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24 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2013

Briefs

Wema Bank grows gross earnings to N26.32bn in 9 months By NKIRUKA NNOROM

EMA Bank Plc said its gross earnings for nine months to September, 2013 rose to N26.322 billion from N21.56 billion in 2012, a 22.09 percent increase over the previous year. Details of the nine months

unaudited financial statement prepared in line with International Financial Reporting Standard showed considerable improvement in all the primary measurement indicators. The result filed Monday with the Nigerian Stock Exchange showed that profit before tax

rose to N563.80 million from deficit of N1.785 billion in the corresponding period of 2012. Similarly, profit after tax rose to N479.23 million compared to negative N1.874 billion posted in the same period of 2012. Further breakdown showed

From left: General Manager, Sales, Consolidated Breweries Plc, Mr. Frank Van Asperen; Brand Manager, Mr. Oludare Olateju; Regional Commercial Manager, Eastern Operations, Mr. Adejare Yusuff; National Project Manager, Distributors, Mr. Tolulope Adewunmi, and Head of Marketing, Mr. Prashant Patwardhan, during the unveiling of repackaged “33” Export Lager, in Enugu.

Employment opportunities: Dangote Academy enrols trainee engineers

s part of its efforts of cre ating more jobs and making graduates employable, the Dangote Academy, the training arm of the Dangote Group, has inaugurated its new Junior Technicians Scheme (JTS) with the enrolment of first batch of 60 trainees. The Group said it is committed to contributing to the job creation efforts of the Federal Government and the first batch of the trainees will be trained in fitting & mechanical maintenance, as well as welding & fabrication. The company stated that another batch of 40 trainees will be joining the Junior Technicians Scheme to raise the number of trainees to 100 and that the second batch would be trained on Automobile (heavy duty), Electrical, Instrumentation and Automation maintenance. At the inaugurating ceremony at Obajana, Kogi State, the Executive Director, Stakeholder Management, Engineer Mansur Ahmed advised the trainees to face their training with all level of seriousness so that they can realise their career dreams. He said they should count themselves as privileged to be selected for the training and C M Y K

therefore should reciprocate the good gesture by abiding by the rules and regulations governing the training. In his address, the Coordinator and Group Human Resource Officer of the Company,

Mr Pabby Paramjit, welcomed the trainees to the Dangote Group and drew their attention to the mission and vision of the Group and specifically that of the Dangote Academy.

that the volume of non-performing loans reduced to three percent from 14 percent in the corresponding period of 2012, while loans and advances to customers went up to N89.04 billion as against N73.75 billion, showing an improved level of credit advancement to customers. Deposit from customers at N184.60 billion was 5.91 percent increase over N174.30 billion in 2012. It will be recalled that the bank recently said it will apply to the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, for a National Banking licence having exceeded the N40 billion minimum required capital of operating the banking model. The Managing Director/ CEO, Mr. Segun Oloketuyi, who disclosed this, said the bank will commence the process of securing the licence in the next few months. The decision, according to a statement from the bank followed the successful completion of its N40billion special placing and subsequent allotment of shares and approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Kemi Aina, Head, Brands & Marketing, said with this approval, a total of 26.67 billion ordinary shares of 50k each valued at N40 billion were allotted to successful institutional and private investors at N1.50k per share in two tranches. She stated that the additional shares have raised bank’s paid up capital above the threshold for a National Banking Licence.

Oando gets $815m banks’ facility for ConocoPhillips’ acquisition By NKIRUKA NNOROM

ANDO Energy Resources said it has received commitment letters for up to $815.0 million of credit facilities from Nigerian and local banks. The fund, according to a statement from the company, would be used toward payment for the acquisition of ConocoPhillips’ (COP) Nigerian asset portfolio. The credit facilities include up to $465.0 million Reserve Based Lending (RBL) facilities placed and led internationally by BNP Paribas, Standard Bank and Standard Chartered Bank. The RBL is complemented by a $350.0 million senior secured loan arranged locally by FBN Capital and FCMB Markets. MGI Securities Inc, a Canada based firm, said by securing the

banks’ credit facilities, Oando has achieved significant progress toward completing the proposed acquisition of the COP asset portfolio. Aminul Haque, CFA, Research Analyst – Oil and Gas of the company noted that with the availability of $815.0 million in credit and $435.0 million in deposit already paid, Oando has come very close to the finishing line in arranging funds for the ~$2.0 billion purchase price, saying, “This transaction was announced in December 2012 and was initially expected to close in September 2013. In our estimate, the company needs to arrange another $400.0 million in debt or equity to close the transaction by the stipulated date of November 30. “We predicted on our

initiating coverage report on Oando (August 16, 2013) that despite being a giant step-out for Oando, completion of the transaction seems manageable. With the debt financing in place, a subsequent equity financing seems easier to manage and the timely completion of the transaction appears likely. “Acquisition of the assets is expected to be a transformational event for Oando, making it the largest indigenous E&P company in Nigeria with ~45,000 boepd in production and ~400.0 million in 2P reserves and contingent resources. With large annual cashflow and guaranteed gas sales contracts in place, the assets seem to be self-sustaining even with a large degree of leverage.”

Citigroup results hit by bond trading slowdown

I T I G R O U P Incorporated posted weaker-than-expected thirdquarter earnings on Tuesday, hit by a drop in bond trading revenue after the Federal Reserve refrained from changing its bond buying programme and customer activity fell. The Fed’s decision took investors by surprise and led many to take a wait-and-see attitude until there is a clearer time frame for the end of the central bank’s economic stimulus program. The third quarter is typically a slow one for bond trading, and this was exacerbated by the Fed announcement, according to analysts. Citigroup’s bond trading revenue dropped 26 percent, or $956 million, excluding an accounting adjustment. In last year’s third quarter, Citigroup took a pretax charge of $4.7 billion related to selling its Smith Barney brokerage business, a charge that ended up costing Vikram Pandit, then the bank’s chief executive, his job. Pandit’s successor, Michael Corbat, has struggled to improve the fortunes of the third-largest U.S. bank in an environment where client business is tepid.

Global stocks mixed, dollar up over US debt talks

LOBAL equities markets rose and the dollar strengthened on Tuesday on signs of progress in Washington’s budget and debt talks, though U.S. stocks edged lower on Citigroup’s (C.N) weaker-than-expected quarterly earnings. The political standoff in Washington showed signs of giving way to a Senate deal to reopen federal agencies and prevent a damaging default on federal debt. The deadline to lift the U.S. debt ceiling is October 17. U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, and his Republican counterpart, Mitch McConnell, ended talks on Monday with Reid saying they had made “tremendous progress”. Signs of optimism are building and “investors are showing increasing signs of confidence that default will be averted,” said Andrew Wilkinson, chief economic strategist at Miller Tabak & Co. in New York. MSCI’s world equity index, which tracks shares in 45 countries, was up 0.1 percent, close to a five-year high hit in September prior to the crisis in Washington.