Five things to know to start your Tuesday

GTBank wins best bank in Nigeria at Euromoney Awards

Guaranty Trust Bank Ltd. has been awarded the “Best Bank in Nigeria” by the organisers of the Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2023.

The bank said in a statement issued on Monday that this award shows that the bank’s strides in the financial industry in Nigeria are being recognised and appreciated.

Announcing the award, Euromoney said: “Nigeria’s best bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, has continued to do a good job of convincing investors that it is better placed than its key competitors to deal with the risks ahead and perhaps to take advantage of opportunities in economic and policy transition.

“Despite a difficult operating environment, the bank continues to deliver exceptional results as the flagship franchise of Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc.

“It recorded a profit before tax of N214.2 billion, a pre-tax return on Equity (ROAE) of 23.6 percent, and a Cost-to Income Ratio (CIR) of 48.0 percent for the period ended Dec. 31, 2022.”

Read also: Dangote, GTBank, DSTV, others emerge most admired brands in Nigeria

NIM partners FAAN to drive improved work ethics in aviation sector

The Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM) has brokered a partnership deal with the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to engender improved work ethics and attitudinal change in the aviation sector.

Christiana Atako, President of NIM, said this during a courtesy visit on Monday to the FAAN office in Abuja. She said the move by both organisations would be beneficial to revitalising the Nigerian aviation industry.

Atako noted that many members of FAAN had in the past benefited from the various human capital development programmes of the institute.

She urged other FAAN top management staff to join the NIM Intensive Training for Membership Admission (ITMA) programme to jerk up their managerial competencies.

Non-oil export generates $2.539bn 1st half of 2023 – NEPC

Yakusak Ezra, Executive Director of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), said on Monday in Abuja that non-oil exports in the first half of 2023 generated $2.539 billion.

Ezra made this known during a presentation of the first half-year progress report on the non-oil export performance for 2023.

He said that the sector recorded a dip in export value in the first half of 2023 due to the general elections and changes in global economic conditions.

According to the ED, the non-oil export returns from the various pre-shipment inspection agents indicated that 3,944,344.17 metric tonnes of products worth 2.539 billion dollars were exported between January and June 2023.

August 1: Tariff hikes are likely a possibility, says NERC, as electricity subsidy hit N2.8tn

There is a huge possibility that an August 1 tariff hike in electricity prices may become a possibility as the Federal Government, through the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), may consider the request by the 11 power distribution companies for a review of their tariff. This follows a revelation that government spending on electricity subsidy has hit N2.8 trillion.

A report from NERC titled “Overview of the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry” showed that past upward reviews or hikes in electricity prices helped the government save badly needed funds, especially as such hikes had saved the government N1 trillion that would have been spent on subsidy annually.

Providing an update on the country’s tariff review journey, the commission stated that “between January 2020 and January 2023, the tariff increased from 55 percent of cost recovery to 94 percent.

Petrol prices spike in U.S. as crude oil goes up

After months of decline following falling crude prices, petrol, and diesel prices have started rising thanks to rising crude oil prices.

According to some reports, the national average fuel price in the United States has spiked to $3.565 per gallon from $3.543 a week ago, while a gallon of diesel now averages $3.842 from $3.837 a week ago. Oil markets are looking to build on three straight weeks of increases, which coincide with the oil price rally.

On the demand side, the oil market has enjoyed sustained demand pressure for the past three weeks following rising demand, especially as the heat wave hit Europe and North America and a supply cut from OPEC+ cut supply. A situation that pushed the price above $80 per barrel.

Rystad Energy has estimated that whereas OPEC and its allies have announced cuts amounting to 6 percent of 2022’s production, non-OPEC supply has made up for two-thirds of those cuts, with the U.S. accounting for half of that.