Stocks seen yielding to sell pressure
Nigeria stock market is gradually responding to sell pressure as evidenced in Thursday’s trading session of negative close (-0.48percent). Investors lost about N120billion at the close of trading session on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX).
Equities that helped fuel the southward movement on the Bourse include UAC of Nigeria Plc which led the top decliners after its share price moved from preceding day high of N11.35 to N10.50, losing 85kobo or 7.49percent; followed by Ecobank Transnational Incorporated which decreased from N12 to N11.65, down by 35kobo or 2.92percent.
Transcorp Hotels also decreased from N5.31 to N4.95, losing 36kobo or 6.78percent; while UPDC REIT dropped from a high of N3.40 to N3.30, losing 10kobo or 2.94percent.
Equities market’s year-to-date (YtD) positive return decreased further on Thursday to 8.96percent. The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All Share Index (ASI) decreased from 46,766.16 points to 46,543.51point while the value of listed stocks on the Exchange decreased by N120billion from N25.212trillion to N25.092trillion.
Fidelity Bank Plc, Transcorp, Zenith Bank, UBA, and Access Bank were most traded stocks on Thursday. In 4,710 deals, investors exchanged 244,042,028 shares valued at N2.350billion.Read more here
Zenith bank holds 31st AGM, pays N3.10 dividends
Zenith Bank Plc held its 31st Annual General Meeting at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos on Wednesday, April 6, 2022. The executive chairman and founder of the bank, Jim Ovia, who gave an opening remark, welcomed all in attendance and those watching from home. He invited the representative of the bank’s account auditor, PwC, to present their report on the audited accounts of the bank.
PwC revealed that the bank had kept proper books of accounts and returned liquid from the audit of the branches not visited. The audit firm said that the financial reports were timely and gave a fair view of the consolidated and financial position of the bank and its subsidiaries as at December 31, 2021.
PwC representative speaking at the event said “the bank’s statement of financial position, profit and loss, and other comprehensive income are in agreement with books of account and returns.”
A report from PwC showed that the bank paid all penalties in respect of violations of CBN circulars.
Olumide Olayinka of KPMG the external consultant of the financial giant presented their
report on the evaluation of board members.
According to him, “zenith bank contacted KPMG to carry out an appraisal of the board directors for the year ended 31 Dec, 2021. The bank’s corporate governance practices are in compliance with the key provision of corporate governance”
The audit firm, therefore, recommended “board committee chatters and strategy monitoring.”
Mrs Adebimpe Balogun, Chairperson of the audit committee of the bank also presented
her report which was in sync with an earlier report presented by PwC.
Chief Timothy Adesina, an excited shareholder expressed his joy over the dividend payment and the direction the bank is heading based on the report presented.
He said “we appreciate the dividend of N2.80k in addition to an interim dividend of N0.30k earlier paid in the financial year. The bank is innovative and a new one is the launching of SME grow my business”
“the group strategic objective is to become a leader in the retail market, while our international outlook will focus on consolidating our presence in our selected African and European markets.”
Another shareholder advised the management to look at the area of collateral deficit. He said, “it is important to avoid it or reduce it totally.’
He suggested that if the collateral deficit was absent the bank would have had more profit.
Overall, the shareholder appreciated the result and hoped for an even bigger dividend of N4k next financial year.
Another shareholder advised that the bank increase its physical presence in the South-Eastern part of the country as she believes this will help extend the bank network of branches while providing premium banking services.
The shareholder also advised the bank to increase its loans and advances to the agriculture sector.
Ebenezer Onyeagwu, Managing Director of Zenith Bank Plc, who spoke at the event made it important to clarify some areas of concerns raised by the shareholders. He appreciated the shareholders for taking out time to study the report knowing how voluminous it is.
On the high audit fee, he attributed this high fee to the impact of the exchange rate effect. On cyber security, the MD said that there is a high cost of expenditure in the bank IT infrastructure and this was necessitated by the importance of securing the bank from cyber threats.
He said, “the bank is increasingly investing, to make sure they secure our systems and network. ”
But above all, the bank is at the forefront of driving digital awareness and literacy.
On staff welfare and directors’ welfare, shareholders had proposed a 10% raise for the directors. He promised that the board would ratify their proposal.
On staff welfare, the MD promised that staff salaries would be reviewed upwards so as to contend with the inflationary pressure in the country.
On loans, the MD said that there is no deficit in collateral as the bank’s exposure is concentrated in the high-class investment grade institutions, which, because of their investment-grade status, will not offer collateral.
According to him, “As a result, there is nothing like impairment. The bank maintains the highest quality loan book at 4%, which is the best globally. ”
On exposure to agriculture, the CEO told the shareholders that the bank is focusing on the agriculture sector.
South Africa’s Covid-19 positive test rate hits highest in 3 months
Results from COVID-19 tests carried out in labs in South Africa show that the positivity rate rose to its highest level since February this year. This rise in numbers shows that there is an increase in the number of undetected infections.
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases issued a statement saying that of the tests carried out since February, a total of 2,032 came back positive, with exactly 8.6% of those tested confirmed to be living with the virus.
That outcome from the tests represents a third straight daily increase in the country, rising from 6.2% on Tuesday.
The country, alongside Botswana, was the first in Africa to experience an increase in infection rates for the Omicron variant.
The positivity rate from tests carried out shows how many COVID-19 cases were undiagnosed, an indication of how fast the virus is spreading.
Not long after the government disengaged from using lockdowns to control the rise in infection rates of the Omicron variant,
However, there are fears that if this number continues to experience an increase in infection rate, the government of South Africa may be forced to take drastic measures to contain the spread.
Data from tradingeconomics showed that the country recorded 100,020 deaths from COVID-19, closely followed by Tunisia with 28,323 deaths.
EU Bans Russian coal imports
EU member states have banned Russia from importing coal, which is the first time the bloc’s sanctions have hit Moscow’s main source of energy income.
This coal import ban is a big deal because the Putin-led Russian government invaded the country of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s minister of foreign affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, while speaking alongside the NATO Secretary-General, pleaded to the west for weapons.
According to him, his country has the ability to win the war against Russia only if the west can speed up the delivery of weapons to the Ukrainian government.
He said, “We know how to fight, we know how to win, but without a sustainable and sufficient supply of all the weapons requested by Ukraine, these wins will be accompanied by enormous sacrifices.”
According to a Bloomberg report, the United Nations General Assembly voted to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council, the first country to be kicked off since Libya in 2011. Many countries abstained.
Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine’s UN envoy, said the vote would be a watershed moment for the global organization, which he has rebuked for failing to do enough to stop Russia’s invasion.
Federal budget in Canada promises to be more people-friendly
Chrystia Freeland, the Minister of Finance in Canada, has promised a more people-friendly federal budget as the budget focuses on housing and greening the economy.
According to CBC News, the budget will focus on homebuyer assistance for citizens, affordable housing, dental care, defense and security, the environment and climate change, indigenous reconciliation, diversity, and inclusion.
On home buying help, the minister said the budget aims to introduce tax-free savings accounts that would give first-time home buyers an opportunity to save up to $40,000. The minister went on to say that contributions to buy a home for the first time will be tax-deductible, but withdrawals to buy the house won’t be taxed. It is thought that the program will provide $725 million in aid for the next five years.
On affordable housing, the government promises to launch a new housing accelerator fund worth $4 billion over the next five years. The objective is to help council areas speed up housing development. The focus is to create as many as 100,000 new housing units within the next five years.
On dental care, the federal government, working closely with the NDP, is promising $5.3 billion over five years, with $1.7 billion each year thereafter for a national dental care program.
Meanwhile, the budget hopes to spend $8 billion on defense over the next five years, bringing the country’s defense budget to within 1.5% of GDP.
