UBA delivers

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The last three months has seen significant appreciation at the NGX, following the twin reforms of the government. As the data below shows, NGX ASI is up by 30% year to date. Yesterday’s result by United Bank for Africa (UBA), showing impressive performance for the first half of this year, is therefore an icing on the cake for investors and shareholders of the bank.

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Markets

• The benchmark NGX All-Share Index (ASI) dropped 535.98 (-0.8%) points to close at 66,760.20, representing a week loss of 2.3%, 4-week gain of 2.82%, and an overall year-to-date gain of 30.26%. Academy Press share price declined 13.04% at NGN 1.80 per share, while E-Tranzact International followed with a drop of 10%, Regency Alliance Insurance (-10%) and Dangote Sugar Refinery (-9.96%).

• Oil prices jumped about 2% to a near 10-month high on Tuesday on a tighter supply outlook and OPEC optimism over the resilience of energy demand in major economies. Brent futures rose US $1.69, or 1.73%, to US $92.21 a barrel while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose US $1.99, or 2.3%, to US $89.28.

• Naira appreciated by 4.06% at the I&E exchange, closing at N742.10 to the US dollar. On the streets, Naira was down by 1.09%, reaching a value of N930.00 against the US dollar.

• U.S. natural gas futures climbed 6.10% to US $2.77, a one-week high on Tuesday on forecasts for warmer weather and higher demand over the next two weeks than previously expected. Traders also noted that prices rose on a big drop in daily in U.S. output.

UBA delivers

The United Bank for Africa (UBA) released its most impressive result yesterday, showing gross earnings close to a trillion ((981.78 billion) Naira while the Bank’s total assets rose to N15.38 trillion. The half year result ended June 30 was released to the public yesterday at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX). The results released is underlined by “substantial progress in increasing the contributions and market share from its subsidiaries in Africa and globally”, the Bank said.

With a shareholder fund of N1.712 trillion, shareholders will receive interim dividends of 50k per share from a profit before tax of N404 billion, an extraordinary increase of 371% compared to the same period last year.

As its name says, UBA is truly an Africa’s global bank. Established in 1949, and one of Nigeria’s first-generation banks, but has demonstrated exceptional capacity for improving agility that has propelled it to the top, not only in Nigeria, but with commanding presence in 20 African countries.

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National Headlines

• Streamlining Nigeria’s plethora taxes – The Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, has hinted that one of the major work of the committee will be to streamline the number of taxes in the country. He estimated there are currently over 60 different forms of taxes and levies. The number makes it cumbersome to collect taxes, undermines accountability and transparency, and extensively unfair because it places huge burden on the poor. The plan is to reduce the number of taxes to a single digit. This will encourage people to pay, and government will be able to collect more by reducing leakages.

• No more sit at home in the Southeast – The Chief of Army Staff Lt. General Taoreed Lagbaja has provided what is great news to beleaguered people and residents in the South East as he claimed that the sit at home on Mondays since August 2021 has ended. What started as an announcement by the indigenous people of Biafra (IPOB) in response to the incarceration of its leader Nnamdi Kanu snowballed into one of the longest sit at home exercises that have crippled the economy of the region. In response, some companies, and businesses, tired of losing productivity and revenues shifted to Tuesday to Saturday work week.

Global Headlines

• Apple launches iPhone 15 – Apple yesterday launched its iPhone 15 and iPhone 15+, starting at US $799. The technology giant also launched the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, starting at US $999. Four hours after the launch, 21 million had viewed the prerecorded launch on the company’s YouTube account. Apple 15, as expected, is an upgrade on iPhone 14. It has an entirely new camera system of 48 MP main camera, super retina XDR that is twice as bright as iPhone 14 and a ceramic shield that is water and dust resistant.

This Week

• On Thursday, 14^th September 2023, The Nigeria Bureau of Statistics is expected to release the Q2’2023 Nigeria public Debt and the railway data for the same quarter

• On Friday, 15^th September 2923, the NBS will release the inflation report for the month of August.

• Also, On Wednesday, 13th September, the United State will release its inflation rate for the month of August. The unemployment rate in the UK increased to 4.2% in the three months to June 2023, the highest since late-2021 and above market forecasts of 4% and 4% in the previous period. The Consumer Price Index in the United States increased by 3.2 percent year-on-year to 305.691 points in July 2023, which was an acceleration from the 3.0 percent growth recorded in the previous month.