Nigeria Content Online

The world’s top
cellphone maker Nokia cut its profit outlook and delayed the launch of
phones it needs to compete with the iPhone and Blackberry in the
fast-growing high end of the market.

Nokia still lacks a
top-range model to challenge Apple’s iPhone three years after its
launch. It’s last high-end hit phone was the N95, which was unveiled in
2006.

Nokia reported on
Thursday a rise in January-March earnings and sales, roughly in line
with expectations, but cut the outlook for its 2010 operating profit
margin at its key phone unit to 11-13 percent from 12-14 percent.

The average forecast of 33 analysts in a Reuters poll was 13.7 percent.

Shares in Nokia
were 14.5 percent lower at 9.64 euros by 1142 GMT, dragging the STOXX
Europe 600 Technology Index .SX8P four percent lower.

The smartphone
market continued to expand through the economic downturn, helped by
cheaper models, and research firm Gartner has forecast it will grow a
whopping 46 percent this year.

Nokia delayed the
renewal of its Symbian software — seen as crucial to improve its
position in the high-end of the market — to the third quarter from
second quarter.

“This is pretty
significant as Nokia and Symbian have lost a lot of market share in the
last few years,” said analyst Neil Mawston from Strategy Analytics.

“Psychologically it
is a blow as well as iPhone, Blackberry ad Android are surging ahead
with software updates. Symbian cannot afford any delays,” said Mawston.

Smartphone prices drop 17 pct in one quarter

Nokia slashed
prices of its cell phones across its portfolio this week, with the
deepest cuts of around 10 percent seen for some smartphone models, data
seen by Reuters showed on Thursday.

Nokia is struggling
to battle with new rivals Apple and Blackberry maker Research in Motion
(RIMM.O) at the high end of the cellphone market, and sees a cheaper
price as its strongest weapon to hold on to market share, analysts said.

Nokia is benefiting
from growth among cheap smartphones, which dragged the average sales
price of a Nokia smartphone 17 percent from the previous quarter to
just 155 euros ($208). This compares to more than $600 for iPhone.

Apple’s quarterly
results blew past Wall Street expectations on the back of record iPhone
sales earlier this week, and the company gave a strong revenue
forecast, sending its shares to an all-time high.

For Nokia,
underlying first-quarter earnings per share rose 40 percent from a year
ago to 0.14 euros ($0.19), marking the first annual rise since the
second quarter of 2008 but missing the average forecast of 0.15 in a
Reuters poll of 43 analysts.

Earnings were
boosted by massive cost cuts as Nokia slashed thousands of jobs last
year, aiming to reduce costs at its key handset unit alone by more than
700 million euros to counter recession-hit demand.

January-March sales
at the market leader, which makes one in three phones sold globally,
grew 3 percent from a year ago, also rising for the first time since
the second quarter of 2008.

Nokia shares had
gained 26 percent in 2010 prior to the result, boosted by strong
fourth-quarter results and hopes that its smartphones business was
winning back lost market share. The share remains 8 percent higher for
the year.

($1=.7439 Euro)

Nigeria’s economy is set to grow 6.3 percent this year and
consumer inflation should stay in double-digits through 2011 as the government
slashes fuel subsidies and increases budgetary spending, a Reuters poll showed
on Thursday.

A poll of 11 analysts forecast Nigerian inflation to average
12.6 percent in 2010 and 11.5 percent next year.

That marks an acceleration since a previous poll in January,
which forecast 11.4 percent inflation this year but did not forecast inflation
next year.

The National Bureau of Statistics last week estimated March
inflation at 11.8 percent.

“Inflation will be sustained at a high level as the effect of
fuel price deregulation and expansionary fiscal policy becomes apparent,” said
Alan Cameron, analyst for London-based Business Monitor International.

The poll forecast sub-Saharan Africa’s No. 2 economy to grow 6.3
percent this year, down slightly from 6.7 percent last year and compared with a
forecast for 6.4 percent growth in a previous poll in January.

Analysts expected the budget’s fiscal deficit to grow by 3.5
percent this year, according to the poll, below government expectations of more
than 5 percent.

Central Bank Governor Lamido Sanusi warned last week that
double-digit inflation was a threat, but his top priority remained stimulating
economic growth and getting credit flowing in Africa’s biggest energy producer.

The central bank last week forecast GDP growth to average 7.5
percent in 2010.

“Nigeria’s balance sheet remains strong,” said Thalma Corbett,
chief economist at NKC Independent. “Continued strong growth in the services
and agriculture sectors will boost economic growth, as will oil output
expansion.”

Fuel deregulation

Sanusi has backed federal efforts to deregulate the fuel sector,
saying it may cause a brief spike in inflation but the economy would benefit in
the long run.

Despite vying with Angola as Africa’s top oil producer, Nigeria
imports some 85 percent of its fuel needs because of the disrepair and
mismanagement of its four state-owned refineries.

Fuel subsidies cost the government more than $4 billion a year.

Analysts said increased government spending this year would also
contribute to double-digit inflation.

Acting President Goodluck Jonathan is expected to sign into law
this week a N4.608 trillion budget, which lawmakers hope will help Nigeria out
of a downturn.

The poll’s forecast that the fiscal deficit would grow 3.5
percent this year, below government expectations of more than 5 percent, was
based on weaker-than-expected capital spending projections.

“We see the fiscal deficit coming in below official expectations
given that the capital expenditure component of the budget is unlikely to be
fully implemented,” Cameron said.

More than a third of this year’s budget is for capital spending
on areas including infrastructure, the power sector and development in the
oil-rich Niger Delta.

The oversubscription of Oando Plc’s Rights Issue announced on
Thursday was expected, some operators at the Nigerian capital market have said.

Gbenga Emmanuel, a portfolio manager at WealthZone Company, said
the 128 per cent subscription which the company recorded during its Right Issue
offer was “not surprising” to us market operators.

“We had predicted that the Right Issue would be oversubscribed
because investors’ interest in Oando, an indigenous oil company in Nigeria with
upstream and downstream operations, is still very strong,” he said.

Mr. Emmanuel said many of the company’s shareholders bought
additional rights during the offer. “Only few of them sold their rights,” the
finance analyst added.

Tunde Oladapo-Dixon, Chief Executive Officer of StockPicks
Consulting, also said the company’s Right Issue was oversubscribed because
“about 80 per cent of subscribers took their rights while some sold off their
rights.” Oando issued 301,694,876 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at N70 per
share to existing shareholders who names appeared on the register of the
company as at the close of business on December 18, 2009. The issue opened on
January 25 and closed on February 19.

Indication of confidence

Oando, one of Nigerian energy groups, yesterday announced that
its recent Rights Issue was oversubscribed. The company, which has a primary
listing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and a secondary listing on the
Johannesburg Stock Exchange, in a statement, said the Rights Issue that was
expected to raise N21 billion returned 128 per cent subscription.

Wale Tinubu, Oando’s Group Chief Executive, said, “We are
extremely pleased with the positive reaction to our rights issue in spite of
the seeming apathy to capital market investments.

This is an indication of the confidence of investors in our
ability to optimise resources to create superior returns. These funds will
complement our ongoing strategy of investing in high margin businesses as well
as supporting our expansion plans to take maximum advantage of opportunities
within Africa’s energy landscape,” he said.

Raising more funds

Seeking shareholders’ approval to raise the fund last August,
Mr. Tinubu, said the aggressive growth saw the company become highly leveraged,
and would therefore need to pay down and restructure some its loans under
better terms.

He added that the company also needed to raise further capital
from debt and equity financing sources to develop its new acquisitions that can
diversify its revenue stream.

As a result, the shareholders gave their approval and support
for N220 billion capital raising exercise last year. Specifically, the N20.4
billion begin the first phase of the capital raising programme, according to
Mr. Tinubu, “is an important step for Oando towards refinancing the acquisition
of upstream assets, providing operational capital to fund the operation of
upstream business and short & medium term investments in its gas and power
business segment.” He explained that after the right issue, what will follow
will be a combination of international debt and equity offerings through which
Oando hopes to raise between $500 million and $600 million. The final phase, he
added, would be a public offer later in the year.

High earnings

Oando, which has six business divisions -Exploration &
Production, Energy Services, Gas & Power, Marketing, Supply & Trading,
and Refining & Terminals, on April 12, announced results for the year
ending December 31, 2009. Its Pre-Tax profits increased by 21 per cent to
N10.1billion compared to N8.3 billion same period in 2008, while earnings per
share increased by 23 per cent.

In 2004, Oando raised N16 billion, the highest at that time by a
non-financial institution, through a rights issue and public offering at that
time. The funds realised accelerated the company’s transformation from a
downstream business into one of Nigeria’s largest indigenous energy groups.

Regester Larkin, a
London-based company in the provision of reputation strategy and
management services to the oil and gas sector, is providing a platform
to enable oil companies to build capacity and network with their peers
in other parts of the world.

To this end,
Regester Larkin will conduct a four-day intensive and holistic training
programme in crisis management for Health, Safety and Environment (HSE)
managers, Corporate Communications and Human Relations professionals
from international, national, and local energy companies. The programme
comes up between July 19 – 22, 2010 in London.

Rob Sherwin,
Director at Regester Larkin, said the training “will equip participants
with the fundamental skills and workable tools to enable the various
professionals and their companies to manage crises while protecting
their reputation and their license to operate.”

He emphasised that
the training will cover international best practices in crisis
management, crisis spokesperson training and coaching, simulation, and
the roles of professionals in times of corporate crisis.

Adedayo Ojo,
Managing Director, Caritas Communications, the Nigerian affiliate of
the company, said the programme will not only train and update the
participants on ways of minimising the potential damage that corporate
reputation suffers as a result of crisis, but also provide an
opportunity for Nigerian participants to share experiences and build
network with their peers from around the world.

He, therefore,
calls on relevant professionals and energy companies in the country to
avail themselves of the opportunity and be part of the programme.

Regester Larkin is
a specialist reputation strategy and management consultancy. Regester
Larkin works with multinational, state-owned, and indigenous energy
companies around the world to protect and capitalise on their
reputation through strategic communications, reputation management, and
crisis preparedness.

If technology can
be considered an enabler and used to solve everyday challenges and
problems in our society, then perhaps using CCTV to combat crime either
as a deterrent or to actually investigate and solve crimes on our
streets, housing developments, housing estates and town centres etc is
quite a valid preposition.

Closed-circuit television (CCTV)

Closed-circuit
television (CCTV) which essentially refers to the use of video cameras
to transmit data (images) to a bank of monitors in a control room. All
such data can also be recorded over time and can stand up as evidence
in a court of law when prosecuting any kind of crime.

Statistics exist
certainly in more developed countries to confirm that the presence of
CCTV alone serves as a deterrent to and in solving crime.

In developing
countries such as Nigeria where armed robbery, kidnapping, carjacking,
motoring offenses etc is becoming prevalent, there is, in my view a
need to implement an efficient CCTV architecture across the country as
a whole, as mentioned earlier it will not only serve as a deterrent but
will assist in investigating and gathering evidence to recover stolen
items and prosecute such offenses to the full extent of the Law.

Successful usage of CCTV architecture

CCTV architecture has successfully been used to great effect in the following manner in other countries;

>> Used to monitor airports, roads, shopping centre, government buildings and establishments in real time.

>> Investigation even after a crime has been committed as you are relying on recorded video data.

>> Regular traffic updates and monitoring of accidents and hotspots etc

>> Number
plate recognition which when integrated with the Car Registration or
license plate database can assist in instantly identifying any
offenders.

>> Directed surveillance of suspected offenders.

>> Video data
images of any individuals on a police watch list can be processed
through an automatic face recognition system to confirm their identity.

>> Emergencies and other special events

>> Talking CCTV allows the operator talk directly to individuals committing anti social behaviour etc.

Managing CCTV

It is probably best
to implement, run and manage CCTV infrastructure independently
(preferably by private sector organisations for obvious reasons) and
put in place procedures to allow the various organisations that may
need to or are allowed to access such data in a very controlled manner
to ensure that the confidentiality and integrity of all such data is
maintained.

According to a BBC
news report, as of 2002 there were 25 Million cameras worldwide, 2.5
million in the U.K. alone and the average UK citizen is caught on
camera 300 times a day, your guess is as good as mine on the exact
numbers today.

There are arguments
against the proliferation of CCTV cameras (as postulated by civil
liberties organsations across the world) primarily on the basis, that
CCTV can be used by the government to perpetuate itself as a ‘Big
Brother’, monitoring and encroaching on people’s privacy which is quite
a valid argument when it is used in a negative way. But what about the
list of items mentioned earlier on, that CCTV can be used to combat?

Like everything
else, where CCTV architecture is implemented and used correctly, the
benefits of having such an infrastructure implemented across all major
towns certainly outweighs the disadvantages.

Implementing a
suitable CCTV infrastructure is certainly a worthwhile investment,
either by the public or private sector and will overall assist in
reducing crime, concentrating on categories of crime that are either
highest volume or that are of greatest concern to the public, reduce
levels of anti-social behaviour that blights the quality of life in our
society and ultimately reduce the fear of crime and disorder.

Airlines around the
world began to confront a huge backlog of passengers on Wednesday,
after six days of European airspace restrictions had forced the
cancellation of more than 100,000 flights and cost the airline industry
an estimated $1.7 billion.

While officials
said it could take weeks for some travel to return completely to
normal, some airlines in Europe and Asia said they were moving rapidly
to restore flights. Eurocontrol, the agency that coordinates regional
air-traffic management, said three-quarters of the 28,000 flights
scheduled for European airspace were expected to fly on Wednesday – the
highest proportion in days.

About two-thirds of
scheduled departures and half of arriving flights were operating at
Heathrow Airport outside of London. At Frankfurt International Airport,
about half as many flights as normal were taking off and landing.

A spokeswoman said
that airlines had added 90 supplementary flights in and out of Heathrow
since Britain reopened its airspace late Tuesday, becoming the last
major European country to do so after a huge plume of volcanic ash
spreading south and east from Iceland disrupted travel over much of the
continent.

But flights were
not resuming as quickly at other British regional airports. Only 10 per
cent of scheduled flights at Edinburgh operated on Wednesday morning, a
figure that was expected to rise to 50 per cent by the evening. In
Aberdeen, only 30 per cent of morning flights operated, while 65 per
cent were expected from 5pm.

The International
Air Transport Association (IATA), said Wednesday that the crisis had
cost airlines more than $1.7 billion in lost revenue through Tuesday.
At its worst, the association said, “the crisis impacted 29 per cent of
global aviation and affected 1.2 million passengers a day.” Before
restrictions were eased, the chaos had lasted twice as long as the
three-day closing of American airspace after the attacks of September
11, 2001, which devastated many airlines financially. By midday in
Paris, Air France said that it had been able to restore almost all
service across its entire network, and had flown more than 40,000
stranded passengers back to France since Monday.

The airline said it
expected to operate all its scheduled long-haul flights on Wednesday
and many European flights except for those to northern and northeastern
Europe, where some airports remained closed.

Aéroports de Paris,
which operates Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports, said all
intercontinental arrivals and departures and 75 per cent of European
and domestic flights were expected to operate Wednesday.

British Airways
planned to operate all of its intercontinental services from London’s
Heathrow and Gatwick airports on Wednesday, although many of its
domestic and European flights remained cancelled until at least
Wednesday afternoon.

Britain’s National
Air Traffic Service said it had handled roughly 130 flights in the
airspace over England and Wales between 1am and 7am on Wednesday and 35
flights in Scotland and Northern Ireland. British airspace would be
largely open on Wednesday, except for parts of Scotland with a “dense
concentration” of volcanic ash. Aer Lingus, the Irish flag carrier,
said it expected to resume a full flight schedule by early afternoon.

With their call
centres jammed by customers trying to re-book their flights, some
airlines found innovative ways to speed the process, including social
media networks.

The Dutch carrier KLM advised passengers on its Web site that re-booking could be done via Twitter or on its Facebook page.

According to
forecasts by Britain’s Met Office meteorological agency and the
Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre in London, winds were expected to continue
blowing the highest concentrations of ash westward toward the northeast
coast of Canada. By midnight Wednesday, the cloud was expected to be
largely clear of Europe, lingering over only Ireland and parts of
northern Scotland.

The New York Times

First Bank of
Nigeria Plc, suffering from huge post-audit losses like every other
bank in the country, refines growth strategy for the current fiscal
year.

First Bank in its
financial report for the nine month period ended December 31, 2009, in
line with the common year end required by the Central Bank of Nigeria,
reports 29 percent increase in gross earnings and 15 percent increase
in operating income.

However, profit before and after tax nose-dived deeply by 72.64 percent and 90.5 percent respectively.

Nonetheless, the
bank appears to be already making up for the losses as its first
quarter 2010 results recorded a 62 percent quarter on quarter increase
in profit, before tax and capital adequacy of 16.6 percent.

Although gross
earnings stood at N62.4 billion for the three months ended March 3,
2010, showing a year on year decrease of 10.6 percent, from N69.8
billion in March 31, 2009, profit before tax was put at N15.4 billion,
following a loss of N9.8 billion in March 2009. However, this is an
increase of 62.1 percent quarter on quarter (N9.5 billion December
2009).

On the other hand, shareholders’ funds stood at N310 billion, a decrease of eight percent from N337 billion in March 2009.

Stephen Olabisi
Onasanya, Group Managing Director of First Bank, while commenting on
the year end results, in a statement made available to NEXT, said: “We
have also refined our strategy based on four strategic themes and
priorities: growth via the diversification of assets and revenue
streams; service excellence by developing world class processes,
systems and capabilities; performance management to create a culture of
individual accountability at all levels; and developing talent with a
view to becoming the hub for the best talent in the industry.”

Financial highlights

The group’s
financial highlights show gross earnings of N196.4 billion during the
period in review, or an increase of 29 percent compared with N152.5
billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2008.

Operating income
was put at N130.5 billion (N113.2 billion December 2008), an increase
of 15.3 percent; profit before tax of N11.6 billion (N42.4 billion
December 2008), 72.64 percent fall impacted by an increase in
provisions for loan-losses post CBN-audit.

Profit after tax
stood at N3.2 billion (N33.9 billion December 2008), representing over
90.5 percent decrease, while shareholders’ funds fell to N310 billion,
a decrease of six percent from N331 billion year on year.

Also, full and
conservative provision against loans and advances rose to N40.6
billion, as at December 31 2009, compared to N18.9 billion a year ago.
Loan-to-deposit ratio fell to 81 percent, down from 84 percent during
the period in review, while non-performing loan ratio rose to 8.2
percent from 2.1 percent in December 2008. Also, cost/income ratio rose
to 60 percent, up from 56.4 percent in December 2008.

Basic earnings per share was put at 10.99 kobo for the nine month period, compared to N1.36 as at December end 2008.

Speaking on the
result, Mr. Onasanya said, “As highlighted in our results, 2009 has
been a tough year for the Nigerian banking sector as a whole and this
is reflected in our performance. We have also made full provisions in
compliance with the CBN requirement and I am pleased to say that our
operating performance and financial stability remain solid, with
operating income up 15.3 percent, against the prior year period and a
risk weighted capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of 15.8 percent, well in
excess of the regulatory minimum.”

Strategic Themes

Despite the huge
losses, Alex Otti, Executive Director, South, noted that total deposits
for the Group continued to grow over the period, albeit at a slower
pace. “However, since the year end, there has been a flood of liquidity
into the system, which has brought fixed income yields to record lows,
dragging deposit rates down with them, and potentially lending rates as
well, albeit at a much slower rate.” However, the bank is anticipating
a pick-up in mergers and acquisition activities, in the banking sector
with further growth in infrastructure funding.

The bank also said
it will focus more on investment banking, asset management, insurance
and international expansion, and plans “to consolidate our subsidiaries
within five business groups (First Bank of Nigeria, FBN Bank
International, Investment Banking & Asset Management, Insurance,
and Emerging Ventures),” which will be overseen by a new Group
Management Committee.