More firms released their financial reports for 2021 last week, a majority of them large-cap stocks from sectors as varied as energy, consumer goods, banking and industrial goods.
Much as quite a number posted spectacular earnings, two of the five big banks reported passably impressive earnings, while GTCO’s was underwhelming, with the lender’s declaration of a profit drop.
Yet, some companies not only recorded remarkable improvements across key performance parameters but also disclosed plans to pay higher dividends for last year.
PREMIUM TIMES has assembled a number of stocks with fundamentals and other potential, adopting key analytical approaches to save you the hassle of randomly picking equities for investment.
The selection, a product of analytical market watch, offers a guide to entering the market and taking strategic positions in hopes that equities will gain value with the passage of time, particularly in the short term.
This is not a buy, sell or hold recommendation but a stock investment guide. You may have to involve your financial advisor before taking investment decisions.
SEPLAT ENERGY
Seplat Energy tops this week’s pick on the back of its proposed final dividend of $0.025 per share for the 2021 financial year, bringing its total dividend for the year to $1 per unit. The declaration came in the wake of the oil driller’s disclosure of a 253 per cent jump in net profit to N46.9 billion for the year.
Seplat’s price-to-earnings (PE) ratio as of Friday was 6.14x, with earnings per share (EPS) £0.18.
DANGOTE CEMENT
Dangote Cement makes the selection for planning a dividend per share of N20 for stockholders for full year 2021, compared to the N16 the company paid for the preceding year.
For the review period, the cement-maker reported a 40 per cent rise in revenue to N1.4 trillion and a leap in after-tax profit of 32 per cent to N364.4 billion.
UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA (UBA)
UBA features on the list for announcing a final dividend per share of N0.80 for the 2021 financial year, translating to a total dividend per share of N1. That compares with a total dividend per share of N0.52 for the year before.
The lender’s PE ratio as of Friday was 2.07x, while its EPS is N3.98.
LAFARGE AFRICA
Lafarge Africa features in the selection by virtue of its proposal to pay stockholder a final dividend of N1 per share for 2021, bringing its total dividend per unit for the year to N2. The cash reward is two times what the company paid for 2020, when a total dividend per share of N1 was paid.
The decision followed the firm’s reporting of strong earnings, which saw post-tax profit expand 65.4 per cent to N51 billion.
NASCON ALLIED INDUSTRIES
Nascon makes the pick on the basis of the proposal by its board to pay a dividend of N0.40 for 2021. The salt-maker posted an increase in profit above one-tenth and a rise in sales of 18.8 per cent to N33.3 billion for the period.
ZENITH BANK
Zenith Bank makes the selection for declaring a final dividend of N2.80 per share for the financial year 2021, translating to a total dividend of N3.10 for the period. It compares with a total dividend per share of N3 declared for the year before.
The lender’s PE ratio as of Friday was 3.40x, while its EPS is currently N7.78.
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