FINANCE

Zenith Bank has posted a profit before tax (PBT) of N180 billion, for the nine months ended Sept. 30, amid headwinds, the Group’s unaudited nine months financial results presented to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, on Sunday, in Lagos, has indicated.  

The PBT reflected a 1 per cent growth over the N177 billion recorded in the comparative period of 2020, notwithstanding the challenging macroeconomic environment, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Also, the results showed a 2 per cent increase in gross earnings to N519 billion from N509 billion recorded in the same period of 2020, attributable to growth in current account maintenance fees, as well as fees from electronic products.  

The financial statement also said that despite continuing economic uncertainties, the Group grew its net earnings through a reduction in the cost of funds, while keeping the cost of risk flat, which strengthened earnings per share (EPS) by 1 per cent to N5.11 billion.  

Similarly, the Group achieved a 9 per cent growth in interest income from loans and advances on the back of an increase in gross loans of 9 per cent year-to-date and enhanced efficiency, resulting in a 21 per cent drop in interest expense to N74 billion from N94 billion.  

It also showed that the growth in net interest income of 4 per cent rose to N235 billion from N225 billion recorded in the comparative period of 2020.  

Total assets also increased by 3 per cent to N8.8 trillion in the current period, while total deposits grew by 13 per cent to close at N6.0 trillion from N5.3 trillion as at Dec. 2020, with a substantial contribution from retail deposits, the statement also showed.  

As a result of the focused drive to increase retail deposits in the past three years, there was a decrease in the Group’s cost of funds by 35 per cent to 1.4 per cent from 2.2 per cent year-on-year.  

For the year’s final quarter, the management’s outlook remained positive, buoyed by a declining inflationary trend, expected increase in foreign exchange inflows, and improvement in oil production, as the Group focused on increasing its retail market share, consolidating its leadership position in the corporate segment and maintaining a robust balance sheet.  

In recognition of its track record of excellent performance, Zenith Bank received several awards including being voted as Best Commercial Bank in Nigeria in the World Finance Banking Awards 2021, Bank of the Year (Nigeria) in The Banker’s Bank of the Year Awards 2020.  

Also, Best Bank in Nigeria in the Global Finance World’s Best Banks Awards 2020 and 2021, and Best in Corporate Governance ‘Financial Services’ Africa 2020 and 2021 by the Ethical Boardroom among many others.  

The National Rubber Producers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria, has pleaded with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to create credit schemes for the development of rubber and other long gestation crops.  

This is contained in a communique the association  issued in Abuja on Saturday at the end of its National Conference.  

The theme of the conference is “Industrialisation of the Rubber Sub-Sector in Nigeria.  

The association called on the Bank of Agriculture, Bank of Industry and NEXIM Bank, to be fully involved in the development of the rubber sub-sector.  

The association said this could be done by making funds available for rubber development at friendly interest rates for small and industrial rubber farmers.  

“Government should implement all the relevant policies already developed to boost the agricultural sectors.  

“Government should take up the responsibility to measure out modalities to assist in rubber production technology to further enhance the promotion and sustainability of the rubber sector.  

“State governments should collaborate with the association in the development of rubber value chain in their states by making land available for the development of rubber plantations.  

“Government should also increase agricultural subsidies to rubber farmers by construction of smokehouses in clusters.  

“This is for effective storage facilities, basic infrastructural facilities, agrichemicals and fertiliser to boost rubber production,” it said.  

The association further called for regular training and workshops for rubber farmers and young students.  

It also urged the government to provide grants and encourage soft loans at single digit interest rates for rubber farmers;  

“There is urgent need for government to collaborate with the organised private sector to factor in aggressive programmes for the development of the rubber sector.  

“This is due to the potential it has to contribute to the Nigerian economy and diversification efforts of the federal government for the sustainable development of the country.  

“Government should also enhance the research institute sector, to enable them develop technologies to improve the rubber sector.  

“Government should expand and enhance the extension services to assist farmers in the rubber sector,” the communique said.  

The association solicited the federal government’s intervention by providing 100,000 hectares of land in each state for rubber production.  

The communique said that the participants commended the association for creating a platform for stakeholders to engage one another in discussions relating to the development of the rubber sub-sector.  

The conference was organised by the association in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment; and Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.  

Other collaborators in the conference which held from Oct. 21 to Oct. 22 were the Raw Materials Research and Development Council and the Nigerian Export Promotion Council.  

The communique is signed by the president and secretary of the association, Mr Igbinosun Idowu-Peter and Mr Orimisan Ogunjumelo respectively.  

United Capital has launched the N150 billion United Capital Infrastructure Fund (UCIF), a Naira-denominated fund established to provide long-term financing for the delivery of critical infrastructure.  

Mr Peter Ashade, the Group Chief Executive Officer of United Capital disclosed in a notice posted on the website of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.  

According to the Ashade, the UCIF would help to bridge the infrastructure deficits in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa.  

He said that the UCIF had been duly registered by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a closeended fund, with a N150Bilion issuance programme.  

He added that the Fund was positioned to finance bankable infrastructure assets that cut across sectors such as power and renewable energy, transportation, agribusiness and industrial infrastructure, healthcare, technology, mass housing, urban and social infrastructure.  

He explained that United Capital was the sponsor of the Fund, which is being managed by United Capital Asset Management Limited (UCAML).  

Ashade also noted that the Fund has retained Africa Finance Corporation as the independent Financial Advisor, to provide additional layers of best practice of corporate governance which enhances the project appraisal and due diligence activities of the Fund Management team.  

“The journey to launch the Fund has taken almost two years, during which period extensive preparatory studies and appraisals were carried out to establish the business case for the Fund.  

“As well as to define a model and governance framework that would provide investors that have an appetite for long-term financing products (such as pension funds and insurance companies), with sufficient confidence of the attractiveness of UCIF, as an investment opportunity,” he said.  

In addition, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, UCAML, Mrs Odiri Oginni explained: “During the almost two years of preparatory activities, the Fund Management team scanned, screened and appraised numerous infrastructure projects and is now at advanced stages of conducting due diligence on a deal pipeline valued in excess of N54 billion.  

“Which include projects such as renewable energy, agro-industrial parks, energy transition, power, healthcare, housing and hospitality.  

“UCIF is working on building strategic alliances with financing counterparts such as multilaterals and public authorities, to ensure that appropriate financing securities and credit enhancement instruments are in place to de-risk the Fund’s portfolio investments,” she explained.  

United Capital Plc is a financial services group with activities that span Investment Banking, Asset Management, Securities Trading, Trustees, Wealth Management and Consumer Finance.  

The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has said it would continue to uphold its core values of an efficient and credible organisation in the discharge of its mandate.  

According to a statement, on Friday, from Amina Othman, Head, Public Communications, BPE, the Director-General, Mr Alex Okoh said this at a retreat organised in conjunction with Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler (KPMG).  

Okoh added that upholding its core values would be as the driver of the reform and privatisation programme of the Federal Government.  

The retreat, which held on Wednesday in Abuja, was titled “Accelerating Impact”.  

The director-general maintained that the reform activities of the bureau cut across all key sectors of the Nigerian economy.  

He said the retreat was one of the ways for the organisation to reposition itself to effectively play the pivotal role as the key driver of the government’s economic reforms programme.  

In his presentation tagged “Towards a New BPE”, Okoh said the aim of the retreat included: to analyse key gaps and improvement opportunities in BPE’s internal operating model and structure, its institutional and regulatory environment.  

The aims also included to revalidate and reach a consensus on the strategic direction for BPE to discuss and agree on its overall strategic priorities; and key imperatives for BPE to achieve the desired future state, among others.  

The BPE boss stressed the need for the bureau’s staff to re-invent themselves and gear up for the next phase of the privatisation and reform programme of the federal government.  

The KPMG team, led by Mr Segun Sowande, noted that the objective of the retreat was to identify key opportunities in the Public Enterprises Reforms.  

Sowande another objective was to identify strategic priorities and key imperatives to achieve the desired future for the bureau. He noted that there were new and viable opportunities for the BPE to latch on and revolutionalise the economy of the nation.  

The one-day retreat had in attendance top management and other staff of BPE.  

Insurance companies will eventually pay about N20 billion in compensations to losses recorded at the October 2020 #EndSARS protests.  

Chairman of the Nigeria Insurance Association (NIA), Mr Ganiyu Musa, said on Wednesday in Lagos that the companies had paid claims totalling N9 billion already.  

NIA said in a report issued on Monday that the insurance companies settled claims on 718 cases of vandalism, 93 cases of looting, 113 cases of theft, and 136 cases of loss of cash.  

The report also stated that 99 claims were settled on malicious damage; eight on business interruptions, 455 on burglary and 912 cases were settled on fire and burnt sites in the aftermath of the #EndSARS protest.  

“Insurance companies have paid more than N9 billion so far as at the last count, but this is certainly not all as we still have quite a lot of claims that are going through processes of documentation.  

“These claims are yet to be settled because the claimants have not provided sufficient documentation to support their claims,’’ Musa said.  

He stressed that by the time claimants submit all the necessary documentation, the industry would be settling claims of about N20 billion.  

Musa, managing director of one of the insurance companies, said estimated economic loss to the protest was more than N200 billion but not all the losses were insured.  

He stated that all insurance companies in the NIA had risen to the challenge to settle all valid claims and assured that all outstanding valid claims of the #EndSARS protests would be paid.  

The NIA chairman noted that the #EndSARS incident was an eye opener to all Nigerians that bad things happen to good people and the unexpected happens once in a while; hence the need for insurance.  

“Nobody ever thought that something like the #EndSARS protest would happen and resulting in so much economic damage.  

“The losses were unexpected, but that is the reason why insurance exists.  

“Those who had valid insurance cover on their property will now understand the value of insurance as an instrument to restore you in case the unexpected happens,’’ Musa stressed.  

According to him, if all the lives and properties damaged were insured, the insurance companies would have been able to pay all the claims.  

Musa explained that this would have been so, because premiums would have been paid and the insurance companies would have accumulated sufficient reserve funds over time to be able to pay the claims.  

The NIA scribe charged governments at all levels to ensure that all their assets, physical and human, are properly covered by relevant insurances.  

Musa urged government to also provide an enabling environment for insurance business to thrive.  

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) says the payment of premium by financial institutions insured by the Corporation will now be based on risks’ assessed.  

The Managing Director of the Corporation, Mr Bello Hassan, disclosed this at the 2021 Financial Correspondents Association of Nigeria (FICAN) workshop on Wednesday in Ibadan.  

Hassan noted that the Corporation was currently reviewing the premium approach to ensure that the probability of risks crystallising in any NDIC insured financial institution would be the major determining factor for the pricing methodology.  

According to him, the focus is therefore to scale up the deposit insurance framework; provide timely support to insured institutions as and when required.  

The managing director said the strategy would also ensure faster and orderly resolutions of liquidated insured institutions and continue to assist the CBN in promoting the stability of the banking system.  

”In the area of deposit insurance, as a key mandate of the Corporation, we have evolved a strategy which accentuates our existing framework.  

”The initiative, strives to ensure that insurance cover is adequate.  

”We have commenced the review of our approach to the determination of premium by banks to make it more risk-based, such that, the probability of risk crystallising, becomes a major factor in the pricing methodology of our premium going forward,” Bello explained.  

He said the Corporation had identified the need to reconsider its framework, to provide realistic terms and conditions that would enable qualifying insured financial institution promptly access technical and or financial support in line with NDIC’s Act.  

Bello listed some obstacles bedeviling the efficient and timely resolutions of liquidated institutions to include slow recovery and realisation of assets, as well as litigation by erstwhile shareholders and creditors of closed banks.  

The managing director said the obstacles would only be addressed through effective collaborations.  

He expressed optimism that the workshop would help the media, the civil society groups, along with the insured financial institutions to better understand the policies and programmes of the Corporation.  

In a lecture, Mr Olatayo Babatolu, the Director, Banking Examination Department of the NDIC, said the banking industry was the most disrupted today following developing trends.  

He said that one of the ways to ensure resilience in the industry was to have a Deposit Insurance Scheme (DIS).  

Babatolu said that DIS was a financial guarantee to protect depositors in the event of bank failure.  

The director said that the Corporation would continue to leverage technology to ensure speed in payment of insured deposits and consumer complaints resolution.

Anthony Areh

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Hajiya Zainab Ahmed, says revenue distributed at Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) is generated by Federal Government agencies.

The minister fielded questions from State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

She faulted recent allegations by Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo that Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) printed N60 billion in March to support federal allocation to states.

The governor was also reported to have said that the economy was in dire condition due to huge debt burden.

“The issue that has been raised by the Edo State Governor for me is very, very sad because it is not a fact.

“What we distribute at FAAC is revenue that is generated and the FAAC revenue distribution is public information and we publish it.

“ So, it is the revenue generated by the FIRS, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the NNPC that we distribute at FAAC. So, it is not true that we printed money to distribute at FAAC.’’

On borrowing, Ahmed said that Nigerian debt was within sustainable limits.

According to her, what is needed is to improve the nation’s revenue to enhance its capacity to service not only our debt obligation but also to service the needs of running government on a day to day basis.

“So, our debt currently at 23 per cent to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is at a very sustainable level.

“ You can look at the reports that you see from multilateral agencies; those facts are stated.’’

The minister said that her ministry presented a memo to FEC on behalf of the FIRS.

She said that the memo sought council’s approval for award of contract for the construction of the FIRS building at Ilupeju Medium and Small Tax Payers Office in the sum of N539 million inclusive of 7.5 per cent VAT.

Ahmed said the completion period of the project was 52 weeks.

“The Ministry also presented on behalf of NCS a memo that was seeking for the council’s approval for the design, construction and supply of two NC 36 M Monohull patrol boats in the sum of N5.06 billion inclusive of five per cent VAT with a delivery period of 12 months.

“We also presented a memo again on behalf of the NCS for the approval of Council for the design, construction and supply of seven fast assault boats and seven regular patrol boats at the sum of N501 million inclusive  of 7.5 per cent VAT with a delivery period of eight weeks.

“ The purpose of purchase of these two types of patrol boats is to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of operations of the NCS in its bid to control smuggling and also ensure enhance efficiency of Customs duty operations in the marine unit of the NCS.

“We also presented again on behalf of the NCS a request for council’s approval and council approved the procurement of 427 operational vehicles for the NCS operations in favour of various contractors in the combined sum of N14.55 billion inclusive of 7.5 per cent VAT with a delivery period of four weeks,’’ she said.

She said there were several contractors, including Wada Motors, Elizade Motors, Westwood Motors and Globe Motors, providing different category of vehicles that are meant for field operations of the NCS.