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Performances on the
floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) during the week were mixed,
as the NSE All-Share Index (ASI) had three bullish days and two days
bow to the bear’s call. The bull(s) return during the previous week was
strong and boosted investors’ portfolio to appreciable profit levels.
This in-turn led to short profit taking activities, which saw the
market down between the third and fourth trading day of the week.

In all, NSE ASI
wrapped up the week slightly above the opening point by 3.17% or 721.81
points to close at 23,772.40 points, from 23,050.59. Market
capitalization closed at N5.825 trillion.

Four of the five
sectoral indicators closed the week above their various opening
figures. NSE-Food/Beverages were up by 17.28 points or 2.43% and close
with 735.30. NSE-Banking appreciated by 17.35 points or 5.2%,
NSE-Insurance headed north by 13.63 points or 9.3% at 154.87.

NSE 30 gained 30.54 points or 3.19% to close at 1,007.34, while NSE-Oil/Gas dipped by 4.96 points or 1.51% to close at 154.87.

Activities review

The stock market
recorded a turnover of 2.05 billion shares valued at N18 billion. The
said volume was moved in 28,785 transactions. The banking sector top
volume performance with 1.15 billion shares that were boosted by volume
on the shares of Diamond Bank, Access Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, First
Bank of Nigeria Plc, and First City Monument Bank Plc. The insurance
subsector followed on the performance chart with 372.43 million shares
traded in 971 transactions.

The 47 stocks that
appreciated traded a total of1.277 billion shares, same as 62.33% of
market volume, 31 equities dipped and they moved 325.58 million units
of shares that accounted for 16% of total volume traded on all equities
through the week. Meanwhile, 123 companies ended the week’s
transactions on a flat note; volume traded by those stocks is
equivalent to 21.78% of the total market volume.

Technical view

R-squared, a
measure of portfolio performance, is currently at an extreme low. This
indicates that there is no strong trend in-tact. This value should
increase soon. When it does, there is likely to be a new short term
trend. The current slope of the close is positive, moving higher,
indicating strength of the medium term uptrend.

The standard error
is 565.237; at this level, there is much higher than normal volatility
around the current trend and traders are probably not in general
agreement, not allowing the indicator to trend easily. The price is
probably not following the regression slope well.

Report on the OTC market for FGN Bonds

A total turnover of
248.9 million units valued at N243.41 billion in 1,940 deals was
transacted last week, in contrast to a total of 332.8 million units
worth N317.95 billion exchanged in 2,864 deals during the week ended
Wednesday, September 29, 2010.

The most active
bond (measured by turnover volume) was the 10.00% FGN July 2030 series,
with a traded volume of 44.9 million units valued at N37.78 billion in
383 deals. This was immediately followed by 10.5% FGN May 2012 series,
with a traded volume of 43.3 million units valued at N46.65 billion in
388 deals.

Seventeen (17) of
the available thirty-six (36) FGN Bonds were traded last week, compared
with eleven (11) recorded a fortnight ago.

Corporate actions reported in the week ended

In the week under
review, the market witnessed avalanche of reported audited results for
belated period ended December 31, 2010. Few were for the periods ended
March 31, 2010 (Neimeth Int’l Plc & Chellarams Plc) and July 31,
2010 (Ellah Lakes Plc).

These results were
released in an effort to beat Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) hammer on
quoted companies that are yet to report their audited results for
period ended December 31, 2009. Analysis of few of the results is shown
below, while lead operations figures are reflected in the table below.

NIEMETH INT’L PLC

Neimeth Int’l Plc,
a healthcare company with specialty in production and marketing of
pharmaceutical products released its Q4 results for FY ended March 31,
2010.

Close observation
and computations of figures revealed that the company remained in the
wood. Gross revenue (TO) only managed a fractional growth of 1.2% at
N1.89 billion, against N1.87 billion in comparable period 2009.

On the profit line,
all other indicators returned negative figures. Both PBT and PAT
declined by 71% and 72.3% respectively. This resulted to negative
earnings, meaning the company will recourse to its reserve to finance
its major activities in the current fiscal year (2010/2011). Figures
computed at this instance were: loss per share (LPS) 7 kobo, loss
(profit) margin of 6.67%.

Shareholders’ equity equally lost 11.3% from N1.072 billion, in a similar period 2009.

Observation: This is a poor corporate performance. It has been consolidated for the second time in a row.

Dividend payment will not be considered here. We do not expect price appreciation on this stock in meantime.

STACO INSURANCE PLC

Indemnity covering
company, Staco Insurance Plc, joined league of companies that made
their corporate files available in the market last week. Though this
belated Q4 report saw manageable growth at the top line, it turned
mixed and docile at the bottom line. Turnover recorded improved growth
of 15.6% at N5.06 billion over N4.38 billion posted in similar period
2008.

Profitability
indexes returned lower figures, compared to 2008. PBT dipped by 13.6%
at N538.41 million, so was PAT with 20.1% dip over N546.42 million in
2008. As the bottom lines dipped, computed earnings ratios equally
reflected lower figures. EPS lost 25% of its 10 kobo in FY 2008 at FY
2009’s 8 kobo. This resulted to earning yield of 16%.

PE multiple of 6.25 appears attractive. Return on stakeholder equity (ROE) is 9% while profit margin stood at 8.6%.

Observation:
Performances wise, bottom lines fared poor against FY 2008 figures.
Recall that in FY 2008, the company paid 2 kobo and 1 for 10 bonus
incentive. If at all anything will be paid here, it will be cash
dividend. But the directors have not disclosed anything yet.

The stock looks attractive at its current price, only that the insurance industry remains a skeptic zone for now.

African states
rebounding from the global downturn are far better placed than in the
past to ensure currencies do not become overvalued and damage
competitiveness, a top World Bank official said on Saturday.

World Bank managing
director, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said, however, that rising capital
inflows could become a concern as African countries attract more money
from short-term investors seeking higher returns.

Global currency
tensions are at the center of discussions at meetings of the
International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington this weekend.

“The continent has
implemented remarkably sensible policies. Fiscally, they’ve been
responsible. Exchange rate management has been reasonable. People have
learned the lessons of overvaluation in the past,” Okonjo-Iweala told
Reuters.

Urban consumer
inflation in Egypt inched up to 11.0 percent in the 12 months to
September, from 10.9 percent in the year to August, the state-run
CAPMAS statistics agency said on its website on Sunday.

Nine analysts
forecast an average of 11.12 percent for urban inflation – the most
closely watched indicator of prices. Forecasts ranged from 9.6 percent
to 12.9 percent.

A rising Kenyan
import bill is an important factor behind increased central bank dollar
buying and there is no intention to intervene to influence the value of
the shilling, the head of the central bank said on Saturday.

Foreign exchange
dealers have grumbled that fundamentals dictate the shilling should be
stronger, but that central bank purchases of foreign currency have
capped its gains.

“Dollar purchases
are to protect reserves and to build up reserves, not just for fun,”
central bank governor, Njuguna Ndung’u told Reuters on the sidelines of
the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings in Washington.

“Our import bills have risen significantly to slightly over $1
billion a month, so it means that keeping four months of import cover
means being in the neighbourhood of $4 billion,” Mr. Ndung’u said.

The
assets recovered from Cecilia Ibru, the former chief executive officer
of Oceanic Bank, one of the banks found insolvent after the Central
Bank’s special audit last year, would help in refunding the bailout
funds injected into the bank by the CBN and help recapitalise the bank,
the Central Bank said at the weekend.

Mrs.
Ibru was last Friday convicted and sentenced to six months imprisonment
on a three-count charge of negligence, reckless grants of facilities
running into billions of dollars, and mismanagement of depository funds
by a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos. She is also to forfeit assets
and shares, contained in a schedule submitted to the court, worth N191
billion.

The
head, corporate affairs department of the bank, Mohammed Abdullahi,
also said the Asset Management Company would help manage the recovered
assets.

“As
you know, by the order of the court, the assets confiscated from Mrs.
Ibru will be transfered to and managed by the Asset Management
Corporation (AMCON) who will take the necessary steps,” Mr. Abdullahi
said.

“The
role of the AMCON is to assist in the recapitalication of the banks by
absorbing some of the toxic assets found to have been responsible for
the problems faced by the banks we had to intervene in,” he added.

Mr.
Abdullahi said the decision of the court regarding the transfer of the
assets to AMCON is clear. He said proceeds from whatever assets AMCON
would get “will now form part of the funds that are expected to be
refunded by the bank to the Central Bank, speaking specifically on the
N100 billion that was injected into the bank by the Central Bank last
year. We also believe that the assets should also assist in the
recapitalisation of the bank, to survive its present challenges.”

According
to him, the Central Bank is pleased with the decision of the court and
believes it is a vindication of the examination results of the special
audit carried out by the Central Bank and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance
Corporation (NDIC).

“We
are very happy that this decision has taken place, and it is a pointer
regarding what to expect as the determination of the Central Bank to
cleanse the banking sector and ensure that corrupt practices are not
only prevented from happening, but that those found responsible are
made to face the law, rather than walk away freely with their loot,” he
said.

Outstanding court cases

The
Central Bank’s spokesperson said the outstanding court cases are being
vigorously pursued by the EFCC, and a prosecution team has been set up
to handle the cases.

“Based
on the fact that the same examination conducted by the NDIC and the CBN
found similar infractions against those that are still in court, we are
hoping that the cases would take their due course and at the end of the
day, all the other MDs would face the music in the same way that Mrs.
Ibru is facing hers now, if they are found guilty,” he said.

Significance of the ruling

The
Central Bank said the significance of this decision on the ongoing
banking reforms is the vindication of the Central Bank and the NDIC.

“In
the process of these reforms, the Central Bank and its leadership have
been accused of regional, religious and even personal agenda, as
reasons for embarking on these reforms. This ruling has, therefore,
made a lie of all the allegations.

“I
also believe that it has given an impetus to the dedication of the
leadership of the Central Bank to ensure that depositors funds are
protected and all those who dipped their hands into funds given to them
on trust would never get away, but would face the music, no matter
their position in the society,” Mr. Abdullahi said.

Port Harcourt City
local government area of Rivers State has trained more than 300 youth
in different skills, the chairman, Azubuike Nmerukini, said.

Mr. Nmerukini said
at the weekend that the youth received training for more than six
months in welding, carpentry, hairdressing, Information Communication
Technology, fashion, and design.

He said the council
would give the trainees take-off grants, adding that work on the
council’s skill acquisition centre had reached an advanced stage and
would be used to train future trainees.

“The aim is to make
them self-reliant or employed and thereafter train others from their
communities to be self-employed. The local government thought it wise
that in any society, everybody must not be a pen pusher and as such, we
set up skill acquisition programmes,” he said.

The director
general of Universal Postal Union (UPU), Edward Dayan, said that post
offices worldwide process more than 483 billion letters annually.

Mr. Dayan said in a
message on the World Post Day celebration on Saturday that while posts
processed 483 billion letters, mail volumes had continued to decline as
a result of electronic substitution and the recent financial crisis.

“And though
physical mail will not be disappearing overnight any time soon, despite
this down trend, posts are looking to the future by diversifying
products and services. Thanks to e-commerce, parcel volumes are taking
off. Posts in many countries are seeing annual growth rates of 20
percent in parcel volumes due to online sales,” he said.

He urged that the
post should be remembered for the relevant and valuable role it played
in the lives of billions of people and businesses, not only as a means
of communication, but also as a driver of economic growth.

The Central Bank
has come down hard on directors of rescued banks who have insider
related loans, in a renewed crackdown on those that have contributed to
the terrible state of some of the banks.

As part of efforts
to recover the loans, the Central Bank has placed some of the affected
directors on suspension with an ultimatum to repay the loans or face
prosecution.

Specifically, the
regulator on September 27 suspended four non-executive directors of
Finbank for 90 days for failure to pay their debts. They are Ernest
Orji, proprietor of Southern Sun Hotel, Ikoyi; Ezelue Efobi;
Iheanyichukwu Anyadiegwu; and Agnes Ebubedike.

The suspended
directors together owe the bank N20 billion, out of about N25 billion
of insider related loans. Mrs. Ebubedike is also standing trial
alongside Okey Nwosu, the former chief executive officer of the bank;
Danjuma Ocholi; and Dayo Famoroti, both of whom are former directors of
the bank.

The Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had in 2009 taken them to court on a
90-count charge, bordering on money laundering and granting of reckless
loans, amongst other offences.

Outstanding indebtedness

The CBN gave each
of the directors an ultimatum to repay their outstanding indebtedness
to the bank within that period, failing which, they shall be prosecuted
and blacklisted from holding any position in any bank or financial
institution, under the purview of the CBN.

It had earlier
issued letters of query to the recalcitrant directors, who failed to
heed the warning. This latest action by the bank became inevitable,
since the affected directors did not pay back their loan.

It was gathered
that the CBN may have moved against the affected officials in order to
recover the funds from them before their final exit from the bank. The
Central Bank recently released tenure guidelines, which stipulate that
non executive directors would only serve for two years after which
their terms may be renewed for another two years, but will be subject
to the approval of the apex bank.

A source at Finbank
said the CBN onslaught is also a moral issue as directors who are
indebted to the banks have no justifications to decide on actions
against other debtors.

“It is not proper
that directors who are indebted would now sit at meetings where
decisions are taken against other debtors. This is a corporate
governance issue. It is part of the sanitisation process,” the source
said.

Only Finbank

Mohammed Abdullahi,
the Central Bank spokesperson, said the action was taken against the
directors of Finbank, and not to directors of other rescued banks. He
added that the move against the directors was in fulfillment of the
code of conduct of bank directors, which stipulates that directors
should not have non performing insider related loans.

Sola Oni, the Nigerian Stock Exchange spokesperson, said he was not aware of the development.

Finbank officials refused to comment on this development. They did not respond to enquiries on the issue for nearly a week.

But Susanne Iroche,
its chief executive, told shareholders at a forum in Lagos recently
that the bank is operating with negative capital, as 88 percent of its
loans are currently non performing.

“We have taken
deposits and shareholders fund up to N88 billion, which is yielding
nothing for us but that is costing us money. We can’t continue to
operate like that. We have to resolve this as quickly as possible,” she
said.

Only N2.7 billion
has been recovered from insider related loans, putting the total amount
of non performing loans at N156 billion, while the bank expects to
recover between N10 to N15 billion before year end.

The Nigerian Extractive Industries
Transparency Initiative (NEITI), the promoter of transparency and
accountability in the nation’s extractive industries, said it has taken
steps to reorganise its secretariat to effectively deliver on its
mandate.

The agency came
into the negative limelight recently following reports of an internal
wrangling among some of its top officials, which appeared to have
threatened Nigeria’s quest for validation among the 31 countries that
are due for re-assessment as EITI Compliant countries by the Extractive
Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) when its validation committee
meets later this month.

The roots of the
wrangling, which earned the chairman National Stakeholders Working
Group (NSWG), Assisi Asobie, a query from the Secretary to the
Government of the Federation (SGF), Mahmud Yayale Ahmed, was traced to
reports of corruption charges against the then executive secretary,
Haruna Sa’eed, and the former director of services, Stan Rerri.

Both were accused
of “abdication of responsibility and ineffectual leadership”, as well
as “inaction” in preparations towards the 2009 Civil Society (CS)
training programme, involving a controversial disbursement of about N15
million to two hotels in Lagos and Kaduna, before it was initially
postponed, and later cancelled.

Mr. Sa’eed, as head
of the secretariat, had denied authorising the disbursement of the
money, while Mr. Rerri, who reportedly colluded with the former
accountant, Sunkanmi Adeoti, and former procurement officer, Tony
Onyekweli, to make the payment without the knowledge of the ES
(Executive Secretary), ignored all entreaties to recover the money and
pay back to the NEITI coffers.

Mr. Asobie, in his
response to the SGF’s query, said the trio have been relieved of their
positions, after the Leke Alder-led ad hoc investigative committee
constituted by the board had recommended “overhaul of the
administration of NEITI Secretariat for efficiency and effectiveness.”

Roots of the crisis

Mr. Asobie also
traced the roots of the crisis to the NSWG resolution two years ago to
engage the services of human resources consultants to examine the
structure of the NEITI Secretariat; evaluate existing staff and their
official positions; develop new terms of reference for all roles within
the secretariat; design suitable managements system that fits the
requirements of NEITI; and construct recruitment guidelines and
recruitment plan for NEITI.

Though Mr. Rerri
reportedly participated actively in the recruitment of the consultants
and supported them till they completed their assignment, he, however,
rejected the recommendation that he be relieved of his position as
director, support services, or show proof of being a chartered
accountant if his wish to be a director would come to pass.

Despite the board’s
acceptance of the consultants’ recommendations, neither Mr. Sa’eed nor
Mr. Rerri took it seriously, with the latter not only continuing to
identify himself with the unofficial designation of “director
(administration/finance)”, but also going ahead to issue a letter
appointing one Garba Saidu Yakawada as ‘head of internal audit.’

Though the board
took exceptions to the disregard to its resolution, and ordered
immediate reversal, Mr. Rerri, in his petition to President Goodluck
Jonathan, alleged massive fraud in NEITI, describing his removal as “an
attempt to “silence the whistle blower.”

But, Mr. Asobie,
who accused Mr. Rerri of allowing “unprincipled bureaucratic politics
to undermine Nigeria’s interest” by mobilising groups to lobby for the
non-validation of the country by the global EITI, said he was only
“opportunistically blowing the whistle as a protective manoeuvre.” He
also said the process to appoint a new executive secretary has
commenced.

Mr. Asobie added
that work is progressing well on the conduct of the 2006-2008 audit
report, while the final report is expected between December and January
next year, while advertisements are out for expression of interest
(EOI) for the fourth oil and gas sector audit and solid minerals sector
audit.

It should be fairly obvious that people
who do not have jobs need to be particularly cautious about spending
whatever money they have, yet, surprisingly, many people in this
predicament have difficulty curbing their spending and end up making an
already dire situation even worse.

Maintaining a budget is difficult under
normal circumstances, but the idea of budgeting when you are unemployed
is an even greater challenge. One of the first things you should do to
protect yourself financially at a time like this is to draw up a budget
and try to stick to it.

Do you have an emergency fund?

Hopefully, you have an emergency fund
in place that can support you for at least a few months. Experts have
traditionally recommended a three-month emergency fund but nowadays,
with the length of time it takes to find work, it is prudent if you
can, to look at setting aside between six months to a year of expenses
saved, in the event of job loss.

Even if you are one of those who
managed to build a decent emergency fund, find ways to cut back on
utilities, groceries, entertainment, etc., to make sure it can last as
long as possible. If you do not have any emergency savings, make this a
priority when you get a job so that you are better prepared for any
future financial crisis.

Track your expenses

Gather your bank statements and find
out how much money you have and where it is all going. List your daily,
monthly, weekly, and yearly expenses from your daily newspapers to your
mobile phone bills. Try to do this for a month, writing down as much of
your spending as you can.

This will help you to identify areas
where you can cut back. Involve your spouse if you are married; it is
important that the family is fully aware of the situation and fully
engaged in the plan, but without alarming the younger family members.

Are you in debt?

If you are having difficulty paying
your bills on time or you are in debt, contact your creditors
immediately. It may be possible, if you have had a good track record,
to restructure the loan and they may offer you a modified payment plan
that will reduce your payments to a more manageable level. Don’t wait
until they give up on you and decide to foreclose; you could lose your
car or even worse, your home.

Insurance

If you received health insurance
benefits for you and you family from your former employer’s group
health insurance plan, you will have to find a way to get medical
insurance in place as soon as possible. You cannot afford to be caught
without insurance should you or a family member suddenly falls sick.
Shop around for a policy that will cover at least the basics.

Luxuries versus necessities

Look critically at what you absolutely
must have and what you can do without. It will be quite surprising to
find that there are several items that you do not really need and can
forfeit for at least a while, without altering your lifestyle
significantly.

Here are a few examples of things that many families tend to ignore when they need to cut back on luxuries or non-essentials:

Food and housing should always be
priorities in your essential spending. However, if you are in the habit
of eating out often, you will save some money by eating at home more
regularly. Many of us eat far too much anyway, and losing some calories
might well be one of the advantages you reap from your budgeting
exercise! Whilst there may be ways to cut back, do not jeopardise yours
or your family’s health.

Many people consider cable television
to be a necessary utility and spend quite a lot on subscriptions. This
might be a good time to reconsider and scale back your multichannel
package, considering the fact that you watch less than half a dozen
channels on a regular basis.

As soon as you get a job or your
finances improve, you can re-evaluate those non-essential services and
renew your subscription accordingly. This also applies to other
subscriptions including multiple club memberships and magazine
subscriptions.

Your mobile phone is an essential
expense, but one can carelessly run up outrageous phone bills if you
don’t carefully monitor your usage. Set yourself a spending limit and
try to use it just for essential calls. Likewise, if you have a
generator, limit its usage, as fuel costs can be exorbitant and
unpredictable.

Introducing practical solutions, such
as energy saving bulbs and invertors, and encouraging the family to
turn off the lights when they leave a room should reduce your bills
considerably.

Do you have any other sources of income?

Do you receive any passive income from
dividends or rent from time to time? If so, now is the time to look at
such income critically and see how much it adds up to and when you
actually receive it, so that you can plan accordingly.

Maybe you have enough coming in to explore other options, such as furthering your education, or starting your own business.

Today, a job search can take some time,
with thousands of people out there looking for the same job openings.
Even if you have to take a job that requires minimal skills to keep you
afloat until something more appropriate comes in, remember it is only
temporary; you will still be looking for a job that matches your
background and skill set.

What skills and hobbies can you put to
good use now? Be creative and consider flexible part time, freelance,
or voluntary work to help you get a foot through the door and leave
enough time for your interviews and earning you some money at the same
time.

The hardest thing about budgeting is
sticking to your plan. Even if you fail miserably the first month,
don’t be discouraged. Just make some adjustments and keep trying.
Learning how to budget in trying times can be a blessing in disguise,
as it gives you a clear view of where you are over spending and where
there is excess waste.

Even when you are out of this rough patch and earning again, such
habits will have a lasting impact on your finances and you would have
learned some timeless lessons in money management.