Nov 30 (Lagos) - General Motors shocked all analysts covering the automakers in the US when it announced a $10 billion stock buy-back plan and also boosted its quarterly dividend by 33%.
The stock rallied more than 10% yesterday in New York and also pushed up other auto stocks like Ford and Stellantis.
CEO of GM M/s Barra said that "I personally am not happy where the share price is,". Then she announced the stock buy back plan which is up to US$ 10 billion.
Commentary
To put it in context, that $ 10 billion is what we are looking for in Nigeria to clear our CBN-Investor back-log. So just one Company in the USA is big enough to solve all of Nigeria forex related problems. The real problem we face in Nigeria is corruption and lack of good intentions from those who have been in power whether they are politicians or CEO's of banks.
This is the kind of CEO that investors in Nigeria want to see. Where they buy back their own stocks rather than keep issuing rights every few years because capital base has eroded. We need to be ready to ask difficult questions to our CEO's especially in the Banking sector regarding their expenses and lack of stock buy backs. How come they keep buying luxury SUV's for themselves when there is very little organic growth in their Organizations?
It is a tough journalist who has the guts to such questions and if asked you will likely see lack of advertisements on their websites from banks. At the end of the day, the journalist is also doing a job and needs to put the money on the table. So asking easy questions to Bank CEO's puts the advertisements on the website and food on the table.
reporting for easykobo.com on Thursday, Nov 30 2023 from Lagos, Nigeria