Ecobank

The uptrend in the Nigerian equity market appears to have come to stay further than anyone could have expected on the back of buy interest that has failed to wane. It stands to reason that the lion’s share of portfolio investment would have shifted to treasury bills, bonds and other fixed income securities, whose yields became dramatically attractive to both foreign investors and investors at home after a big hike in interest rate last month by the central bank. That regardless, stocks continue to have their…

A good number of Nigerian stocks still hold potential for strong return on investment although equities generally depreciated by 3.4 per cent last week. The rate-setting meeting of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s monetary policy panel holds Monday (today) and Tuesday, with every possibility of a significant interest rate. The move may shift the balance of investment inflow from equity more into fixed-income securities, which investors often find more attractive whenever interest rates go higher. Yet, dividend…

Nigerian stocks appreciated 3.8 per cent last week, bringing their yield so far this year to about 42 per cent. Against analysts’ expectation that a hawkish stance at the next monetary policy committee meeting would cause interest to shift from equities to fixed-income securities, demand for stocks increased, helping to wipe out the loss reported for the penultimate week. The earnings reports of big names including Dangote Cement, MTN Nigeria, Seplat, the big 5 banks (excluding FBN Holdings) and Nestle are being…

Last week, Nigerian stocks reported their first weekly depreciation this year, dropping 2.5 per cent, as investors reaped accumulated gains on some stocks that have fairly appreciated. The market saw a lull in earnings releases during the week, allowing investors to absorb a flurry of corporate results that marked the two preceding weeks. Even though the bulk of financial results have been issued, there are strong indicators that the market is yet to see possibly its biggest driver this quarter. Heavyweights like…

Nigerian stocks are getting off to a great start, having returned about 11.1 per cent in just weeks in continuation of the momentum that helped them yield about 46 per cent last year. Negative real yields on Nigerian bonds and treasury bills have made it impossible for them to beat the country’s sticky inflation. That is forcing pension funds and institutional investors to divest investment in fixed-income securities and plough the proceeds into stocks, which are currently experiencing a big boom, helping to…

Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) has inked a deal that will avail $200 million in sustainability-linked loan to the lender, the Lomé-based banking group said Friday. The group of five European Development Institutions are Proparco, Norfund, FMO, DEG and EFP. The credit, said to be the first of its kind to a sub-Saharan African financial institution, is to back Ecobank Group’s sustainability and climate strategy and also includes a climate action plan. The duo of Proparco, which also is the lead arranger…

Ecobank Nigeria has written FBN Holdings Plc, asking the financial services group not to recognise the 4.8 billion shares recently acquired by former chairman, Oba Otudeko. The local unit of Lomé-based Ecobank Transnational Incorporated made the request through its solicitor, ‘Kunle Ogunba & Associates, in a letter dated 7 July 2023. The solicitor noted in the letter seen by PREMIUM TIMES that the bank made the request because of Mr Otudeko’s failure to clear a debt totalling N13.5 billion. Ecobank noted that…

Ratings agency, Fitch took a dim view of the intrinsic creditworthiness of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) and its local unit Ecobank Nigeria, placing both entities on watch for a potential downgrade. The two are in line to take a hit in their Viability Ratings (VRs) and Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) on the heels of the move to allow the naira to weaken by about 40 per cent in June. While VR assesses the innate creditworthiness of issuers, IDR is the metric indicating an issuer’s relative…

Nigerian stocks were modestly up by 0.12 per cent last week, taking the return on equities for the year to 2.4 per cent. The low yield mirrors the depressed valuation of a raft of stocks in the market, which holds great prospects for price appreciation, particularly for investors planning to take a long position. Yet, the potential they carry and their cheap prices have not been matched with investors’ interest. PREMIUM TIMES has assembled here a number of stocks with fundamentals and other potential, adopting…

By virtue of generally strong corporate results for 2022, a good number of equities in the market are becoming attractive and priced low considered side by side with their earnings. That seems to be the main impetus for increased activity last week, with transaction size surging by more than two times. With the earnings season for fiscal year 2022 approaching its end and first-quarter financials beginning to be released, it is expected that the momentum of activity in the market will hang on how impressive…