Daily Business News Brief  Monday October 11th, 2021.

Investors gain N340bn in bullish week, index rises by 1.6% – Punch

Investors in the Nigerian equities market earned N340.29bn as trading ended on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange Limited on Friday. The NGX All-Share index and market capitalisation appreciated by 1.61 per cent and 1.62 per cent each to close the week at 40,868.36 basis points and N21.296 trillion respectively, from 40,221.17bps and N20.96tn the week before.  Similarly, all other indices finished higher with the exception of NGX Insurance and NGX Consumer Goods Indices that shed 1.51 per cent and 0.51 per cent respectively, while the NGX ASeM, NGX Growth and NGX Sovereign Bond Indices closed flat.  A total turnover of 2.18 billion shares worth N21.96bn in 22,438 deals were traded this week by investors on the floor of the exchange, in contrast to a total of 2.19 billion shares valued at N16.18bn that exchanged hands last week in 14,377 deals…………………read more

Budget deficit rises to N20.64tn under Buhari – Punch

Budget deficit has risen to N20.64tn under the president, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), according to analysed data from the budget office.  The data covered periods from 2016 to 2020.  According to the budget office, more than N7.97tn was borrowed from foreign and domestic sources to fund these deficits.  According to Investopedia, a budget deficit occurs when expenses exceed revenue and indicate the financial health of a country. The budget office said the Federal Government generated a revenue of N3.42tn to fund the budget in 2020.  It said total government spending for the year was N10.02tn, 0.43 per cent above the N9.97tn budgeted…………………read more

GTCO records 42% profit margin, highest among banks  – Thisday

Analysis of financial statements of banks listed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited has shown that Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc recorded the highest net income margin in the first half of 2021.  In total, the 13 commercial banks listed on the NGX generated revenue of N1.76tn in H1 2021. The banks also saw a total of N460.41bn as net income during the period.  Unlike other companies listed on the exchange, banks do not categorically list their revenue as topline on the income statement, rather they disclose gross margin, net interest income, among others.  The addition of net interest income and non-interest income gives the total revenue a bank generated in a specific period.  From this, our correspondent reports that GTCO recorded the highest profit margin or net income as a percentage of revenue……………………….read more

Amid Volatility, Uncertainty in Global Economy 6 Banks’ Exposure to Oil & Gas Drops by 6.3%- Thisday

Amid volatility and uncertainty in the global economy, the likes of Zenith Bank Plc, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) Plc, and four other banks’ exposure to Oil & gas sector dropped by 6.3 per cent to N3.3 trillion in half year of 2021 from N3.11 trillion in 2020.  Analysis of the banks result showed that aside GTCO and Zenith Bank that recorded decline in Oil & gas exposure in the period, other banks this year increased exposure to Nigeria’s mainstay economy driver despite Government’s efforts at diversification into Agriculture and Mining.  The other banks are: United Bank for Africa plc (UBA), Access Bank Plc, Fidelity bank, and Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc…………………..read more

Analysts: NGX Group Listing on Exchange to Bring About Transparency, Price Discovery- Thisday

As the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) Group Plc lists its shares on Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), capital market analysts have said the listing by introduction aims to create price discovery and bring about transparency.The NGX Group had announced its intention to list on the Main Board of NGX listing by introduction of 1,964,115,918 ordinary shares of 50kobo each at an indicative price of N17.17 per share of Exchange………………..read more