30th October, 2012
First bank Plc, Lafarge Wapco, Stanbic-IBTC, Total and the conglomerate UACN have all posted higher profits in their third quarter results submitted to the Nigeria Stock Exchange today.
First Bank reported 46 percent jump in gross earnings for the period, buoyed by high interest income of N202 billion. According to its statement, the banking group earned N267 billion for the first three months, compared with the N225 billion earned during the same period last year. The bank’s PAT stands at N66billion, almost double the N36 billion it made the entire 2011.
Stanbic- IBTC also posted a good result that saw group gross earnings increase from N47 billion in Q3 of 2011 to N64 billion this year. The PAT of N6.9 billion is higher than the N6.6 billion recorded for the whole of last year.
Lafarge WAPCO whose stock has increased by more than 25 per cent in recent weeks reported a 55 per cent jump in gross income, rising to N69.8 billion, from N44.5billion. Despite that the cost of sales also increased by 42 per cent, the cement manufacturer was able to post a 53 per cent increase in PAT, from N7billion in the first three quarters of 2011 to N10.8billion this year.
Total, the oil company similarly showed great strength in its trading results. Although turnover jumped by a huge N37 billion, topping N166billion, the gains were almost wiped out by the high cost of sales, estimated at N146bn. Profit after tax was still better than last year’s at N3.7 bn compared with N2.5 bn.
Both AIICO, the insurance giant and UACN also recorded higher PAT for the period. For UACN, though turnover was 9 per cent higher this year than last year’s , PAT grew by 27 per cent and earnings per share by 65 per cent. AIICO also saw its profit soar to N1.2bn from N836 million.