Finance 360

Orange and Vodafone Group are in “strong running” to buy 65 per cent of Etisalat Nigeria following Etisalat’s exit from the troubled operator, according to local sources. According to Brandish, “no fewer than five” companies have expressed interest in Etisalat Nigeria, although the two international telco giants have shown “concrete interest”. The potential hurdle, the report said, was the restructuring of the debt which caused the current uncertainty for the business. The report also said the negotiators for Etisalat Nigeria – including representatives of its bankers and Nigerian regulators – are working to “mitigate any collateral damage and brand erosion” which could impact the new owners. Either way, a rebranding is likely to be an early priority for Orange or Vodafone if they become the successful owner, to shift away from the Etisalat name. After the Nigerian business defaulted on its loan repayments, Etisalat was required to transfer its holding in the company to a consor...

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has injected $9.964 billion into the inter-bank segment of the foreign exchange (forex) market since it commenced its aggressive interventions in February this year, according to Thisday compilation. The intervention has helped to ease pressure on Nigeria’s forex market, with a view by the Central bamk of Nigeria to narrow and converge the Naira rate at both parallel and official market rates. According to Thisday, between February 21 and August 21, the CBN sold the greenback to authorised dealers in 44 sessions. A breakdown of the dollar sales showed that $680 million was pumped into the market in February, $1.542 billion was sold in March, $1.616 billion in April, $2.102 billion in May, and $1.631 billion in June.  Also, while the central bank offered $1.639 billion to banks to sell to their customers in July, as of August 21, it had sold a total of $754 million. The $2.102 billion sold by the central bank in May remains the highest in...

Stanley Opara Ecobank Transnational Incorporated Plc has announced a drop of 26 per cent to $151.3m in its group profit before tax for the 2017 half year. Its profit after tax also dropped by 19 per cent to $123.4m. In naira terms, the bank said its PBT and PAT rose respectively by 11 per cent and 21 per cent, to close at N46.2bn and N37.7bn, accordingly. The bank's gross earnings declined by six per cent to $1.3bn, as loans and advances to customers went up by two per cent to $9.5bn. Commenting on the result, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the bank, Ade Ayeyemi, said, "Our audited half year results demonstrated the benefits of our diversified business model. Despite a fragile macroeconomic backdrop in most of our markets, we still generated a 15.6 per cent return on tangible equity and further improved our cost-to-income ratio to 60.6 per cent, driven by our continued cost reduction initiatives across the network. "Our revenues increased five per cent ...

Just this first quarter, two companies, Jaiz Bank and Med-View Airline, listed their shares by introduction at the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, after a long lull in this market front. Alhaji Ola Yussuff, Managing Director/CEO, Trust Yield Securities Ltd, in this interview, expressed optimism that this might continue as more companies continue to adjust to the economic realities on ground. Excerpt: This year has started well for the stock exchange with two companies already listed. Do you see more companies coming on board this year? That is the expectation; we have started well and we expect that to continue. Obviously, there will be more. Why do you feel strongly that there will be more listings? It is a natural expectation. The market has been down for so long and everybody is waiting for the market to turn up and you now see a green shoot. After the green shoot, you then begin to see more light at the end of the tunnels. If for the past two to three years we haven’t ...

Credits to Carthy Engelbert As business leaders who work with scores of senior leaders across the private and public sectors, the topic of automation and its implications for workers is inescapable—and often anxiety-inducing. Understandably so. Technology and social changes are poised to reshape nearly every aspect of what and how work gets done, and by whom. When we speak and  write on this topic , the audience response is usually intense and ranges from excitement to deep anxiety. Our response to these fears is two-fold. First, the details matter—a lot. While every industry will likely be impacted, the nature of those impacts may vary considerably. To understand what’s coming, we have to appreciate the make-up of tasks within a job, the demographic factors at play in particular industries and regions, and regulatory or other external “brakes” (particularly social attitudes) that might impede automation. Sweeping generalizations can invariably mislead more than they reveal....

The banks are facing tighter regulatory pressures as they prepare to meet International Financial Reporting Standards 9 (IFRS 9) deadline, according to analysts. The implementation on IFRS strongly affects the way credit losses are recognised in the balance sheet and profit and loss (P & L) statement. While impairments are currently based on “incurred losses”, IFRS 9 introduces an approach based on future expectations, namely expected losses (EL). The main impact on banks is the need to recognise EL for all financial products, and at individual and grouped-asset levels. Banks will have to update their calculation at each reporting date to reflect changes in the credit quality of their assets. This will significantly increase the number and frequency of impairment quantifications that must be undertaken and the amount of data that must be processed for such purpose. At an event, Panelists said that IFRS 9 introduces changes to the classification, measurement and impairme...

ABUJA — NATIONAL leadership of Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU,  yesterday, said it was not true that the indefinite strike declared last week had been called off. There was a report, weekend, that the strike had been suspended after the Federal Government representatives led by Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, and Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, met with the leadership of the union in Abuja, Wednesday. But the National President of ASUU, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, told Vanguard on telephone, yesterday, that there was no truth in the alleged suspension of the strike. Instead, he said the union was still consulting with the relevant stakeholders on the outcome of the meeting it had with government representatives. Asked when the union would meet again with government and when the National Executive Council, NEC, of ASUU would meet to take final decision, Ogunyemi said for now he was not aware of when to meet with government representati...

Last week, I interviewed with one of the Players in the Gaming Industry for a role in Accounts/Procurement, though I did not get hired but it was surprising to find that a Holiday job I did for about a month that was not even in my Resume was of most Significance to the Recruiter. Interviewer: what do you know about ZEROBET (not actual name) I: honestly, this is the First time I am hearing that name, but I have worked with BETLAGOS (not actual name) and typical of every player in this industry, you are a Central Hub with Agents scattered across different locations, these agents make payments to you and these payments give them the entitlements to BET for their own Clients to the tune of deposits made to you……., the conversations went on and on and Indeed I know (within my exposure) a whole lot about this industry and I was dishing it out as asked. From the impression on the recruiters’ face, it was obvious she was impressed; I would not have imagined that stint I Had with BETLA...

WHAT IS THE GAME CHANGER FOR MILLENNIALS IN A RECEDING ECONOMY With rising cases on Unemployment in the Country and ample evidence to suggest that young graduates are 8 times likely to be unemployed than the much older and experienced persons, I have always wondered what what is the game changer for young Graduates? what is that one thing that could set them apart and raise them above the competition? Some would say the school you had your undergraduate degree is the game changer, others would speak in favor of Professional qualifications and some still would say "It is your ability to sell yourself to your potential employers". I have therefore encapsulate this dilemma in the following poetic lines; if you had your undergrad study in ABSU, some had theirs' in UNIPORT. yours was in UNILAG, some went to Oxford. you have an ICAN certification, some have ICAN,ACCA,CFA,OCP,OMCP certifications combined. you have a 2:1 some had a First Class. I have been wondering late...