By PETER EGWUATU

Caverton Offshore Support Group Plc led the cream of price gainers  last week on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE with 7.89 per cent  or N0.27 per share  increase to close at N3.69 per share from N3.42 per share penultimate week.

Nigerian Stock Exchange

Thirteen equities appreciated in price during the week, lower than nineteen equities of the penultimate week, with Caverton leading the top ten chart.The other equities in the top ten chart include : Ecobaank Transnational Incorporated Plc, Forte Oil Plc, Unity Bank Plc, Diamond Bank Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc, UAC of Nigeria Plc, Associated Bus Company Plc, C & I Leasing Plc , and TotalFinaElf Plc.

Analysis shows that Caverton Offshore Support Group unaudited first quarter, Q1 2015 financial result shows that revenue stood at N5.6 billion, a 6 per cent increase over Q1 2014. Operating profit was 9 per cent higher than previous period, an indication of improvedoperational efficiency.

Other performace indicators show that revenue went up 6 per cent to N5.9billion; Gross profit rose by 7 per cent over Q1, 2014, Earnings Before Interest, Tax and Depreciation Allowance, EBITDA went up 23 per cent to  N1.2billion over Q1 2014; Net Profit up 3 per cent to N10 8million as against N104 million in  Q1, 2014; Earnings Per Share , EPS  was 3 kobo as against 3kbobo in Q1, 2014.

Commenting on the results, Caverton’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Bode Makanjuola said “Coming on the heels of a challenging business environment in 2014, the year 2015 is off to a slow start as the effect of the devaluation in the naira and elections dominated the industry during the first quarter.   Our net income was largely unchanged over the same period last year mainly due to higher finance cost. We continue to focus on reducing our operational costs to offer cost effective solutions to our clients without compromising safety and improving the efficiency of our operations.   Our operating profit was 9 per cent higher compared to same period last year.”

Trailing behind Caverton on the gainers chart was Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, ETI which rose by 4.76 per cent or N1.00 per share to close at N22.00 from N21.00 per share penultimate week.ETI first quarter, Q1 2015 unaudited results ended March 31, shows that gross earnings rose by  23 per cent  Year on Year,  YoY to N134.6 billion, while  Profit Before Tax, PBT and Profit After Tax,  PAT rose 58 per cent  and 65 per cent  YoY to N30.5 billion and N24.7 billion respectively. Gross earnings inched up slightly by two (2) percent from N86.3 billion to N105 billion in the review period of 2015.

Albert Essien, Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of ETI said “For the first three months of 2015, we grew profit for the period by US$34 million or 37 percent to $125 million from same period last year, while earnings-per-share increased 13 percent to 0.50  cents. As expected, the quarter was characterised by macroeconomic headwinds including a strengthening US dollar, which significantly appreciated against our major functional currencies – Naira, Cedi, and XOF/XAF.

According to Essien, despite the headwinds, the bank’s diversified pan-African business model continued to serve as well, with encouraging underlying performance in its line of businesses and geographies. “We were pleased with our cost efficiency gains, which led to our cost-income ratio improving to 62.7 percent from 69.2 percent in 2014. Revenue growth was modest, given the seasonally low client-activity we see in the first quarter of the year and the currency translation impact we experienced” he added.

Dismal performance

Forte Oil Plc occupied the third position as the share price rose by 4.50 per cent or N8.10 per share to close at N188.10 per share from N188.00 per share.Forte Oil had recorded dismal performance in the first quarter ended March 31, 2015 as revenue declined by 4.9 per cent to N3.062 billion as against N 3. 4780 billion in the corresponding period of 2014; Profit before tax down by 33 per cent to N842.4 million as against N 1.270 billion in 2014; Profit after tax dropped by 29.1 per cent to N782.3 million from N1.102 billion in 2014; Earnings per share equally dropped by 65.3 per cent  to N0.26  from  N0.75. Unity Bank Plc followed next on the gainers chart, rising by 3.83 per cent or N0.09 per share to close at N2.44 per share from N2.35 per share. The bank’s first quarter result ended March 31, 2015 shows that revenue went up by 10.2 per cent to N16.5 billion from N14.9 billion in the corresponding period of  2014; Profit after tax increased by 35.7 per cent to  N3,6 billion from  N2,6billion in 2014.

Meanwhile, Unity Bank audited annual report and accounts for 2014, shows that it recorded profit after tax of N10.692 billion. The results symbolised the bank’s return to profit annual profitability after declaring a loss after tax of N22.582 billion a year earlier. In the financial year ended December 31, 2014, Unity Bank made a profit before tax of N13.63 billion, compared to a loss before tax of N33.63 billion for the year ended December 31, 2013. The results also showed that the bank grew its interest and similar income from N52.195 billion in 2013 to N62.635 billion  in the year under review, indicating a 20 per cent rise year-on-year. Its earnings per share now stand at N17.45 compared to a negative position of N58.75 in 2013. Also, the bank grew its total assets by 2.2 per cent from N403.629 billion to N413.305 billion. Diamond Bank Plc occupied the fifth position on the gainers’ chart, rising by N3.29 per cent or N0.13 per share to close at N2.44 per share from N2.35 per share. The bank’s profit before income tax for the first quarter ended March, 31, 2015 stood at N8.376 billion as against N9.240 billion in the corresponding period of 2014.