Dear Client/Reader,
Global Economic Roundup
Oil climbs, notches fourth monthly gain on growing demand
Oil prices edged higher on Friday, with global benchmark Brent posting a fourth monthly gain, with demand growing faster than supply and vaccinations expected to alleviate the impact of a resurgence in Covid-19 infections across the world. Brent crude futures for September, which expired on Friday, rose 28 cents, or 0.4%, to settle at US$76.33 a barrel. The more active contract for October ended the session up 31 cents at US$75.41 per barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 33 cents, or 0.5%, to end the session at US$73.95 a barrel. Both benchmarks notched gains of more than 2% for the week, while Brent rose 1.6% in July, its fourth straight monthly increase. WTI was unchanged for the month.
Euro zone growth rebounds, inflation tops ECB target
The euro zone economy grew faster than expected in the second quarter, pulling out of a pandemic-induced recession, while the easing of coronavirus curbs also helped inflation shoot past the European Central Bank’s 2% target in July. Compared to the same period a year earlier, when lockdowns to slow the spread of the coronavirus brought economic activity close to a standstill, GDP jumped 13.7%. But unlike the U.S. and Chinese economies, which have pulled above their pre-pandemic peaks, the euro zone economy remains some 3% smaller than it was at the end of 2019.
Private Sector Owns 70% of N12.7tn Pension Fund
The National Pension Commission (PENCOM) has revealed that private sector workers own 70 per cent of the N12.7 trillion in the Retirement Savings Account (RSA) under the contributory pension scheme. This money is a contribution that belongs to 9.3 million people, including people who are working for the federal government, the states and, largely, private sector. About 5.8 million are actually people from the private sector. The private sector owns over 70 per cent of this money because they contribute more.
Some of our recommended stocks are mentioned below;
MTNN PLC:
MTNN’s Q2 ‘2021 results showed an increase in revenue by 31.4% from N308.90bn in Q2 2020 to N405.94 bn in Q2’2021. Operating profit advanced from N110.58 bn in Q2’2020 to N133.11 bn in Q2’2021, reflecting an increase of 30.28%. The growth in operating profit was buoyed by a 1.7% decrease in Finance Cost even though there was a 23.1% increase in costs of accessories, advertisement, sponsorship and sales promotion. PBT went up by 79.9% from N62.33bn in Q2’2020 to N112.13bn in the current period, despite a 22.9% increase in expenses. PAT grew by 59.1% from N42.80bn in Q2’2020 to N68.08bn in Q2 2021, despite a 124.15% surge in taxes. EPS grew by 59.90% to N3.47 in Q2’2021 from N2.17 in Q2’2020.
NB PLC:
NB Plc Q2 2021 results showed that revenue grew by 37.8% from N151.81bn in Q2 2020 to N209.2bn in Q2 2021. Similarly, gross profit increased by 31.7% to N77.91bn in Q2 2021 from N59.14 bn in Q2 2020. Profit from operations advanced by 32.4% from N15.04bn in Q2 2020 to N19.91bn in Q2 2021. Profit before tax grew by 43.1% to N11.94bn in Q2 2021 from N8.34bn in Q2 2020. Profit after tax grew by 38.1% from N5.58bn in Q2 2020 to N7.71bn in Q2 2021, with a 32.0% decrease in Sales and Administrative Expenses. Consequently, EPS rose by 35.2% from N0.71 in Q2 2020 to N0.96 in Q2 2021. NB Plc has a BVPS of N20.14, P/BV of 2.86x and a P/E ratio of 13.91x.
Please find here our Weekly Market Review & Stock Recommendations for this week.
