News

Dangote Flour Mills has announced a profit after tax of N7.62bn in its unaudited result for the third quarter ended September 30, 2009, from N1.76bn in 2008, representing a rise of 333 per cent.The result showed that turnover rose by 35 per cent or N12.11bn, from N34.84bn in 2008 to N46.95bn in 2009.A cursory look at the balance sheet position as at third quarter 2009 compared with the position as at December 2008, showed that its fixed assets decreased marginally by 6.11 per cent to N31.30bn from N33.34bn, reflecting sale of obsolete assets.The management of Unilever Nigeria Plc has released the earnings guidance for the second quarter of 2010 financial year ending June 30, 2010.The company forecasts turnover and profit after tax of N24.41bn and N2.74bn respectively during the period. With a forecast of N2.74bn of profit after tax, the company is projecting a year to year earnings growth of 10.03, which analysts say, ”It appears rather conservative when placed alongside recent historical growth.”

Investors appear neutral on the earnings forecast even as the company gained 91 kobo this week from a start price of N25.19 to close at N26.10. Meanwhile, the over the counter market for traded bonds witnessed a drop in turnover as investors exchanged 312.1 million units, valued at N404.68bn in 3,076 deals, in contrast to a total of 531.2 million units, worth N640.31bn exchanged in 6,087 deals in the preceding week.According to the report released by the Nigerian Stock Exchange, 20 of the available 38 FGN Bonds were traded last week, compared to 22 traded in the previous week.The most active bond, measured by turnover volume, was the sixth FGN Bond 2029 Series 3, with a traded volume of 67.05 million units, valued at N101.161bn in 592 deals.The sixth FGN Bond 2019 Series 4 followed with a traded volume of 45 million units, valued at N48.72bn in 381 deals.The report also showed that the technical suspension on Oando Plc was lifted last week, following the two weeks allowed by the exchange after the closure of the rights issue to the public.