Fitch Revises Rivers State Outlook to Negative; Affirms at 'BB-'

Fitch Ratings has revised the Outlook on the Nigerian State of Rivers' Long-term foreign currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to Negative from Stable. The agency has also the affirmed Long-term foreign and local currency IDRs at 'BB-' and its National Long-term rating at 'AA-(nga)'. The Outlooks on the local currency IDR and on the National Long-term rating remain Stable. 


Under EU credit rating agency (CRA) regulation, the publication of local and regional government (LRG) reviews is subject to restrictions and must take place according to a published schedule, except where it is necessary for CRAs to deviate from this in order to comply with their legal obligations.

Fitch interprets this provision as allowing us to publish a rating review in situations where there is a material change in the creditworthiness of the issuer that we believe makes it inappropriate for us to wait until the next scheduled review date to update the rating or Outlook/Watch status.

The next scheduled review date for Fitch's ratings on Rivers State was originally 11 September 2015. However, following the downgrade of Nigeria's Outlooks we have taken a similar rating action on Rivers State as the issuer is rated at the same level as the sovereign for the Long-term foreign currency IDR.

Fitch Affirms 10 Nigerian Banks' Support Ratings on Sovereign Outlook Revision

Fitch Ratings has affirmed the Support Ratings (SRs) and Support Rating Floors (SRFs) of 10 Nigerian Banks. They are Zenith Bank Plc (Zenith), FBN Holdings Plc (FBNH), First Bank of Nigeria Ltd (FBN), United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA), Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (GTB), Access Bank Plc (Access), Diamond Bank Plc (Diamond), Fidelity Bank Plc (Fidelity), Union Bank of Nigeria Plc (Union) and First City Monument Bank Limited (FCMB). 


The rating actions follow Fitch's revision of the Outlook on Nigeria's Long-term Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) to Negative from Stable.

Fitch has also affirmed the IDRs and National Ratings of six banks, namely FBN, UBA, Diamond, Fidelity, Union and FCMB. The Outlooks on these Long-term IDRs remain Stable. These banks' IDRs and National Ratings are driven by the probability of sovereign support, as indicated by their SRFs.

The National Ratings of Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc (SIBTC) and Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc (SIBTCH) are unaffected by the sovereign rating action, as their 'AAA(nga)' ratings are based on the support that the bank and the holding company derive from Standard Bank Group Limited (SBG; BBB/Negative).

The Viability Ratings (VRs) of Fitch-rated Nigerian banks are unaffected by the sovereign rating action. Therefore, the IDRs and National Ratings of Zenith, FBNH, GTB and Access are unaffected, as these are driven by the banks' standalone strengths, as indicated by their VRs. Fitch recently reviewed all Nigerian banks' VRs (see 'Fitch Affirms 10 Nigerian Banks on Peer Review; Stable Outlook", dated 23 February 2015).

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Fitch Revises Nigerian State of Lagos' Outlook to Negative; Affirms at 'BB-'

Fitch Ratings has revised the Outlook on the Nigerian State of Lagos' Long-term foreign currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to Negative from Stable. The agency has also affirmed the Long-term foreign and local currency IDRs at 'BB-' and its National Long-term rating at 'AA+(nga)'. The Outlooks on the local currency IDR and on the National Long-term rating remain Stable. 


The next scheduled review date for Fitch's ratings on Lagos State was originally 11 September 2015. However, following the downgrade of Nigeria's Outlooks we have taken a similar rating action on Lagos State as the issuer is rated at the same level as the sovereign for the Long-term foreign currency IDR.

KEY RATING DRIVERS
The rating action on Lagos follows the same on Nigeria's sovereign Long-term IDR's Outlook on 30 March
The rating action reflects the application of Fitch's 'International Local and Regional Governments Rating Criteria - Outside United States', according to which subnationals' ratings usually cannotbe higher than their sovereign.

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WEEKAHEAD-Presidential election outcome to buoy Nigerian naira

 

Nigeria's naira could firm against the dollar on the parallel market next week after a peaceful election .

The naira firmed to 210 to the dollar on the parallel market from 226 a week ago after opposition leader Muhammadu Buhari won in a vote that avoided the violence of previous polls.

However, the currency traded within the 199-199.50 band on the official interbank market, where it has been stuck since February, after the central bank pegged the rate.

In a sign of relief, individuals who had stockpiled dollars to hedge against political risk fearing the election could be marred by violence were exchanging their funds for the naira.

GSK Nigeria 2014 pretax falls 36 pct to 2.7 bln naira

 

GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria said on Thursday it's 2014 pretax profit fell 36.2 percent to 2.75 billion naira ($14 million).

 

The drugmaker's revenue rose to 30.52 billion naira from 29.18 billion in the same period, it said in a statement.

The company has proposed a dividend of 0.75 naira per share and one new share for every four existing shares to shareholders, unchanged from the previous year.

Nigerian Economy: Awaiting the New Government

 

While awaiting the Transition to a new Government, Tackling the high rate of Poverty, epileptic power supply, unemployment, even distribution of wealth and social liberation comes in to focus. A yearning that has been long awaited.

Over the last 16 years, Nigeria can indeed say she has grown over her counterparts in the continent economically; rebasing trails into our minds. However, with the assurances gotten from the President-elect, there seems to be hope and we expect the Economic team to swing into action after May 29.

The following sectors you would agree needs serious attention: Power, Agriculture, Labour, Infrastructural development, Security, Social empowerment, Housing, amongst others.

The outgoing government cannot totally be written off in terms of performances in the different sectors that make up the economy, notably restoring confidence in the economy. Some analysts have also suggest the retention some cabinet members like the Minister of Agriculture, Finance, Works, Trade and Investments and a host of others, who are believe have the needed experience and expertise in completing the reformation in the economy.

Nigeria's Skye Bank plans $251 mln rights issue after debt sale

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Nigeria's Skye Bank plans to raise 50 billion naira ($251 million) via a rights issue by the third quarter of 2015 to expand its loan book after it completed the sale of short-term commercial notes last week, it said on Wednesday.

Skye Bank, which acquired nationalized lender Mainstreet Bank this year, said in a statement the shares sale is expected to commence after a shareholders' meeting scheduled for May.

The bank also said it raised 100 billion naira through the sale of 90-day commercial paper at 16.5 percent.

Shares in the lender rose 10 percent to 2.64 naira, tracking the overall rise on the main share index which is up 8.4 percent, lifted by positive sentiments after opposition leader Muhammadu Buhari's won a closely-fought presidential vote.