August 2019 - Page 2 of 3 - Newsfield GLOBAL

Naira stability: CBN sells N299bn T-bills in one week

August 19, 2019August 24, 2019 admin

With the recent downward movement in oil prices resulting in a decline in the nation’s external reserves and triggering concerns over naira stability, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) auctioned a total of N299billion worth of Treasury Bills between August 7 and 15, to lure foreign inflows, findings by New Telegraph show. According to traders, the recent drop in oil prices, coupled with falling yields, led foreign investors to booking profits on local bonds, thereby putting pressure on the naira at the Investors and Exporters’ (I&E) foreign exchange window. The CBN responded to the development by holding an unscheduled Treasury bill auction on August 7, during which it sold a total of N114.6billion worth of T-bills. The auction was the apex bank’s first T-Bills sale since mid-July and it saw the CBN offering to sell N100billion of bills in maturities of three, six and 12 months, but getting bids of N454.9billion, with…

NSE lists Greenwich Alpha ETF

August 19, 2019 admin

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) yesterday listed Greenwich Asset Management Limited’s ‘Greenwich Alpha ETF on its daily official list. The Greenwich Alpha ETF units were listed at N100 each following an Initial Public Offer (IPO) on Monday, August 19, 2019. Greenwich Alpha is an open-ended ETF, which tracks the NSE 30 Index. The index constitutes 30 of the most liquid and capitalised stocks trading on the exchange. It is designed for investors to access the constituent companies of the NSE 30 index, thereby getting the performance of the index. Speaking…

Zenith Bank posts N89bn net earnings in HY’19

August 19, 2019 admin

Zenith Bank Plc has recorded a profit after tax of N88.882 billion for the half year ended June 30, 2019 as against N81.737 billion reported in 2018, representing a growth of 8.74 per cent. In a filing with the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the group’s pre-tax profit also rose by 4.02 per cent from N107.358 billion during the previous year to N111.677 billion during the period under review. The lender’s gross earnings stood at N331.586 billion as against N322.201 billion posted in 2018, accounting for a growth of three per…

UBA partners LCCI for 2019 Lagos International Trade Fair

August 19, 2019 admin

Promises 20% discount on registration Pan African financial services institution, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, and the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), have partnered to organise the 2019 edition of the Lagos International Trade Fair. The fair, which holds between November 1 and 10, 2019, is the 33rd edition and is expected to provide an avenue for networking and other business opportunities that will assist to catapult business activities in Africa’s largest and busiest city, Lagos and in Nigeria. UBA, which is the headline partner, will…

Stock market begins week bullish with N93bn gain

August 19, 2019 admin

Trading activities on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) yesterday commenced the week on a positive track as the overall market performance indices firmed up with a gain of 0.71 per cent. Transactions on the stock market had last Friday recorded a decline to close on the red territory following depreciable demand by investors on sustained market apathy. Consequently, the All-Share Index gained 190.6 basis points or 0.71 per cent to close at 27,115.89 index points as against 26.925.29 recorded last Friday while the market capitalisation closed from…

Report: Emefiele, fund managers meet in London

August 19, 2019 admin

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, met fund managers in London last week to lure investors back into the local naira currency, Reuters reported two banking sources as saying yesterday. Emefiele told investors that currency stability would continue, a fund manager and a banking source said. The naira weakened to 364 last week as oil prices fell. The naira has come under pressure at the investors and exporters forex window in recent weeks due to a decline in oil prices as well as a drop in yields,…

Fidelity Bank adopts open banking

August 19, 2019 admin

Fidelity Bank has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Open Technology Foundation (OTF) for the adoption of a standard Application Programming Interface (API) for its operations as a financial institution. Open banking is a system that provides a user with a network of financial institutions’ data through the use of application programming interfaces (APIs). The Open Banking Nigeria Standard defines how financial data and services should be created, shared and accessed. By relying on networks instead of centralisation, open banking helps customers to securely share their financial data with other…

Equities: FMDQ plans to begin listing firms

August 19, 2019 admin

FMDQ Securities Exchange has said that following the approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), moving it from ‘an OTC Market’ to a full-fledged ‘Securities Exchange, it is planning among other things to enter the equity market. Addressing journalists on the development, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the firm, Mr. Bola Onadele Koko, said: “We will be in the equity market when we win the first listing. The fact that we want to do equity does not mean it will be now. Companies take time to come for…

CBN: Bad debt ratio drops to 9.36%

August 19, 2019 admin

The Non-Performing Loan (NPL) ratio in the country’s banking system dropped to single digit at 9.36 per cent in June 2019 for the first time in about three months, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said. Deputy Governor in charge of Financial System Stability at the apex bank, Mrs. Aishah Ahmad, stated this in her personal statement for the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting last month, which along with other MPC members’ personal statements were posted on the CBN’s website yesterday. The MPC members stated that the continuous decline in banks’ NPL…

Sterling Bank’s Cafe One hosts 2019 Caine Prize winner

August 19, 2019 admin

Cafe One, Nigeria’s first digital, hybrid experience centre by Sterling Bank Plc, recently hosted award winning Nigerian writer, Lesley Nneka Arimah, in collaboration with Farafina Books. She is the author of a collection of short stories titled, “What It Means When A Man Falls From The Sky,” which won the 2019 Caine Prize for Africa. Café one, dubbed as a place where innovation meets community, was designed for comfort and equipped to provide banking services with ease and convenience. The space boasts of serving the best coffee and pastries in Lagos,…