West Africa | - Part 12

Nigerian Bank FCMB Sees Capital Staying at ‘Comfortable’ Levels

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – FCMB Group Plc, a Nigerian lender which some analysts have said may need to raise capital, expects to remain comfortably above regulatory requirements for the rest of 2017. The Lagos-based bank raised 7 billion naira ($23 million) by selling bonds in the last quarter of 2016, “which was used to refinance term deposits and modestly increased capital,’’ Ladi Balogun, chief executive officer of First City Monument Bank Ltd., said in…

IsDB pledges to support the growth of private sector in Guinea

Posted on by The Editorial Team

Conakry (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) has pledged to support the growth of the private sector in the Republic of Guinea. The statement was made by the IsDB Vice President (Sector Operations), Dr. Mansur Muhtar at the opening ceremony of the Private Sector Forum jointly organized by the Government of Guinea and IsDB Group. The Prime Minister of Guinea, Mr. Mamady Youla chaired the Forum in the capital Conakry. The…

Nigeria Central Bank Hits Out at ‘Unpatriotic’ Policy Critics

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria’s central bank lashed out at critics of its efforts to prop up the naira and said that weakening the currency would only harm poor people. “Intelligence reports at the disposal of the bank reveal the involvement of some unpatriotic elements funding the push to have the Central Bank of Nigeria and the federal government reverse its foreign-exchange policy,” Isaac Okorafor, a spokesman, said in a statement on the Abuja-based central…

Guinness Nigeria Posts Biggest Loss in 30 Years on High Cost

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) Guinness Nigeria Plc, the country’s second-biggest brewer, posted its biggest loss in at least 30 years as production and financing costs rose in Africa’s most populous nation. The local unit of London-based Diageo Plc posted a loss of 4.67 billion naira ($14.8 million) for the six months through December compared with a profit of 1.17 billion naira ($4.71 million) a year earlier. Cost of sales rose by more than 50 percent while financing costs…

Economic Recovery in Nigeria Hobbled by Oil, Currency Policy

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) Nigeria’s economy may struggle to rebound from its worst slump in 25 years unless President Muhammadu Buhari can end an armed conflict in the nation’s oil-producing region and fix a currency policy that’s blocked investment. Pipeline attacks in the Niger River delta cut oil production by a third last year, slashing government revenue, while central bank intervention and trading restrictions that prop up the value of the naira have stymied trade and…

Nigeria’s woes won’t deter investors from buying dollar bonds

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Investors are lining up to buy dollar bonds Nigeria is expected to issue soon despite the country’s first recession in a quarter of a century, a currency crisis and budget shortfalls driven by low oil prices. On the face of it, the $1 billion of bonds Nigeria hopes to sell by the end of March might seem unattractive, especially at a time sentiment towards African debt has soured after…

Guinness Nigeria to Convert Loans to Shares to Conserve Funds

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Guinness Nigeria Plc, the country’s second-biggest brewer, plans to convert a portion of dollar-denominated loans from parent Diageo Plc into shares to limit the impact of exchange-rate volatility and conserve cash. “We don’t want to be holding foreign-currency loans,” ChairmanBabatunde Savage told shareholders at a meeting in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, on Tuesday. The company’s cash flow is already under pressure from a Nigerian economic downturn, he said. The company took out…

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