Thursday, August 09, 2012 / The Analyst / Proshare Research

Companies in the NEWS Today –UBA Plc, Diamond Bank Plc, Dangote Sugar Plc, and PZ Plc

United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) has expressed readiness to partner with the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) The Bank’s GMB, Phillip Oduoza who paid a courtesy visit to the new CIBN President Segun Aina on his recent appointment, assured that UBA is eager and willing to partner with CIBN. “UBA has presence in 19 African countries and operates in key financial sectors of the world. Having a very professional and ethical workforce is vital to our operations. Our bank has zero tolerance for unethical behaviour because we believe that capacity building is important for the growth of the industry,” Oduoza stated.



The company in its Q2’12 recorded an impressive performance with significant PAT growth of 162.8% and gross earnings growth of 21.6% along with profit margin of 24.38%, indicating improved cost management.

Diamond Bank Nigeria plc: THE International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, and the Africa Capitalisation Fund, a private equity fund managed by IFC Asset Management Company, has sealed a pact with Diamond Bank Plc to provide $70 million (N11.3 billion) in convertible loans to the Nigerian financial institution. The financing deal is expected to support growth and access to finance for smaller businesses in the country by allowing Diamond Bank to expand its lending programme and ability to offer financial services to underserved market segments, including micro, small, and medium enterprises and agricultural firms.

The company in its Q2’12 recorded strong profitability posture with PAT growth of 408% while gross earnings closed with 48.5% growth on year on year basis. The profit margin of 15.43% seems to be low as this is not commensurate with PAT growth of 408.1%.

Dangote Sugar Nigeria Plc has released a statement attributing the improved performance in its half year financial to the effort of the management of the company, which was aimed at rewarding shareholders as well as giving them increased value for their investment. “We are prospecting other countries across the West African Coast. Efforts are in top gear to ensure the refinery expansion projects and the proposed acquisition of Savannah Sugar as part of our backward integration projects are completed this year,” says the Managing Director of the company, Mr. Abdullahi Sule.



The company in its Q2’12 recorded impressive profitability growth of 91.0% along with moderate profit margin of 10.68% while the turnover growth of 10.3% is not too impressive as this speaks volume about the market share within the industry.

PZ Nigeria plc Following a number of years of rising raw material costs together with significant wage inflation in emerging markets, the PZ Cussons group has been developing programmes to ensure that its’ supply chain cost base remains at a competitive level. The company said it had also seen Nigeria’s continued insecurity and recent fuel subsidy removal impacting negatively its sales as well as consumer disposable income. As a result, a supply chain optimisation project is being implemented over the remainder of the calendar year which will significantly reduce overheads of the Group’s manufacturing activities.



The company in its Q2'12 recorded an unimpressive performance with a significant plunge of -55.4% in its profitability posture along with low profit margin of 3.5% while the turnover growth of 9.5% appeared low as well. The outlook reveals weak operational performance of the company