NSE delists Access Bank‘s N13.5bn bond …Unity Bank posts N10.66bn profit

By Udeme Ekwere

Thursday, 21 Oct 2010

The Nigerian Stock Exchange has delisted Access Bank Plc‘s N13.5bn three-year redeemable Convertible Bond from its Daily Official List.

This action was carried out on Wednesday, after the bank had made its fourth and final redemption payment on the convertible bond, which became due on June 15, 2010.

Meanwhile, Unity Bank Plc posted a profit after tax of N10.66bn in its third quarter financial result released to the NSE.

The bank, which recently raised its Tier 1 capital through a rights issue to qualify as a national bank, recorded a turnover of N41.63bn, representing a rise by 42 per cent or N12.31bn compared to N29.32bn recorded in the similar period of 2009.

The results showed that shareholders funds grew by 486.15 per cent to N42.10bn, while deposits increased by 12.94 per cent to N242.62bn.

Accordingly, its shares appreciated by 4.9 per cent or five kobo to close at N1.07 per share.

This was despite the bearish trend which continued on the NSE.

Specifically, the NSE‘s All-Share Index slipped by 1.3 per cent or 318.32 basis points, to close at 24,891.73 down from 25,210.05 points recorded the previous day.

Similarly, the market capitalisation of the 199 listed equities fell by 1.3 per cent or N78bn from N6.177tn to N6.099tn.

This was traced to profit taking by analysts at Meristem Securities, who said, ”We do not see the perceived frequency of foreign mandates strong enough to withstand profit taking by fragile investors, given that investors are yet to gain full confidence in the market to hold on to positions for a medium to long term horizon.”

Flour Mills Nigeria Plc led 37 other stocks on the losers chart, shedding 2.1 per cent or N1.54 to close at N71.01 per share.

Cadbury Nigeria Plc, which fell by N1.56 the previous day, fell further by five per cent or N1.48 to close at N28.31 per share.

However, Custodian and Allied Insurance Plc led the price gainers, rising by five per cent or 13 kobo to close at N2.75 per share.

Honeywell Flour Mills Plc followed with a 2.1 per cent gain to close at N5.38 per share.

Source: Punch

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