroseconsultants@yahoo.com
Tel: 08028164085, 08032055467
http://investdata.com.ng/2018/04/more-earnings-surprises-reveal-stronger-companies-hope-for-impressive-q1-gdp-data/#more

We’re Partnering CAC To Ensure Shares Are Traded Only On SEC-Regulated Platforms In Nigeria- Uduk


Ms. Mary Uduk, Acting Director-General of the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), last week hosted the first Capital Market Committee (CMC) meeting for the year in Lagos and indeed her maiden outing as chief executive of the capital market regulator. The CMC provides a forum for chief executives of capital market stakeholders to discuss issues and ensure the development and orderly conduct of the Nigerian capital market. Last Friday, she along with her team, briefed newsmen on outcome of the meeting, after which Ms. Uduk fielded questions and answers from the financial press, where she took on issues ranging from plans to enforce the law that requires investors to exchange company shares only on SEC-regulated trading platforms. The interaction also dueled on forbearance, electronic Dividend (e-Dividend), e-Initial Public Offering (e-IPO), as well as the high rate companies are voluntarily delisting from the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), among others. Investdata was there. Excerpts…

Some (otherwise large) companies are not listed on any exchange at all, what is the SEC doing about this?

In as much as the capital market will like to attract as many companies as possible, the decision to be listed rests with the individual companies. All we do is to encourage companies and let them see the benefits of being listed. However, all public companies, whether listed or not, are expected to register their securities with the Commission. We also have rules stipulating that shares of public companies can only be transferred on SEC-approved trading platforms/exchanges.
Thus, even when a company delists, its shares can still be traded on, say, NASD OTC Plc. In addition, the Commission is liaising with the Corporate Affairs Commission to ensure that companies comply with registration of their securities and exchanging such securities only on SEC-approved platforms.

What are the terms of reference of the Committee on Listing?

The mandate of the Committee is to drive advocacy and other activities towards increasing the number of listed companies on our exchanges. Their broad terms of reference are to propose strategies to attract listings from target sectors; undertake relevant advocacy as well as other activity that may be relevant to the achievement of this mandate.
New mandate given to that committee is to find out why a number of companies are delisting. Are there regulatory issues; is it that they are having issues with compliance with our regulations? We have given them a mandate to come up with recommendations so that if we need to amend our rules to attract more listing we will look at international best practices and do that. If we have to talk to other government agencies and stakeholders we will equally do so.

What would the new SEC management do differently to boost investor confidence?

Members of the new management team have worked in the Commission for many years with experiences in different department of the Commission and aspects of the capital market. We have always been part of the Commission’s efforts at improving investors’ confidence and implementing the Capital Market Master Plan.
The Master Plan will continue to be our working document and we shall continue to implement initiatives that will promote investors’ confidence such as E-Dividend registration, Direct Cash Settlement, Dematerialization, Complaint Management Framework, Financial Literacy and Investors’ Protection Fund, among others.

What are the effects of the closed window on free e-dividend?

It is important to state that e-dividend registration has not ended; it is free registration that ended 31 March 2018. Before the deadline, the Commission was bearing the cost of registration, but the new direction now is that banks and NIBSS, along with registrars will charge a token sum of N150 per mandate. We are still soliciting for co-operation from the public to key into electronic dividend payment as this is what will address the fundamental issue of unclaimed dividend.

What is the total number of approved mandates?

As at end of March, 2018, the total approved mandates were 2.49 million, translating into 466,000 unique investor accounts

What is SEC doing to promote electronic IPO?

Globally, capital markets are moving towards Electronic IPOs (e-IPO) and the Nigerian Capital Market is working to adopt this trend. A committee was set up during the meeting comprising the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE), Association of Issuing Houses of Nigeria (AIHN), Association of Stock Brokers (ASHON), Central Securities and Clearing System(CSCS), Institute of Capital Market Registrars (ICMR), Capital market Solicitor Association(CMSA), Fund Managers Association of Nigeria (FMAN), and NIBSS

What is the latest on multiple subscriptions and forbearance?

On multiple subscriptions and forbearance for shareholders with multiple accounts, the forbearance window has now been extended to September 2018. Registrars have acknowledged that investors have started coming forward but there are still some challenges in the process. The CMC deliberated and recommended the appropriate Technical Committee to seek input and come up with recommendations to address these challenges. Therefore, we encourage all affected investors to come forward and take advantage of the window before the new deadline.

What other issues did the CMC consider?

The Technical Committee on Non-Interest capital market also presented its report and noted that the first sovereign sukuk which was issued in 2017 had about 1,600 retail investors that invested N5 billion in the instrument. The Committee’s next level of engagements is to work with supra-national entities (such as IFC, AfDB), state governments, institutions (such as Federal Mortgage Bank, NMRC) to include sukuk options in their capital investment plans.

http://investdata.com.ng/2018/04/partnering-cac-ensure-shares-traded-sec-regulated-trading-platforms-nigeria-uduk/#more

Nigerian Equity Index Suffers Reversal, Amidst Profit Taking, Weakened Money Flow


Nigeria’s equity market, on Wednesday, closed lower again, reversing previous day’s gain, oscillating amidst volatility, driven by resumed profit taking in highly capitalized equities amidst weakened money flow. The reversal was despite the market entry into the peak of Q1 earnings season, and notwithstanding the relatively impressive numbers emanating from quoted companies so far.
The volatility has become of serious concern to investors, as money flow index continues to move up and down, reflecting weak liquidity in the market arena which had also reflected on the volume traded since the side-trending started on April 10.

However, the day started out with a marginal gain, which held during mid-morning session before it rallied sharply to consolidate at midday, tested intraday highs of 40,926.72 (which is becoming the recent resistance level). It pulled back to a low of 40,589.60 by the afternoon on the strength of value loss by high cap stocks, before retracing up in the last trading minutes of the session, closing at 40,755.73 on a low volume that is below the market traded average.

The foreign portfolio investment flows report for March has actually revealed and supported INVESTDATA’s position that foreign investors are stylishly exiting the market, judging from percentage outflow for the period, which was higher than inflows despite the increase in transactions for the month of March. The prevailing trading pattern in the market revealed a sustained cherry-picking of dividend stocks by smart money and the seeming indecision among short term players. Any breakdown or rally by the market at this point will be massive. So, steady your gaze at this level.

Market technicals at midweek’s trading were positive and mixed as volume traded was low amidst a improving buying pressure and positive market breadth. The buying position was 49%, while selling volume was 51% on a volume index of 0.84 of the day’s total transaction. Arising from the day’s reversal, money flow index lost 42.26 basis points, compared to previous day’s 49.54 points notch, an indication that funds left the market

Index and Market Cap
The composite NSEASI dropped slightly 47.05points to close at 40.755.73 basis points after opening at 40,802.78bps, representing a 0.11% decline on a low volume that was higher than previous day’s. Similarly, market capitalisation went south, shedding N16.54bn to close at N14.72tr from an opening value of N14.74tr, also representing 0.11% value loss which kept investors in their losing position.

The downturn recorded was due to price depreciation in Total Nigeria, Dangote Cement, FBN Holding, an apparent indication that investors were not enamoured by the 25 kobo dividend per share offered by its directors as they released its delayed audited result for the full-year ended December 31, 2017. The market also ignored the impressive growth in net profit, helped by the huge reduction in provisioning for loan loss during the period (READ). Others stocks that contributed to the day’s index slide included: Lafarge Africa, whose Q1 outing also failed to give any sign of hope that current year could be different from the last when the company reported huge loss after tax (READ); while Oando and Zenith Bank suffered profit taking. The reversal impacted negatively on the NSE’s Year-to-Date returns, to contract at 6.57%, just as market capitalisation gains for the period stood at N1.11tr, representing 8.17% above the year’s opening value.

Bullish Sector Performance
Sectorial performance for the day was bullish except for the NSE Industrial and insurance that were down as a result of selloffs in Dangote Cement, Lafarge Africa and Continental Reinsurance, while the NSE Oil/Gas, Banking and Consumer goods closed north, due to value gain in Seplat, Forte Oil, Nestle, Guaranty Trust Bank and UBA.
Market breadth was positive as advancers outnumbered decliners in the ratio of 24:22 to short-live the two-day bear market.
Market activities were up in volume and value by 42.1% and 43% respectively to 350.99m shares worth N4.6bn from the previous day’s 246.58m units valued at N3.22bn.

Transaction volume was boosted by financial services and consumer goods stocks like FBNH, UBA, Fidelity Bank, Access Bank and Flourmills, all of which witnessed increased trading to top the activity chart.
The best performing stocks for the day were Forte Oil and Presco that topped the advancers’ table with gain of 10.16% and 5.00% respectively to close at N47.70 and N69.30 each. This was due to positive market sentiments.
On the flip side, FBNH and Skye Bank were the worst performing, after losing 8.96% and 5.73% respectively to close at N12.20 and N0.82 on profit taking, boosted by other heavy weights that enhanced the reversal.

Market Outlook
We expect a reversal as investors react to earnings reports that are hitting the market in the midst of profit taking and expected Q1 GDP data likely to be supported by monetary stimulus and extraneous factors like upswing in oil price, among other global events now closely under watch.
Even so, value investors continue to position for the short and long-term on the strength of company fundamentals.
However, we would like to reiterate that investors should not panic but go for equities with intrinsic value, especially during this season when dividend payment is ongoing and Q1 results are expected in the market arena.
We advise investors to allow numbers guide their decisions while repositioning in any stock, especially now that stock prices remain volatile amidst improving company, economic and market fundamentals.

It is time to combine fundamentals and technical tools to take decision by knowing the support and resistant level to reposition or exit any position. A stock market is in cycles. You must know the cycle it, or particular stocks therein are to successfully manage your trading and investment risk. For stocks that should be on your shopping list to buy in these seasonal changes as the year unfolds, sign up to INVESTDATA BUY AND SELL signal setup by calling 08032055467.

Get your home study pack of the INVEST 2018 Traders & Investors Summit and ride with the current recovery on Nigeria’s stock market and economy, thereby ensuring that you invest and trade with knowledge. You can also access stocks analysed in the home study pack of the Chart Summit held on February 24, 2018, including the 15 stock-picks for 2018 are available now to guide your positioning as trading for the year.
Comprehensive training materials on stock Trading and Investing for Financial Independence series are Available, you can play and watch on your mobile phone, laptop, desktop and TV set. Kindly call or send yes to 08032055467, 08028164086 or 08111811223.

Ambrose Omordion
CRO|Investdata Consulting Ltd
info@investdataonline.com
info@investdata.com.ng
ambrose.o@investdataonline.com
ambrose.o@investdata.com.ng
ambroseconsultants@yahoo.com
Tel: 08028164085, 08032055467
http://investdata.com.ng/2018/04/nigerian-equity-index-suffers-reversal-amidst-profit-taking-weakened-money-flow/#more

Half Of Earth’s 1.7bn Unbanked Live In Nigeria, China, Five Others- IBRD Report

In what may mean the need for more concerted efforts on the part of stakeholders in the Nigerian economy to meet the goal of 80% financial inclusion rate by 2020, a new report, The Global Findex Database 2017: Measuring Financial Inclusion and the Fintech Revolution, published by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)/The World Bank Group on Thursday said 1.7bn adults, mostly women, across the globe remain unbanked.

Virtually all of these unbanked (defined as adults without an account with a financial institution or through mobile money providers), the report noted, live in developing world, with nearly half of them in seven developing economies. These countries, which are among the world’s most populated are: Nigeria, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico and Pakistan.

Specifically, the report jointly authored by Demirgüç-Kunt, Asli, Leora Klapper, Dorothe Singer, Saniya Ansar, and Jake Hess, noted that half or more of adults in Colombia, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Nigeria, are unbanked, stressing that such “unbanked adults are just as likely to come from poorer households as from wealthier ones.”

To ensure success in the battle to increase financial inclusion, the World Bank report urged nations to prioritize financial inclusion for women, given that an estimated 56% of the unbanked population are of the female gender.
The report recommended the India example, where the gap between financially included men and women has shrunk from 20% in 2014 to just 6%, recalling also that Bolivia’s gender gap at 8% in 2014, disappeared as account ownership crossed the 50% threshold among men and women.

The Global Findex report urged nations to concentrate on raising financial inclusion among the womenfolk especially in Nigeria, Mexico, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Vietnam and Arab Republic of Egypt with roughly 20% gap. In such economies, the survey showed that wealthier adults are twice as likely to be financially included than the poor masses.

According to the report, unbanked adults are more likely to have low educational attainment, even as “poorer people also account for a disproportionate share of the unbanked. Globally, half of unbanked adults come from the poorest 40% of households within their economy, the other half from the richest 60%. But the pattern varies among economies. In those where half or more of adults are unbanked, the unbanked are as likely to come from a poorer household as from a wealthier one. In economies where only about 20–30% of adults are unbanked, however, the unbanked are much more likely to be poor.”
The survey asked adults without a financial institution account why they do not, with the most common reason being their having too little money to warrant opening an account.
“Two-thirds cited this as a reason for not having a financial institution account, and roughly a fifth cited it as the sole reason. Cost and distance were each cited by about a quarter of those responding to the question, and a similar share said they do not have an account because a family member already has one. Lack of documentation and distrust in the financial system were both cited by roughly a fifth of adults without a financial institution account, and religious concerns by 6%,” the report added.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, 29% or more adults in Ethiopia, Kenya and Nigeria, said they save for a business, even as it noted the large gender gap that continues to slow national progress in financial inclusion. The report also cited the example of Algeria as a country where 56% of men have an account and only 29% of women do, dragging the overall rate of account ownership down to 43%, a situation that is similar to Burkina Faso, Jordan, Mozambique, Nigeria and Peru.

The survey report also drew a link between remittances and financial inclusion, noting that in economies including “Ethiopia, Namibia, Nigeria, and South Africa, people sending domestic remittances through an account are most likely to do so using an account at a bank or another type of financial institution.”
Still on Nigeria and remittances, the 2017 Global Findex survey said “37% of unbanked adults use domestic remittances; similar shares do so in Côte d’Ivoire, the Philippines, and South Africa.

“The most common method for sending or receiving domestic remittances varies across economies. In the Philippines and South Africa unbanked adults are more likely to use an OTC (Over-The-Counter) service. But they are more likely to use cash in Nigeria as well as in Egypt and most other economies in the Middle East and North Africa.
Compared with those who use cash for remittances, people who use OTC services represent a potentially easier opportunity to increase account ownership,” the report added.
The 2017 Global Findex survey pointed to the need to use mobile phone ownership as a driver for financial services delivery and inclusion, as is the case in China and Kenya
represent two different models.

“In China mobile financial services are provided primarily through third-party payment service providers such as Alipay and WeChat using smartphone apps linked to an account at a bank or another type of financial institution. By contrast, in Kenya mobile financial services are offered mainly by mobile network operators, and mobile money accounts do not need to be linked to an account at a financial institution.
In Kenya most account owners have both a financial institution account and a mobile money account. This is reflected in how people make mobile payments. Forty percent of adults use only a mobile money account to make such payments,” the report added.

http://investdata.com.ng/2018/04/half-of-worlds-17bn-unbanked-live-in-nigeria/#more

Rencap Sees Strong Economic Growth In Nigeria, Ghana, 2017 Profit Up 43%


Leading emerging and frontier markets investment bank, Renaissance Capital (Rencap), expressed strong sentiments about the capital market and economy of Nigeria and neighbouring Ghana, which it says could rank among the strongest performers in the coming months and year.
A statement by Renaissance Capital, sent to our correspondent on Tuesday, quoted Christophe Charlier, who was appointed the company’s chairman as saying it is for this reason its ground teams in both countries “are well-positioned to service clients in these (markets).
Charlier equally expressed excitement about the market in Egypt, describing it “as a truly fascinating growth story set to take off in the years to come.”

Announcing its financials for the full year ending December 31, 2017, with Rencap reported net profit from the core business rising by 43% year-on-year to $15.6m, which was despite the marginal 8% growth in operating income at $145m. It was driven mainly by the impressive performance of its derivatives business, whose revenue more than doubled in the reporting period.
Revenue growth, Rencap said in a statement on Tuesday, was also supported by its fixed income, currencies and commodities (FICC) division, which reported 78% growth in revenue. Cash equities business grew by 21%; besides the 43% healthy rise in the investment banking business, with debt capital markets as main driver.

Renaissance Capital’s operating expenses were up by 8% YoY to $121.7m, as a result of investment in personnel and new hires to meet growing client demand and to capitalise on market opportunities.
Equity-to-assets ratio for the period stood at 15%; total assets and equity amounted to $3,260m and $486mn, respectively, as of 31 December 2017.
Also commenting on the result, Ruslan Babaev, Co-CEO at Renaissance Capital, described 2017 as an excellent year for the company’s capital markets activities, as it highlighted an “unrivaled market offerings in emerging and frontier economies. We have led and executed a number of unique transactions.
This, he said, includes “a $400mn international bond issuance for Fidelity Bank Plc, a leading commercial bank in Nigeria; and the debut corporate infrastructure bond for Viathan Group, Nigeria’s largest captive and embedded power producer among others.”
He also recalled the maiden “corporate issue for a foreign borrower in the Russian domestic ruble market for Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, the state railway company of the Republic of Kazakhstan; the first-ever local currency international bond issue out of Georgia for Bank of Georgia; the debut $350m issue for Eurotorg, a privately owned retailer in Belarus.

These, he stressed, were among the “range of excellent opportunities across emerging and frontier markets” in 2017.
On the emerging capital market front, Rencap’s team, the statement continued, worked on a range of significant deals over the past year, such as the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Obuv Rossii, the leading Russian footwear retailer in the mid-price segment; and the IPO of Waberer’s International, the largest vehicle operator in international full truckload transportation in Europe and the leading logistics company in Hungary. There was also an “accelerated bookbuild offerings for domestic and international companies. We plan to continue growing and reinforcing our positions in the Firm’s core regions, and capitalise on the opportunities arising in global emerging and frontier markets.”

Anna Vyshlova, Co-CEO at Rencap noted: “Our strong financial performance is a result of a continuous campaign for providing career development opportunities, promoting internal people and strengthening our team globally with the best professionals. In 2017 we made a number of important hires, including Petr Molchanov, Head of Investment Banking, Russia & the CIS, Andrey Volkovskiy, Head of Financial Institutions Investment Banking; Alexander Burgansky as Head of Oil & Gas Research and Alexander Fonarkov as Head of International Equity Trading in London as well as three hires in New York. We have progressed with the opening of our office in Cairo, having hired Ahmed Hafez as Head of MENA Research and his team.

“We were recognised as the top Frontier Brokerage in the prestigious Extel Survey in 2017, and were named the Best Bank in Frontier Markets by Global Finance magazine this year. On behalf of the management team, I would like to thank all of our employees for their great efforts, teamwork, dedication and passion for our business. We are incredibly grateful and look forward to another year of market-leading performance and growth across all of our key geographies.”

For Dmitry Razumov, General Director at ONEXIM Group, “it’s been ten years since ONEXIM entered into a strategic partnership and invested in Renaissance Capital. During this period we have witnessed a series of important milestones for the firm, including successfully surviving the global financial crisis, fully turning around its operations and returning to profitability, all while fighting off a range of market disruptions and sector challenges.

“Today, we see a much stronger firm, an independent, renewed, robust, agile investment bank, truly pioneering in the frontier markets space and providing a unique offering to its global investor client base. ONEXIM Group remains fully committed to further supporting Renaissance Capital and is excited to witness the Firm’s future growth.”

http://investdata.com.ng/2018/04/rencap-sees-strong-economic-growth-nigeria-ghana-2017-profit-43/#more

CBN Sustains Forex Market Interventions With $210m

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Tuesday, again stepped into the inter-bank sector of the Foreign Exchange market, intervening in the wholesale segment and other sectors of the market to the tune of $210m.
Figures released by the Bank on Tuesday, April 24, 2018, reveal that the Wholesale sector of the market got another injection of $100m, just as the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and invisibles sectors each received $55m.

Confirming the figures, the Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department at the CBN, Mr. Isaac Okorafor, said that Tuesday’s interventions, like the previous intermediations, were in line with the Bank’s commitment to sustain the high level of stability in the Forex market and continually ease access to the currency by those requiring it for genuine activities.
Okorafor, while commending the role of every player in the market, said the CBN was ready to inject funds into the market, whenever and wherever necessary, in order to maintain market stability as well as sustain the financial system.

He also said the financial regulator was further buoyed by recent gains in the foreign exchange sector, which had seen the country’s reserves soar closer to the $50bn mark.

Speaking further, Okorafor said the country’s reserves continued to enjoy accretion, adding that the present reserves status at the Bank meant that the CBN was capable of sustaining foreign exchange liquidity in the system.
Tuesday’s intervention came as one United States Dollar (US$1) exchanged for N361 in the Bureau De Change (BDC) segment of the market.
Meanwhile, it will be recalled that the CBN in its last interventions on Friday, April 20, 2018, injected the sum of $396.18m into the Retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS).

http://investdata.com.ng/2018/04/cbn-sustains-forex-market-interventions-210m/#more

NSE: Imminent Rebound, Amidst Portfolio Review, Low Stock Valuation


Nigeria’s equity market had another very volatile session on Monday to start the week lower on a high traded volume with mixed sentiments while it continued its side-way trending. The current market behavior is not unexpected, given that the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has gone through correction to the level of resisting further decline as we saw on Monday. This has given rise to hope for an imminent rebound.
Trading started off with extension of previous day’s pullback through the mid-morning until midday where the index tested the support level at 40,579.54 basis points before retracing up to touch intraday highs of 40,832.34bps. Thereafter, it snapped back in the last minutes to close the trading session at 40,763.93, while resisting further a slip, a situation which analysts believe is a point to the imminent rebound on the strength of the subsisting low valuations in the market.

The said imminent rebound that is also on the back of expectations of the Q1 GDP numbers from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) to reflect the impact of sustained intervention by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to power a return to growth trend.
It is noteworthy that the market is getting into the final days of the Q1 earnings season and more companies filing their reports by the day.
Meanwhile, after several instances of non-response to otherwise wonderful score-cards, investors and traders finally applauded the Q1 earnings report of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) which was released on Monday. The applauds came in the form of the 8% notch in Transcorp’s share price for the day, even as it emerged one of the most actively traded stocks, accounting for 17.66m units (SEE REPORT).

Frontier Markets
With emerging markets across the globe continue to wax stronger on the back of the rising commodity prices, particularly oil and supported by improving macro-economic fundamentals, some of them are becoming worthy of investment considerations as alterative opportunities for growth and diversification. One important consideration remains the fact that most assets in these markets are grossly undervalued due to improving company fundamentals and transparency promoted by the exchanges.
Being a frontier market, Nigeria remains an investment destination for foreign and institutional investors as her economic fundamentals continue to look better on monetary stimulus and growth trajectory.

The political risk and mixed performance of companies that released their earnings to the market on Monday, while more are been expected, will determine the general direction of the market. As noted earlier, the Q1 earnings season is gradually coming to an end, even as passage of the 2018 budget by the National Assembly is still being eagerly awaited, while momentum is building at a fast pace for the 2019 general elections. Already, Ekiti and Osun governorship elections are scheduled to hold in succession in the coming months and would give a snippet into what 2019 holds in stock, even as the dominant foreign investors go for safe bets.

Market technicals at the end of Monday were positive and mixed as volume traded was high amidst a strong buying pressure and negative market breadth. The buying position was 73%, while selling volume was 27% on a volume index of 0.67 of the day’s total transaction. The day’s resistance was helped by the improved money flow as can be seen through the index that is looking up at 44.26 points, compared to previous day’s 43.84 points, this is an indication that funds are gradually entering the market.

Index and Market Cap
The NSE All Share Index shed a marginal 50.91points to close at 40.763.93 basis points after opening at 40,81489bps, representing a 0.12% decline on a high volume that was higher than the previous day’s. Similarly, market capitalisation went down by N18.41bn to close at N14.72tr from an opening value of N14.73tr, also representing 0.12% value loss

The downturn recorded for the day resulted from profit booking in Dangote Cement, Flourmills, Guaranty Trust Bank, Dangote Sugar and Lafarge Africa which impacted negatively on the NSE’s Year-to-Date returns, which contracted to 6.59%. Market capitalisation gains for the period stood at N1.11tr, representing 8.09% above the year’s opening value.

Bearish Sectoral Indices
Sector performance was bearish except for the NSE Consumer and Oil that were up due value gain in Forte Oil, Eterna and Nigerian Breweries, while NSE Industrial, Banking and Insurance closed south. This was due to profit booking in Guaranty Trust, Wema and Continental Reinsurance.

Market breadth for the day was negative as decliners s outnumbered advancers in the ratio of 24:19 to extend the market downtrend.
Market activities were up in volume and value by 118.8% and 156.7% respectively to 530.22m shares worth N7.77bn from the previous day’s 242.29 units valued at N3.03bn.
Transaction volume was boosted by financial services, consumer and conglomerates stocks like Law Union, Zenith Bank, FBNH, NB and Transcorp which witnessed increased trading to top the activity chart.

The best performers at the end of day were Learn Africa and Transcorp topping the advancers’ table with gain of 9.17% and 7.98% respectively to close at N1.31 and N1.76 each. This was due to impressive earnings and high dividend yield.
On the flip side, Continental Reinsurance and Unity Bank were the worst performing, after losing 5.145% and 4.72% respectively to close at N1.66 and N1.21 on market forces and profit taking

Market Outlook
We imminent rebound in the midst of profit taking will also be further confirmed by the aggregate of Q1 scorecards, depending on the continued support of such extraneous factors like upswing in oil price, among other global events now closely under watch. Even so, value investors continue to position for the short and long-term on the strength of company fundamentals.

However, we would like to reiterate that investors should not panic but go for equities with intrinsic value, especially during this season when dividend payment is ongoing and Q1 results are expected in the market arena.
We advise investors to allow numbers guide their decisions while repositioning in any stock, especially now that stock prices remain volatile amidst improving company, economic and market fundamentals.

It is time to combine fundamentals and technical tools to take decision by knowing the support and resistant level to reposition or exit any position. A stock market is in cycles. You must know the cycle it, or particular stocks therein are to successfully manage your trading and investment risk. For stocks that should be on your shopping list to buy in these seasonal changes as the year unfolds, sign up to INVESTDATA BUY AND SELL signal setup by calling 08032055467.

Get your home study pack of the INVEST 2018 Traders & Investors Summit and ride with the current recovery on Nigeria’s stock market and economy, thereby ensuring that you invest and trade with knowledge. You can also access stocks analysed in the home study pack of the Chart Summit held on February 24, 2018, including the 15 stock-picks for 2018 are available now to guide your positioning as trading for the year.
Comprehensive training materials on stock Trading and Investing for Financial Independence series are Available, you can play and watch on your mobile phone, laptop, desktop and TV set. Kindly call or send yes to 08032055467, 08028164086 or 08111811223.

Ambrose Omordion
CRO|Investdata Consulting Ltd
info@investdataonline.com
info@investdata.com.ng
ambrose.o@investdataonline.com
ambroseconsultants@yahoo.com
Tel: 08028164085, 08032055467
http://investdata.com.ng/2018/04/nse-imminent-rebound-amidst-portfolio-review-low-stock-valuation/#more

Prioritize Youth, Fix Policy, Regulatory Hiccups, Elumelu Tells African Leaders


Philanthropist, entrepreneur and Africapitalism driver, Tony O. Elumelu wants leaders on the continent to prioritize Africa’s youth by fixing the policy and regulatory issues impeding their innovative spirit, thereby helping to attract foreign investors.

Speaking during the just concluded spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington, DC, Elumelu, founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, with World Bank President Jim Kim and LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner, on advancing the digital economy in Africa, he harped on the importance of leveraging entrepreneurship to enable Africa leapfrog traditional development paths.

According to Elumelu, “I speak as someone who has supported young African entrepreneurs. I see enthusiasm, intellect, I determination, drive and discipline – you invest $5,000 and indeed they apply this to their purpose. So why don’t we harness all of these people? Why doesn’t government replicate this model?”
When asked about the technological advancements of today, which will be responsible for shifting African development into overdrive, Elumelu was emphatic.

“It is our young people – the 60 percent of [African] people under the age of 30 who will come up with innovations that might help to pull Africa out of where it is today. We need to prioritize them, to give them support by removing the stifling policies holding them back. If we remove those, we will unleash their creativity onto the world.”
While moderating the discussion, World Bank President Dr. Jim Yong Kim, said policy makers in Nigeria and other African countries are ill-prepared to compete in the digital technology space. Elumelu conceded that without critical infrastructure, driving technological advancement would be difficult.

“You can’t talk about a digital economy in Africa without fixing critical infrastructure. Digital connectivity is a major issue in Africa and you can’t fix it if you don’t have reliable access to electricity,” Elumelu said. “So, if we want to truly address the issue of a digital economy in Africa, these challenges have to be fixed.”
Elumelu, who is also Chairman of the United Bank for Africa Group, also highlighted regulation, intellectual property and the need to incentivise investors, as other factors that would help drive the digital economy on the continent.

“Let’s fix policy issues and all these issues I have identified and investors will come to Africa,” Elumelu added.

http://investdata.com.ng/2018/04/prioritize-youth-fix-policy-regulatory-hiccups/#more

Traders, Investors Adopt Wait-And-See Attitude, Ahead Of Regulatory Deadline


Trading on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in the past week was mixed, closing lower as investors, analysts and traders adopted a wait-and-see approach to the expected Q1 numbers that had started to roll in with mixed performance, as they take their time to digest the reports, while expecting others.

While we the wait-and-see attitude continues, we note here that some of the earnings reports beat market expectations, while others came flat and even below forecast which made the week’s trading highly volatile. Besides the high number of companies whose share prices were adjusted for dividend payment within the period, contributing to the market closing lower despite the high volume traded and buying pressure during the week.

The relatively stable exchange rate of the Naira against other currencies of the world, helped by the continued intervention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the FX market will continue to impact positively on productivity and attract inflow of investments. Add this to the impact of the rising oil prices and production volumes, which have led to improvements in fiscal revenue and foreign exchange liquidity.

At the same time, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects growth to expand to 2.1% from 0.8% and Investdata Consulting believes that with oil price hitting three-year high at $73.82, it will sustain the current recovery and remain a major driver of the expected growth in 2018.
Oil sector low-base-push will likely last till Q42018, particularly given that oil production disappointed in Q42017 and new barrels are expected from Total’s Egina field by Q42018. Whilst structural constraints to non-oil sector growth –recurring energy scarcity, weak infrastructure and port congestion remain headwinds. We note that the cyclical challenges will start to abate from 2018 against the backdrop of anticipated expansion in fiscal spending as fiscal balance stabilizes and political parties spend ahead of the election. Further deceleration of the nation’s inflation rate will directly affect GDP price deflator and support real growth and increase in private investments due to favourable aggregate demand outlook.

Meanwhile, last week the composite NSE All-Share Index shed 113.81 points to close the period at 40,814.89 from an opening figure of 40,928.70 points, representing a 0.28% decline on a high volume of trade, compared to the previous week’s level. The volume index of total transactions for the week was 1.23, buying pressure of 67%, while selling volume was 33% to reverse the previous week’s marginal gain. In the same vain, market capitalisation for the period lost N41bn to close lower at N14.74tr from N14.78tr, representing a 0.28% loss of value.

The week’s advancers’ table was dominated by low and medium cap stocks as investors focus on value and growth stocks in expectation of their Q1 scorecards as economic fundamentals become even stronger. The losses suffered by Dangote Cement, Nigerian Breweries, Double One and others during the period further reduced the NSEASI’s year to date return to 6.72%, just as the gain in market captalistion dropped at N1.12tr, representing 8.16% growth from the year’s opening value.

Market breadth for the week was positive and strong as the number of advancers outpaced decliners in the ratio of 36:33 on high volume of trades that were mixed, owing to improving demand for stocks. This is coming at a time when many companies are yet to release their Q1 results, thereby becoming a source of concern for the investing public who suspect that numbers may eventually be mixed or better than expected to reflect the improving economic indices.

It is worrisome that many banks are yet to make their first quarter earnings reports available to the market, considering that some are yet to release 2017 full year results six trading days to the end of the 30-day deadline granted under the same post-listing rule of the exchange.
The week opened with the composite NSE All-Share index (ASI) shedding 0.97% to halt the uptrend of the previous week, but reversed on Tuesday when it gained 0.78%, a situation that was short-lived at the midweek with the pullback of 0.04%. This could not be sustained on Thursday as it reversed up by 0.25% but shed 0.14% on the last trading of the week, bringing the week’s total loss to 0.28% as the market awaits more Q1 numbers.

The week’s sectorial indices were bearish and mixed, with the NSE Industrial, Insurance and Consumer Goods, closing in red, whereas the NSE Banking and Oil/Gas were in green, helped by gains in the share prices of UBA, Zenith Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, Seplat and Oando to impact the sectors positively.
Market activities in volume and value were up by 111.97% and 54.28% as 3.01bn shares worth N30.3bn were exchange, from previous week’s 1.42bn units valued at N19.64bn.

Oando and Jaiz Bank were the best performing stocks for the week, topping the advancers’ table with 39.13% and 21.13% gains respectively to close at N9.60 and N0.86 each, on the back of market sentiments. On the flip side, the worst performing were AG Leventis and 11 Plc that lost 14.06% and 14% to close at N0.55 and N172.00 respectively, owing to profit taking.

During the week also, the share prices of Dangote Cement, Unilever, National Salt, Continental Reinsurance and Transcorp were adjusted for dividend recommended by their directors.
Stocks scheduled for markdown in the new week are: Law Union, Caverton, GSK, AXA Mansard Insurance, Dangote Flour, Lafage Africa, as well as May & Baker

Market Outlook
We expect an upturn in the market on the strength of low valuations, expected numbers to beat expectations as bargain hunters take advantages low prices, ahead of first quarter economic data and corporate earnings that had started trickle in to reveal the true state of the economy and the companies so far in 2018, helped also by the sustained rise in oil prices that hit its highest in three-year at $73.82 as at last Friday.

Meanwhile, dividend income players are take position ahead of more economic data, even amidst the expected sustained volatility and repositioning.
However, we would like to reiterate that investors should not panic but go for equities with intrinsic value, especially during this season when dividend payment is approaching.
We advise investors to allow numbers guide their decisions while repositioning for the rest of the year’s trading activities, especially now that stock prices remain volatile amidst improving company, economic and market fundamentals.

It is time to combine fundamentals and technical tools to take decision by knowing the support and resistant level to reposition or exit any position. A stock market is in cycles. You must know the cycle it, or particular stocks therein are to successfully manage your trading and investment risk. For stocks that should be on your shopping list to buy in these seasonal changes as the year unfolds, sign up to INVESTDATA BUY AND SELL signal setup by calling 08032055467.

Get your home study pack of the INVEST 2018 Traders & Investors Summit and ride with the current recovery on Nigeria’s stock market and economy, thereby ensuring that you invest and trade with knowledge. You can also access stocks analysed in the home study pack of the INVEST 2018 traders and the investors’ summit held on February 24, 2018, including the 15 stock-picks for 2018 are available now to guide your positioning as trading for the year.

Comprehensive training materials on stock Trading and Investing for Financial Independence series are Available, you can play and watch on your mobile phone, laptop, desktop and TV set. Kindly call or send yes to 08032055467, 08028164086 or 08111811223.

Ambrose Omordion
CRO|Investdata Consulting Ltd
info@investdataonline.com
info@investdata.com.ng
ambrose.o@investdataonline.com
ambroseconsultants@yahoo.com
Tel: 08028164085, 08032055467
http://investdata.com.ng/2018/04/traders-investors-adopt-wait-see-attitude-ahead-regulatory-deadline/

Global Economy: Nigeria, Others Face Challenge Of Sustainable Growth- World Bank

Photo Caption: Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun (left); the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rt. Hon. Philip Hammond and Minister of Finance, Malta, Edward Scicluna, during the 2018 IMF-World Bank Spring Meeting in Washington DC which focused on sustainable growth, on Saturday, 21st April, 2018.

Given the structural changes to the global economy, the World Bank Group, on Saturday warned that developing economies, including Nigeria may be challenged with keeping pace with robust and sustainable growth and global development trajectory in the near term.

In a communiqué issued at the close of the institutions’ Spring Meetings in Washington D.C., by its Development Committee, a ministerial-level forum, of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund, nonetheless assured that it “is uniquely placed to address global challenges and help countries achieve their goals in today’s increasingly complex development landscape.”



The communiqué, while stressing support for the group’s twin goals of eliminating extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity, urged the group to strengthen its financial capacity and meet the aspirations of its shareholders.

World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, in his remarks at the press conference that opened the Spring Meetings, also highlighted the financial strengthening of IDA, the World Bank’s fund for the poorest countries, through an inaugural bond issue that raised $1.5 billion from investors around the world this week.

According to him, “IDA’s entry to the global capital markets is historic – the latest transformational shift in how we approach development finance. IDA will be able to dramatically scale up financing to help countries meet the 2030 development goals, and deliver greater value to shareholders.”

Both the committee’s communiqué and Kim’s speech at American University prior to the meetings emphasized that the group must continue to crowd in private sector resources for development, as the main driver of investment, innovation, and jobs.

The committee called on the World Bank, IFC, and MIGA to collaborate for mobilization of private investment as part of maximizing finance for inclusive growth and poverty reduction.

Kim also underscored the importance of building human capital as the foundation for long-term development progress in the Bank Group’s client countries. At the upcoming Annual Meetings, scheduled for October in Indonesia, the Bank Group will release an index measuring countries’ human capital to help inform government leaders’ decisions on investments in health and education.

While acknowledging a range of pressing challenges to sustainable growth for developing countries – a rise in public debt levels for low-income countries, climate and disaster risks, and major gaps in gender equality, among others – the committee reiterated its support for the group’s role in building global solutions.

In his speech, Kim noted that optimism has defined the vision of the World Bank Group from the outset. He quoted U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau, who stated the new organization’s objective at the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944: “A dynamic world economy in which the people of every nation will be able to realize their potentialities in peace, to raise their own standards of living and enjoy increasingly the fruits of material progress. For freedom of opportunity is the foundation for all other freedoms.”

http://investdata.com.ng/2018/04/global-economy-nigeria-others-face-challenge-sustainable-growth-world-bank/#more

World Bank Approve $13bn Fresh Capital For IFC, IBRD To Fight Global Poverty


Rising from a wrap-up gathering of its 2018 spring meeting in Washington D.C., shareholders of the World Bank Group, on Saturday endorsed an ambitious package that includes a $13bn paid-in capital increase for the fight against global poverty.

This is among a series of internal reforms and set of policy measures to strengthen the International Finance Corporation, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), two global poverty fighting institution, thereby scaling up assistance in areas of the world in need of assistance.

The package agreed by the Development Committee of the Board of Governors, according to a statement by the group, consists of $7.5bn paid-in capital for IBRD and $5.5bn for IFC, through both general and selective capital increases, as well as a $52.6bn callable capital increase for IBRD.
The boost in capital will be augmented by a broad range of internal measures including operational changes and effectiveness reforms, loan pricing measures, and other policy steps to create an even stronger World Bank Group, the statement added.

The agreed capital package for IBRD and IFC, the group said, builds on the strong commitment of contributors to IDA, as demonstrated in the IDA18 replenishment, the successful launch of IDA in the capital market, and strengthened MIGA financial capacity.
With Saturday’s move, the combined financing arms of the World Bank Group are expected to reach an average annual capacity of nearly $100bn between financial year 2019 and 2030, benefiting all Bank Group members across the income spectrum.
Commenting on the decision, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim noted that “through the historic agreement endorsed today, our shareholders have clearly demonstrated a renewed confidence in global cooperation, and we greatly appreciate this strong support from our member countries. This boost in capital was essential for us to advance our efforts to mobilize additional finance for development to meet the aspirations of the people we serve.

“Our shareholders have asked the Bank Group to step up our leadership role in addressing the multiple overlapping challenges of our time, and this capital package allows for greater responsiveness to risks to global stability and security, particularly in poorer countries and fragile states.”
The package endorsed by the Development Committee follows through on shareholders’ commitment for the World Bank Group to better assist all client countries in addressing global challenges while deploying scaled-up assistance to areas that most need financing.
The statement noted also that across client groups, the World Bank Group will be able to support drivers of long-term sustainable growth—including investments in human capital and resilience. The package also puts forward a robust commitment by the World Bank Group to further strengthen its operational model and effectiveness.

The Development Committee also accepted the recommendations of the Shareholding Review completed earlier this year, including a Selective Capital Increase (SCI) for IBRD which will result in rebalanced shareholding and reduce extreme under-representation while continuing to deliver increased voice and representation for emerging markets and developing economies in manageable steps.
“The recommendations also included an SCI for IFC, which will result in a more closely aligned voting power between the institutions of the World Bank Group and will contribute to the IFC capital increase,” the statement added.

Also, the “shareholders reiterated their commitment to the twin goals of ending extreme (global) poverty and boosting shared prosperity and to the four key priorities that the World Bank Group’s Forward Look established: (i) stay engaged with all clients; (ii) lead on the Global Public Goods agenda; (iii) mobilize capital and create markets; and (iv) continually improve effectiveness and the internal operational model.”
The Development Committee communiqué noted the challenging environment in which the package was endorsed: “The capital package has been developed against the backdrop of a changing and increasingly complex development landscape.

Despite impressive gains in recent decades, development progress remains uneven. Keeping up the pace of past progress and addressing emerging challenges will require sustained effort in the face of persistent global headwinds and structural changes to the global economy.”
The Development Committee welcomed the successful conclusion of the negotiations on the financial and policy package, and have asked the Board and management to submit draft resolutions to Governors by the end of June for approval by the Annual Meetings 2018.

http://investdata.com.ng/2018/04/world-bank-approve-13bn-fresh-capital-ifc-ibrd-fight-global-poverty/#more

Investdata Price & Earnings Tracking For Week Ended April 20, 2018

http://investdata.com.ng/2018/04/investdata-price-earnings-tracking-week-ended-april-20-2018/#more

Investdata Corporate Actions For Week Ended April 20, 2018

http://investdata.com.ng/2018/04/investdata-corporate-actions-week-ended-april-20-2018/#more

GTC ORDER


Do you know what a GTC order is?

GTC simply means Good Till Cancelled. A good till cancel order is an order placed by an investor/ trader to buy or sell a stock at a specified price,of which the price remains active until it is either canceled by the investor/ trader or the trade is executed.
It offers an alternative to placing a sequence of day orders which expires at the end of each trading day.

GTC orders are commonly set to expire within a week to a month after trade are entered on the floor of Nigeria Stock Exchange.

Simply put, GTC orders provide investors/traders the convenience of placing orders at specified price points,which can also be referred to as limit orders,that remains in force until they reach an expiration date, either they are executed or are canceled. These orders can be entered to buy or sell stock, or as stop orders.

Investdata Academy
https://investdataltd..com.ng/2018/04/gtc-order.html

GTC ORDER


Do you know what a GTC order is?

GTC simply means Good Till Cancelled. A good till cancel order is an order placed by an investor/ trader to buy or sell a stock at a specified price,of which the price remains active until it is either canceled by the investor/ trader or the trade is executed.
It offers an alternative to placing a sequence of day orders which expires at the end of each trading day.

GTC orders are commonly set to expire within a week to a month after trade are entered on the floor of Nigeria Stock Exchange.

Simply put, GTC orders provide investors/traders the convenience of placing orders at specified price points,which can also be referred to as limit orders,that remains in force until they reach an expiration date, either they are executed or are canceled. These orders can be entered to buy or sell stock, or as stop orders.

Investdata Academy
https://investdataltd..com.ng/2018/04/gtc-order.html