Unity Bank and CAP Plc also make the list.

As the earnings season unfurls, more release of financial statements by corporate Nigeria is helping to unmask the latent value in the earnings sources of sectors as disparate as telecoms, conglomerate, oil and gas, manufacturing and even agriculture.

Even though financial performance has been broadly impressive in the first nine months of the year, a couple of sectors have been particularly impressive. In an economy facing a revenue squeeze, the deciding factor for most smart investors will still remain watching out for companies with strong earnings prospects.

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. You may have to involve your financial advisor before taking investment decisions.

AIRTEL AFRICA

Airtel tops this week's list for the twin factors of posting a more than twofold rise in after-tax profit for the nine months to September and for deciding to pay its shareholders an interim dividend of 2 cents per share.

The wireless carrier's profit for that period stood at $335 million.

MTN Nigeria

MTN Nigeria features on the selection on the basis of a potentially huge boost to its earnings power this quarter and beyond following the telco's Friday receipt of approval-in-principle from the central bank to start a payments service bank.

TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION OF NIGERIA (TRANSCORP)

Transcorp appears on this week's list for trading significantly below its actual value, which makes it cheap for investment.

The conglomerate reported a 671 per cent surge in post-tax profit for the nine-month period that ended in September, supported by an increased turnover of N85.6 months.

Currently priced at N1.04 per share, the stock has an EPS of N0.19 with a PE ratio of 5.52.

UNITY BANK

Unity Bank makes the pick by virtue of its strong earnings performance for the nine months to September during which profit grew by roughly a quarter and revenue by 7 per cent.

The lender's earnings Per Share (EPS) stands at N0.21 and its price-to-earnings (pe) ratio at 2.64 before the start of trade Monday. Its unit price is N0.55.

CAP PLC

CAP appears on this week's list for currently trading close to its lowest price in 52 weeks, which makes it cheap and a promising entry point for potential investors. The stock is currently priced at N19.50.

COURTEVILLE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS

Courteville makes this week's pick for trading below its real value. The stock is priced at N0.39 per unit with a PE ratio of 4.64 and an EPS of N0.08.

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