Abbey Building Society Plc has released their third quarter result for the period ended 31st July 2009, in which the Turnover was N1.126 billion and improved by 51 % when compared with N744.774 million for the previous period. Similarly the Profit after Tax was N440.197 million indicating an improvement of 95 % when compared with a Profit After Tax of N225.977 million of the previous year.

Afprint Nigeria Plc has released their full year result for the period ended 30th June 2009, in which the Turnover was N4.529 billion Naira and fell by 17 % when compared with N5.431 billion Naira for the previous period. Similarly the Loss After Tax was N130.579 million Naira indicating a fall of 845% when compared with a Profit After Tax of N17.520 million Naira of the previous year. A closure date of 29th September - 2nd October 2009 was announced.

Guinness Nigeria Plc has announced a cash dividend of N7.50 for the period ended 30th June 2009.They also announced the closure date as 2nd - 16th October 2009 and payment date as 4th November 2009

Nigerian equity traders who manipulated share prices with loans from five banks would be prosecuted, the Nation newspaper reported yesterday, citing Mrs. Farida Waziri, the head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. The loans formed part of bad debts of N747 billion that convinced the Central Bank to sack the bosses of five banks last month and inject N420 billion into them.

The Central Bank of Nigeria has given the 24 banks up to the end of this month to make appropriate disclosure – including full disclosure of loan provisions in their financial statements. The banking watchdog said yesterday while explaining the reasons behind its recent actions in the five banks and the essence of the ongoing banking reforms that “ individual banks are expected to make appropriate disclosure including full disclosure of loan provision in the financial statements not later than the end of September 2009. 

Trading activities at the over-the-counter bond market recently enjoyed a boost as investors staked over N574 billion on 560.9 million units of government bonds, 70.7 per cent increase over the preceding week's volume. At the close of transaction on Friday, the volume of traded bonds for the week closed 70.7 per cent higher than the preceding week's volume of 328.45 million units valued at N334.3 billion in 1,927 deals.

Ecobank Nigeria is set to boost its capital base by N45 billion following an injection of capital from its Togo-based parent company, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI). The infusion of capital, at a time of considerable turmoil in the market, demonstrates the strength of the Ecobank Group. It also reflects ETI’s commitment to support its subsidiaries, and its confidence in the Nigerian market.

Oil prices fell below $64 a barrel Tuesday in Asia extending a 13 percent drop over the last week on investor doubts about a global economic recovery. Benchmark crude for August delivery fell 43 cents to $63.58 a barrel by afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Monday, it fell $2.68 to settle at $64.05.Prices reached an eight-month high last week above $73, but quickly tapered off as dismal unemployment figures suggested that the U.S. and Europe would be slower to rebound out of recession than expected.

The yen and the dollar rose on speculation the global recovery is faltering, while government bonds dropped as nations prepared debt sales to revive their economies. The yen climbed as much as 0.9 percent against the euro as of 10:41 a.m. in London, and the dollar strengthened as much as 0.6 percent.

European Union finance ministers said it’s too soon for governments to reverse stimulus measures as the region’s economy struggles to pull out of the worst recession since World War II. “We haven’t reached the time yet at which the exit strategy could be applied. We’re still in the middle of the crisis,” Luxembourg Finance Minister Jean-Claude Juncker said after leading a meeting of euro-area counterparts in Brussels late yesterday.