The Nation Newspaper

Tag: firms

  • SON seals firms over ‘sub-standard’ products

    SON seals firms over ‘sub-standard’ products

    Determined to rid the country of fake and sub-standard goods which cause health hazards to Nigerians, the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has raided some companies in the commercial city of Onitsha, Anambra State suspected to be dealing in fake products. Three companies at Awada and Arondizogu streets in 3-3 GRA belonging to two different persons were sealed by the organisation.

    Eight persons were also arrested  during the raid.

    Among those arrested included a Chinese, Ming Tiandong and the owner of Bendusco Industries Limited, Mr. Benjamin Nwizu.

    At 3-3 GRA at Nkwelle-Ezunaka, four of the workers of the company, all girls, were arrested along with the security man and the company’s driver.

    The company was alleged to be involved in producing fake shaving sticks and razor blades known as Tip-Up and Tigger respectively. However, the owner of the firm ran away with his family.

    The companies’ products and machines were confiscated by SON, even as one of the vehicles of one of the companies was also confiscated.

    Addressing reporters after the operation at Nkwelle-Ezunaka, the Deputy Director Operations (SON), Suleman Isah, said the firms were sealed because they were producing sub-standard products, adding that that informed the combined operation.

    He said SON would prosecute the suspects after full investigations had been carried out, adding that the companies had been under the organisation’s surveillance for years.

    The Director of Operations, who led another group to Awada, Mr. Felix Nyado, said DSK Goldings City Investment Limited and Bendusco International Limited were producing fake tooth paste, brush and shaving sticks.

    He also accused the companies of producing sub-standard products in a filthy environment.

    But the owner of the two companies, who hid inside the ceiling before he was dragged down by the security operatives, claimed that SON had visited the place before the current operation.

    He expressed dissatisfaction over the action of the organisation, adding that he had earlier taken them to the Federal High Court in Awka where, according to him, the court ruled that they should go back to the status quo.

    Nwizu further claimed that he had reported SON to the National Assembly where, he said, SON was warned not to disturb his company again.

    But briefing reporters, Nyado denied Nwizu’s claims, saying that the companies had engaged in unwholesome acts.

  • NNPC okays 39 firms for oil trade

    NNPC okays 39 firms for oil trade

    State-run  Nigeria National Petroleum Cooperation (NNPC) has finally unveiled 39 companies which will trade Nigeria’s oil for this year’s crude oil term contract.

    The 39 companies emerged from 224 which participated in an open bid.

    The list, which was released by the oil firm, includes 18 indigenous companies, two NNPC trading companies and a host of international companies.

    The NNPC, in a statement, said: “The contract will run for one year, effective  January 1 2017 for consecutive 12 circles of crude oil allocation.

    “The list involves 18 Nigerian companies, 11 International Traders, five  foreign refineries, three National Oil Companies (NOCs) and two NNPC trading arms. All the contracts are for 32,000 bpd except Duke Oil Ltd, a subsidiary of NNPC, which shall be for 90,000 bpd.”

    For refineries contract, Hindustan Refinery; Varo Energy; Sonara Refinery; Bharat Refinery; Cepsa emerged winners while for international traders,Trafigura; ENOC Trading; BP Trading; Total Trading; UCL Petro Energy; Mocho; Tevier Petroleum; Heritage Oil; Levene Energy; Glencore; Litasco Supply and Trading were okayed by the NNPC.

    Under the government to government

    contract, there is India (Indian Oil Company); China (Sinopec); South Africa (Saccoil) while Oando; Sahara Energy; MRS Oil and Gas; A.A Rano; Bono; Masters Energy; Eterna Oil and Gas; Cassiva Energy; Hyde Energy; Britania-U; North West Petroleum; Optima Energy; AMG Petroenergy; Arkleen Oil & Gas Ltd; Shoreline Limited; Emo Oil; Setana Energy; and Prudent Energyare indigenous firms that got approval. NNPC trading companies-Duke Oil Limited and Carlson Hyson are also involved in the contract.

    During the open bid in November last year, the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Maikanti Baru,  had said the number of bidders for the contract dropped from 278 that applied for the contract in 2015 due to  the new requirements introduced by the corporation.

    Baru explained that the process, which prioritised refiners and big crude oil lifters,  would be concluded next month.

    “When we sell this crude oil, the money goes straight to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) account on behalf of the federation. NNPC does not operate any of those accounts.

    “The best input from the NNPC is confirmation that the money has been paid but we have no signature rights on this account, contrary to the perception that NNPC is hoarding some money on behalf of the Nigerian people, all the crude oil that we sell goes to the Nigerian people. There is nothing that is hidden, it is all open for everybody to see,” Baru had explained.

  • Why firms need exit plans, by experts

    Experts have advised entrepreneurs in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria to build exit strategies into their business models.

    They said this would guide their withdrawal from such businesses.

    The experts said exit plans encourage entrepreneurs to run their businesses according to tax and other regulatory best practices which, among others, help them to properly value and sell at the best prices.

    They spoke in Lagos at the Compex Africa Business Exit Forum, which united business buyers, sellers and other stakeholders to discuss the exit options available for SMEs in the country.

    The speakers included Ukachukwu Obinna, Head, SME Banking at Stanbic IBTC; Damilola Aloba, Associate Director, Ernst and Young; Collins Onuegbu, Director, Lagos Angel Network and Founder of Signal Alliance and Ikechukwu Ubahakwe, Partner, Astute and Young.

    Business exit plans, they said, provide incentives for people to engage in entrepreneurship with the knowledge that they could someday cash out big and channel part of their newly acquired wealth, time and experience into other ventures with economic benefits.

  • NLC decries poor working condition in firms

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has spoken against the poor and unsafe conditions in which Nigerian workers discharge their duties.

    Speaking with The Nation, the NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, said: “We demand that a labourer, a pensioner deserves his wages. There must be dignity in labour. Let us collectively end corporate greed, let there be enough so that there will be shared posterity.

    ”Despite that the world has witnessed unprecedented accumulation of wealth in the last one decade, the workers that have created the wealth have remained in abject poverty, this must not be allowed to continue to happen.”

    He said the condition of workers in Nigeria was nothing to write home, adding that the working class was facing a lot of difficulties because salaries are not being paid in some states  and many companies as at when due.

    In a related event, the Chemical and Non-Metallic Senior Staff Association (CANMPSSA) has urged the Federal Government to speed up the diversification of the economy.

    According to the association, the  Federal Government should explore diversification of such sectors as agriculture, tourism, solid minerals, hospitality and others to buffer its foreign exchange earnings. Its President, Mohammed Abdul Gafar, who stated this in Ilorin, Kwara State capital, at the three-day Annual National Management/Industrial Relations Seminar and Entrepreneurship Skills Acquisition,  said the economy, which has defied all reasonable economic policies proposed so far, calls for more seriousness on the planned diversification.

    “The focus on crude oil as the major source of revenue for the economy has greatly incapacitated all other available sources of revenue in our country and, by implication, has affected our sector with the exchange rate of the naira to dollar rising astronomically,” he said.

    He reasoned that Nigeria, immensely blessed with skilled personnel, materials and natural resources, should not have been in the present precarious situation, but for lack of foresight of the past leaders.

    As a way out, the labour leader said the government should give priority to agriculture, which he said, has been a major source of revenue generation and raw material for manufacturing industries.

    “Efforts should be made to consolidate on massive production of cash crops segment of agricultural sector for exportation of agro-allied products to boost the revenue and increase the GDP of the country,” he stated.

    Gafar lamented that the effect of the present economic situation in the country has been devastating on the manufacturing sector, through the scarcity of foreign exchange, saying that government should march its words on backward integration with action.

    He noted that industries in the country have now embarked on various strategies to enable them remain in business, some which are detrimental to the workers.

    The CANMPSSA President said the union, as part of its contribution to resolving the problem, chose “Strengthening organisational performance in a depressed economy: chemical and non-metallic products experience”, as the theme of its seminar.

    He said: “Our challenge is that nobody in government is paying attention to the problem in the manufacturing sector. It is so bad now that we wonder how industries are coping. So, as workers, we believe that we can work together, create synergy that will stabilise our organisations and increase our productivity.”

  • TETFund wants firms to up 2% education tax

    Executive Secretary, Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Dr. Abdullahi Baffa, has called for the expansion of two per cent education tax to more corporate companies.

    Baffa made the request at the seventh edition of the TETFund interactive forum jointly organised with the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) in Port Harcourt, River State.

    Baffa, in a statement in Abuja, called for the enforcement of tax payment compliance on companies to shore up TETFund revenue generation base.

    “One of the key things we want is enforced compliance. Those companies that are within the education tax net should pay correctly and those that are outside should be brought in,” the statement said.

    He said more institutions in Nigeria would soon be added to the list of top universities at the global level following the recent ranking of the University of Ibadan (801) among 1000 universities in the world.

    According to him, the improved ranking of UI by Times Higher Education World University Ranking was largely due to TETFund intervention projects.

    “It is very gratifying for the TETFund, as it is for every Nigeria, to hear that University of Ibadan is among the top 5 per cent universities in the world. This is one testimony that TETFund intervention is making the desired impact. Let me assure you and indeed, all other beneficiary institutions, that you would continue to enjoy the improved and determined support of TETFund at every step of your journey to the top of the league table.

    “To achieve this would require among other things, focused and targeted inflow of funding to our benefiting institutions through the Fund,” he said.

    The statement quoted the Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Babatunde Fowler, as blaming the fall in the collection of education tax revenue on tax evasions, the uncooperative attitude of private sector operators and unpatriotic business organisations.

     

  • NSE to sanction 14 firms for earnings’ report default

    NSE to sanction 14 firms for earnings’ report default

    The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) will sanction 14 firms for failing to meet July 31 deadline for the submission of their interim financial and operational reports, it was gathered at the weekend in Lagos.

    Sources at the Exchange said the firms were to submit their first half and second quarters’interim earnings report and accounts by that date.

    NSE’s Post-listing rules  require quoted companies to submit their audited earnings’reports, not later than three months after the expiration of the period. The rules also require quoted companies to submit their interim reports not later than 30 days after the end of the relevant period.

    Most quotedcompanies, including all banks, major manufacturers, oil and gas cement companies use the 12-month Gregorian calendar as their busines year. Their business year thus terminates on December 31. March 31 is the deadline for the submission of the yearly report of companies with Gregorian calendar business year. The deadline for the quarterly report is a month after the quarter.

    The regulatory filing calendar of the NSE indicated that July 31 was the deadline for the results for the period ended June 30, thus the last working day of the period, Friday, July 29, was effectively the deadline.

    Sources at the NSE said there would be no general waiver or extension of the earnings submission deadline besides the specific waiver or extension granted to some companies that had applied for such, noting that the Exchange would impose appropriate sanctions on the companies that defaulted.

    The Exchange confirmed that it would sanction the companies that failed the deadline.

    “The Exchange will enforce the appropriate sanctions in accordance with the Issuers’ Rule 2015 where a listed company fails to apply for an extension or provide a reasonable explanation before the due date,” NSE stated in email response to enquiry by The Nation.

    The NSE indicated that about three-quarters of companies met the deadline. Besides the 14 active companies, there are also about 40 dormant companies under the watch of the Exchange.

    NSE tags and fines companies that fail to meet earnings reports’ deadline. Under the corporate governance and rules compliance assessment report known as X-Compliance Report, NSE identified four various tags or symbols to alert investors about the status of each quoted company. These include below listings standard (BLS), the first degree alert level, indicating a company that has not complied with post listing rules, such as late submission of financial statements, unauthorised publication, and management failures.

    Also, financial services companies, such as bank and insurance companies awaiting regulatory approval, will carry the appropriate symbol of awaiting regulatory approval (ARA).

    Companies undergoing a capital reconstruction, including supplementary issue, share buyback, split, and share reconstruction, will be tagged capital reconstruction exercise (CRE) while companies that have indicated that they will be delisting or companies that are being delisted at the instance of the regulator would be flagged with delisting in process (DIP) symbol.

  • NDPHC chief seeks support for indigenous gas firms

    To get the required volume of gas   for  thermal power stations, the Federal Government should support indigenous oil and gas firms to increase their output, Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) Acting Managing Director Mr. Chiedu Ugbo has said.

    According to him, some of the indigenous oil and gas firms that are in the forefront of domestic gas supply include Accugas, GigaGas, Seplat Plc, and Shoreline.

    Ugbo, who spoke to The Nation on the importance of supporting the indigenous firms, said lack of robust mechanism for gas payment has made international oil firms (IOCs) that are major oil producers to shun local supply.

    He said: “Enormous resources are often expended in developing gas fields and the associated transportation infrastructure to deliver gas molecules for power generation. There is need for guaranteed payment for gas to ensure recovery of capital invested and return on investment.

    ‘’Also, given the poor payment history of the power industry, securitisation of the Gas Sales Agreement (GSA) payments has been a huge challenge for the consummating commercial transactions and achieving financial closure for the projects that requires drilling, gas processing and construction of pipelines.’’

    Ugbo added: “A lot of associated gas is being flared because the IOCs, who are the owners of these fields, are not interested in developing them under the gas aggregation framework of the government. There is thus the need for a well publicised framework to be put in place for an interested investor or developer to have access to this gas in an existing production sharing contract (PSC), oil mining lease (OML) or oil prospecting lease (OPL) as well as a ‘willing seller willing buyer’ arrangement encouraged. In essence, there must be a flexible application of the aggregation framework. This policy was put in place to jumpstart gas availability and has a regulated price regime,” he said.

    The NDPHC chief said under the policy, all IOCs/gas producers must allocate a portion of their gas production to the domestic supply obligation (DSO0 mainly for power generation before they can allocate any gas for other commercial commitments or obligations. Recently, there has been growing call for a ‘willing buyer/willing seller’ arrangement rather than the regulated price regime which now seems like a straight jacket for the industry, he added.

  • FIRS shuts firms in Lagos, others over tax debt

    The clamp down on tax  defaulting firms by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) continued yesterday as its enforcement teams visited tax defaulting firms in Lagos, Nnewi and Kaduna.

    In Lagos, the FIRS sealed the office of Erin Petroleum Limited at Plot 1649 Olosa Street, Victoria Island. The firm has a tax indebtedness of over $10million. FIRS said the firm’s promise to offset the debt was not kept.

    Also sealed, was Newcross Petroleum Limited, located at Plot 17 LigaliAyorinde Street, Victoria Island, for owing $1.964million. Its Finance Director admitted that the  firm owed the amount, adding that it has paid $100,000 as a sign of commitment and pleaded for more time. The plea was ignored.

    Another firm shut, was Boron Oil Gas Limited, located at Block 110 Henry Ojogho Crescent, Lekki, which owed over N165million. According to Ann Erinne, Head of the Lagos Enforcement Team, the firm was sealed for reneging on its promise to pay N32million monthly to offset the debt. The Financial Controller told FIRS officials that the firm is currently experiencing cash flow problems.

    She added that it paid N27million in July and would pay the N5million balance for July as well as make full payment for August. She pleaded for more time, but her plea was rejected.

  • More firms to close shop over gas price, says MAN

    The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has  said more firms are set to close shops following  the the scarcity and high cost of gas.

    Speaking with reporters at the MAN House in Ikeja Lagos yesterday, its Chairman, Gas Users Group, Dr Micheal Ola Adebayo said the issue of high cost of natural gas has persisted for some time now and has reached a crisis point as most factories have stopped production and are about to shut down.

    He said: “Manufacturers are constrained to draw the attention of the Federal Government and the general public to the issue of persistent increase in the price of  natural gas used by manufacturers to power their plants and machinery by the gas franchisers.

    “ Some of our members are about to shut down their operation due to non-supply of gas to power their operations on the other hand, and the current exorbitant and dollarisation pricing of the available ones on the other.

    “Infact, some of our factories have been threatened with disconnection on account of their inability to pay for the increase price.“

    Adebayo said the growth of the manufacturing sector is currently being hampered by the huge cost of energy crisis occasioned by power outages and high cost of petroleum products in the country, adding that the incessant increase in the price of gas will not only be punitive but add to the woes of the sector.

    According to Adebayo, the high cost of gas has led to high  production cost with energy now accounting for over 45 per cent of total production cost. He added that it has constributed to low capacity utilisation in the factories and made locally produced goods to be uncompetitive.

  • Jumia makes 50 global smartest firms list

    Jumia makes 50 global smartest firms list

    The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has named African Internet Group, which re-branded to Jumia, amongst the world’s 50 Smartest Companies for 2016.

    MIT editors picked 50 companies worldwide that best combine innovative technology with effective business models, taking into account the results emanating from a set of agenda in their respective sectors over the past 12 months. Jumia, the only e-commerce company in Africa to have made the list, ranks no.47 amongst other tech giants like Amazon, Huawei, Facebook, Microsoft and more. Ranked just after social media phenomenon Snapchat, Jumia (formerly Africa Internet Group) is recognised by MIT as a leader in its sector, using technology to redefine multiple industries.

    Through its 9 services, Jumia provides online solutions to the African consumer in an array of sectors: hospitality, food, general merchandise, electronics, fashion, deals, jobs, cars and houses.

    The general merchandise online retail store Jumia, which bears the flagship name, as a true game changer, redefining the way African consumers shop. Other services mentioned are Jumia Travel (formerly Jovago), a leading hotel booking portal, and Jumia Classifieds comprising four online marketplace for jobs, deals, cars and houses.

    The company’s vision and objectives have been backed by top brands like telecom giants MTN and Orange, a leading insurance and financial company AxaMansard, as well as Millicom and Rocket Internet who see the group as a way of accessing the continent’s developing and promising online economy.

    Indeed, Jumia Group has contributed immensely to the digitisation of the African ecosystem- 1 in every 25 Africans visited Jumia websites in 2015, and more than 50 per cent of those visits are made via a mobile phone.

    The different services of Jumia are among the top 6 visited websites in the countries in which it operates and account for than more than 15 million visitors each month.

    According to the Chief Marketing Officer, Jumia, Fatoumata Ba, she stated that, “We are humbled to be recognised for our role in redefining the way Africans shop, travel, buy and sell.

    Our strength comes from our deep knowledge of our customers and of the countries we operate in.

    This has allowed us to build solutions and services that are entirely tailored to the behaviors and realities on ground such as low bancarisation that we address through cash on delivery, relatively low internet penetration that we address through our offline sales force and a strong reliance on mobile which we have understood, by providing a great electronic assortment with leading brands and providing an amazing mobile shopping experience to our customers.

    We will continue to develop those services with as much passion as when we started in 2012 and hopefully rank even higher in the MIT list next year”.