Access Bank Plc (“ACCESS” or “The Bank”) released its FY-2020 results earlier, showing a 14.7%y/y growth in Gross Earnings (GE) to N764.7bn despite the challenging operating environment. PBT and PAT also grew by 12.5% and 12.7% to N125.9bn and N106.0bn, respectively. Similarly, Loans and deposits expanded by 17.8% and 20.3% to N3.6tn and N5.6trn. We update our estimates and review our expectations.
In the previous week, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) published a flurry of economic data. Most notably was the release of the CPI and inflation report for Mar-2021. The report estimated that headline inflation increased to 18.17% y/y from 17.3% recorded in Feb-2021. Again, food inflation continues to be the significant inflationary driver, as the food index surged by 23.0% y/y in Mar-2021 from 21.8% in February 2021. On a month-on-month basis, the Headline index increased by 1.56% in Mar-2021, 2bps higher than the rate recorded in February 2021.
Recently, BUA Cement Plc ("BUACEMENT") filed its audited FY-2020 results. Despite substantial cost pressures, the cement maker saw a 19.1% and 19.4% y/y increase in PBT and PAT, respectively, to N78.9bn and N72.3bn. This was primarily driven by volume growth (+13.3% y/y), which supported topline (+19.3% y/y), and lower Net financing expenses (-28.3% y/y) over the period. We review the FY earnings and adjust our expectations for FY-2021 below.
Last week, in the domestic equities market, the bears dominated as the market saw sell-offs. Consequently, the NSE All-Share index fell 0.2% w/w to settle at 38,866.4 points, YTD loss worsened to -3.5% while market capitalisation declined to ₦20.3tn...
The first quarter of FY-2021 proved to be somewhat soft for equity investors trading the Nigerian market. In Q1-2021, the benchmark All Share Index (ASI) lost 3.0% q/q to print at 39,014.82 points. A slew of interesting events shaped the performance of the market through the quarter.
Last week, in line with our expectation, the local bourse failed to hold up gains from the previous week as a streak of profit-taking on large-cap stocks in Banking and Industrial goods as well as price adjustment for dividend on weighed on the market. Overall, the benchmark All Share Index (ASI) shed 0.8% w/w to settle at 38,916.74 points pushing YTD loss higher to 3.4%. Similarly, Market capitalization fell N156.7bn to print at N20.4tn. Nevertheless, the activity level rebounded as average volume and value traded improved by 18.1% w/w and 11.7% w/w to 361.2m units and N4.8bn.
