MTN Nigeria will take the opportunity of an investor call today (Monday, March 4) to discuss its latest financial performance which showed a rare after-tax loss of N137 billion in 2023.
Investors and analysts will be keen to know whether this is a one-off and if a repeat is likely in the first quarter of 2024 given that the loss can be attributed to the N740 billion foreign exchange loss booked as a result of the naira devaluation last year.
The Federal Government’s Savings Bond also goes live today with the interest rates on the two and three-year savings bonds higher than in the previous month by around 300 basis points.
March 4
MTN investor call
MTN Nigeria, the largest telecommunications company in Nigeria, is scheduled to hold an investor call tomorrow to discuss its performance for the fiscal year ending in 2023.
During the year 2023, MTN Nigeria reported an after-tax loss of N137.02 billion, a downturn from the after-tax profit of N348.7 billion recorded in 2022.
This loss was primarily attributed to a foreign exchange loss of N740.4 billion stemming from the FX market liberalization in June of the previous year.
Remarkably, this marks the first-ever loss for the company since it became publicly listed in Nigeria.
March 4
FGN Savings bond
The FGN savings bond offering for March 2024 is set to commence from Monday till Friday, 8th of March 2024.
The March 2024 offering comprises a 2-Year FGN Savings Bond maturing on March 13, 2025, with an interest rate of 15.097 percent per annum, and a 3-Year FGN Savings Bond maturing on March 13, 2026, offering an interest rate of 16.09 percent per annum.
In February, the Debt Management Office (DMO) managed to secure only about half of its targeted sale of N2.5 trillion in seven and ten-year bonds. This shortfall was attributed to the low interest rates offered, which dampened investor demand.
The subscription for the two bonds amounted to N1.49 trillion. Specifically, the seven-year bond received N873.5 billion in subscriptions, accounting for 69.6 percent of the amount offered, while the ten-year bond received N621.38 billion, representing 49.6 percent of the total offer.
March 4
Electricity Report Q4 2023
The National Bureau of Statistics will release the Nigeria Electricity Report for the fourth quarter of 2023.
The report will detail energy billed, revenue generated and customers by DisCos in the last three months of 2023.
In the third quarter of 2023 the total number of electricity customers in Nigeria stood at 11.71 million according to the NBS.
In the third quarter of 2023 the estimated customers during the quarter were 6.03 million, higher by 0.53 per cent from 6.00 million in Q2 2023.
The revenue generated during the period was N260.16 billion and Electricity supply was 5,731.60 (Gwh).
March 8
The Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics for the fourth quarter 2023 report will be released by NBS.
Nigeria’s export value surged by 60.78 percent to N10.35 trillion in the third quarter of 2023.
This is as total foreign trade rose to N18.80 trillion. Exports were valued at N10.35 trillion while total imports stood at N8.46 trillion.
Total exports increased by 60.78 per cent compared to the amount recorded in the second quarter of 2023 N6.44 trillion.
March 8
The United States Bureau of Labour Statistics is set to unveil the unemployment rate for February this coming Friday.
During January, the unemployment rate in the United States remained steady at 3.7 percent, holding firm compared to the previous month and slightly below the market’s anticipated rate of 3.8 percent.
Likewise, the labour force participation rate stayed unchanged at 62.5 percent last month, maintaining its lowest level since February 2023.
In terms of figures, the number of unemployed persons decreased by 144,000 to reach 6.12 million, while the count of employed individuals saw a decline of 31,000 totalling 161.15 million.
