The Nation Newspaper

Tag: optimistic

  • Nestle Nigeria optimistic of better returns

    •Shareholders get N33.7b dividend

    Nestle Nigeria Plc is optimistic the ongoing economic reforms and diversification agenda of the government will lead to better performance and returns to shareholders in the years ahead.

    Addressing shareholders at the annual general meeting yesterday in Lagos, Chairman, Nestle Nigeria Plc, Mr. David Ifezulike, said as the current economic recovery trend eases production constraints in manufacturing and agriculture and key government reforms continue to diversify the economy, an all-round improvement in the economy is expected.

    “In view of the foregoing and confident in the capacity of our people and the value of our brands, we look towards 2018 with optimism,” Ifezulike said.

    He assured shareholders of better returns in the years ahead noting that the increase of 34 per cent in the company’s sales in 2017 was evidence that consumers continue to trust its brands.

    He said the company will continue to work to retain consumer’s trust by responding to their needs and their preferences.

    According to him, Nestle Nigeria would continue to implement the policies that have contributed to the company’s growth in recent times.

    He added that Nestle brands remained the leaders in their categories by increasing the focus of the marketing efforts on driving penetration through the Popularly Positioned Products (PPP) strategy while continuing to educate consumers on the benefits of good nutrition delivered by high quality products.

    Shareholders at the meeting approved the payment of N33.7 billion as cash dividend for the 2017 business year. Shareholders commended the company’s performance noting that the company’s fundamentals remain strong.

    A breakdown of the dividend indicated that N21.8 billion will be distributed as final cash dividend to shareholders, representing a final dividend per share of N27.50. The final dividend will be paid on May 23, 2018 to shareholders on the register of the company as at the close of business on May 4, 2018. Nestle Nigeria had earlier paid interim dividend of N11.89 billion, representing a dividend per share of N15. Total dividend per share for 2017 now stands at N42.50.

    The significant increase in dividend payout underlined improvement in the performance of the company in 2017 as net profit rose by 326 per cent.

    Key extracts of the audited report and accounts of Nestle Nigeria for the year ended December 31, 2017 showed that turnover rose by 34.2 per cent from N181.9 billion in 2016 to N244.2 billion. Gross profit also grew by 33.9 per cent from N75.3 billion in 2016 to N100.9 billion in 2017. Profit before tax jumped by 117.3 per cent to N46.8 billion as against N21.5 billion recorded in the previous year. After taxes, net profit leapt from N7.9 billion in 2016 to N33.7 billion in 2017, representing an increase of 326 per cent.

     

  • Vitafoam Nigeria optimistic on future growth

    Vitafoam Nigeria Plc expects significant reduction in interest expense and new business operations to boost performance and ensure better returns to shareholders in the years ahead.

    At a media interactive session at the weekend, Group Managing Director, Vitafoam Nigeria Plc, Mr Taiwo Adeniyi said strategic initiatives aimed at boosting working capital and sustaining competitive edge would impact positively on the company’s performance in the years ahead.

    He noted that the company has secured a four-year N2 billion loan from the Bank of Industry (BOI) at concessionary interest rate of 12 per cent, a significant reduction from 25 per cent commercial rate incurred by the company in 2017.

    According to him, the BOI’s credit facility would help to reduce finance cost and enhance the company’s ability to directly import its raw materials from the global market.

    “There will be a huge favourable reduction in finance cost by a minimum of N240million, representing 20.4 per cent. Secondly, the previously depleted working capital will be boosted by the BOI’s four-year working capital support. This will enable Vitafoam to source its major raw materials directly from overseas manufacturers, thereby retaining middlemen margin in the business. A minimum of 15 per cent margin will be saved on every direct import of major raw materials,” Adeniyi said.

    He outlined that the company has created new business lines that will boost profitability and cushion the adverse effect of fluctuations in other business lines.

    “Specifically, Vitaparts Nigeria Limited, a new subsidiary, established to manufacture oil filters, is expected to commence operation in the third quarter of the current financial year while importation and installation of the manufacturing plant will be concluded in the second quarter of the year, all things being equal.

    “These new strategic initiatives are designed to diversify operation and revenue base of the group. In a similar vein, Vitablom Nigeria Limited, the soft furnishing subsidiary has concluded installation of fiber processing plant. The new production line is expected to boost the operation and revenue base of the group,” Adeniyi said.

    He pointed out that the company recorded a profit after tax of N190 million in 2017 as against N412 million recorded in 2016, despite the tough operating climate. Group turnover also rose by 30 per cent.

    He attributed the performance in 2017 to cost control measures put in place by the management, citing the three per cent reduction in administrative expenses and reduction of distribution cost from five percent to four percent of revenue between 2017 and 2016 financial year.

    He noted that due to weak working capital and paucity of foreign exchange letters of credit, the company purchased more than 80 per cent of its raw materials locally, thereby incurring more cost .

    He said the board of the company has decided to recommend distribution of N156.36million as cash dividend to shareholders to further demonstrate the company’s long-standing commitment to shareholder value.

  • Osho optimistic of NPFL status

    Osho optimistic of NPFL status

    Technical Adviser of Remo Stars Football Club, Osho Fatai has expressed disappointment with his lads over the draw with Kano Pillars in the MatchDay 11 of the ongoing Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL). The game ended 1-1.

    Speaking with journalists after the draw, he said the game should have been wrapped up early enough with so many chances missed by his lads.

    “It’s quite unfortunate and really heartbreaking, we could have wrapped it up in the early hours of the game. In football, you don’t lose concentrations, some minutes to the end of the game and we have been punished for our numerous chances missed.

    “We have found ourselves in this situation and we have no other choice than to raise our heads and forge ahead.

    “The boys are responding to trainings but we are just bittered now because of that loss of concentration and if not for that, we should have been happy by now.

    “It is still very possible for us to maintain our Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) status, we don’t have to start dwelling on self pity because it won’t take us anywhere.

    “We threw away 2 points today, we will keep working and tell the boys we can still do it,” Osho said immediately after the match.

  • Expert optimistic Nigeria can benefit from $10tr global outsourcing market

    Expert optimistic Nigeria can benefit from $10tr global outsourcing market

    The federal govern-ment has been urged to reposition the outsourcing business to enable the country benefit from the $10trillion global outsourcing market.

    Making this appeal was the Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Peter Jack.

    He gave this charge at the 2015 Outsourcing Expo organsied by the Association of Outsourcing Professionals of Nigeria in partnership with Integrated Corporate Services, Whytecloen, lifewort, Vic Lawrence and Associate in Lagos.

    Tagged: ‘The Value of Outsourcing’, the event brought together hundreds of professionals, government agencies, captains of industries and top media practitioners.

    According to Jack, the federal government is putting into place a national working document to regulate the outsourcing business in Nigeria so it can be reposition to play in the $10trillion global outsourcing space.

    Jack, who was represented by a member of the board of NITDA, Sunday Afolayan noted that there are many companies trying to force exiting resources into an outsource model because of greed and they end up missing the abundant opportunities of outsourcing business.

    On many emerging economy like India, he said the single driver of growth in India is outsourcing and it value to the economy in India is evident.

    “African is not taken advantage of the numerous opportunities of the outsourcing sector as 10% of the global value of outsourcing is shared between South Africa, Egypt, Kenya, Mauritius who are taking the lead in the region,” he said.

    Earlier, the President of Association of Outsourcing Professionals of Nigeria AOPN, Dr. Austin Nweze called on the federal government to put in place infrastructure that would help Nigerians access the potential in the outsourcing sector.

    He said countries are either in the supply or demand side in outsourcing depending on how we are able to leverage on their skill labour, infrastructure and governance structure for value in h outsourcing space.

    He cited a recent World Bank report that 2020, the size of online outsourcing industry will be in the range of US$15 to 25$billion and has the capacity to employ at least 30 million registered worker will create about 30million jobs across the world.

    Nweze said outsourcing provides broader access o specialised skills, more flexible and faster hiring processes and 24 hours productivity.

  • Learn Africa optimistic on future earnings

    Learn Africa Plc is optimistic that it strategies will lead to quantum leap in sales and considerable improvement in profitability in the business year.

    Managing Director, Learn Africa Plc, Mr. Segun Oladipo, said the performance of the company was hindered in 2014 by the violence in the Northeastern part of the country and myriad of macroeconomic challenges.

    Key extracts of the audited report and accounts of Learn Africa for the year ended December 31, 2014 showed that pleased turnover dropped marginally to N2.21 billion in 2014 as against N2.28 billion in 2013. Profit after tax however halved from N100.13 million to N58.68 million.

    Oladipo said the performance of the company was affected by the security challenges in the North Eastern part of the country, which prevented the company from securing orders from states in the region, which are now preoccupied with spending huge sums on security matters. He said the security challenges also hindered the company from pushing its products widely as its sales and marketing team was confined to the safe areas.

    He however noted that the company was able to grow open market sales to schools and booksellers by 27 per cent in 2014 in line with one of its corporate objectives to reduce dependence on patronage by government ministries, departments and agencies.

    He pointed out that the outbreak of Ebola epidemic adversely affected the company’s operations because of the closure of schools for several weeks, which coincided with the sales season when the company usually get orders from bookshops and schools.

    He outlined that the recurring issue of book piracy also made it difficult for the company to fully harness the potentials in its market as the pirates have become more daring in the distribution of illegal copies of widely recommended titles across the country.

    According to him, the company also had to contend with the high inflation rate, strong and persistent pressure on the disposable income of an average Nigerian family, remarkable increases in the prices of imported raw materials and the poor reading culture in this country.

    Oladipo noted that in spite of all the challenges that we encountered in 2014, the company was able to achieve a profit after tax of N58.6m and has proposed a dividend of 12 kobo, representing gross dividend of N92.6 million.

    “As part of the measures to achieve a quantum leap in sales figures during the current financial year, we have introduced new product lines into the market.  We feel confident that the release of these products will enable us to compete effectively, increase our market share significantly and sustain our reputation as market leaders in the industry,” Oladipo said.

    He added that the management has also been examining other cost containment measures to reduce overheads and run the operations of the company more efficiently.

    “We are optimistic that the end year result for 2015 will reflect a very significant improvement on last year’s performance. Our position is based on the premium quality of our learning resources, our extensive and aggressive promotions, the wide sales and distribution network, competitive prices and greater operational efficiencies,” Oladipo assured.

  • Mobil Oil optimistic on future returns

    Mobil Oil optimistic on future returns

     

    Chairman and managing director, Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc, Mr. Adetunji Oyebanji, gave this assurance yesterday at the annual general meeting of the company in Lagos.

    According to him, while the business environment in the downstream sector will remain challenging, the company would continue to focus on growing sales of non-regulated products and its property business to complement the regulated product segment.

    He outlined that the company is currently constructing a new gasoline tank which will increase storage capacity and provide greater flexibility for its operations.

    “Additional investments are planned to upgrade our loading rack and tank farm for improved operating safety and efficiency. The retail chain has also benefited from selective investments consistent with the returns earned on regulated products. These investments will help MON to remain competitive in the market place,” Oyebanji said.

    He added that the company would continue to add capacity in the lube oil blending plant by building additional storage tanks for bulk activities noting that it has already started automation and upgrade of a filling line.

    He said the company’s property business is becoming stronger and has the potential to add substantial income to the company in the period ahead.

    According to him, the first phase of the Mobil House capacity enhancement project has been completed while it has also made significant progress in the Mobil Court refurbishment, which is expected to be completed this year.

    Oyebanji said the 20 per cent increase in dividend for the 2013 business year from N5 to N6 demonstrated the company’s commitment to shareholders’ interest.

    He however called on the government to review the fixed margins on regulated products to allow the downstream petroleum marketers to have a fair return on their investments.

    He noted that the regulated margins on gasoline sales are barely sufficient to cover operating costs while delays in reimbursing subsidies on fuel imports continue to be a concern.

    Audited report and accounts of the company for the year ended December 31, 2013 showed that turnover dropped by three per cent from N80.8 billion in 2012 to N78.74 billion in 2013. Profit before tax rose by 26 per cent from N4.08 billion to N5.12 billion. Profit after tax also rose by 21 per cent from N2.88 billion to N3.48 billion. Earnings per share stood at N9.65 in 2013, 13 per cent above N8.56 in 2012. Total assets rose by 21 per cent from N33.56 billion to N40.73 billion.

  • Nimrod optimistic Nigeria will qualify for beach volleyball

    Nimrod optimistic Nigeria will qualify for beach volleyball

    Chairman of the Beach Volleyball Commission, Nigeria Volleyball Federation (NVBF), Musa Nimrod has expressed optimism that Nigeria would qualify for beach volleyball at the Youth Olympics Games (YOG).

    Nimrod told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja that Nigeria would strive not only to qualify but to emerge as the best team at the qualifiers.

    NAN reports that the under-17 national team, which will participate in the qualifiers, has since March 26 resumed camping in Kaduna, with six male and six female players.

    Two players each in both the male and female categories will compete at the African qualifiers billed for Ghana from April 10 to 15.

    “We want to thank the government and the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) for allowing us to be included in the YOG qualification. Now, the government has done its own part, and it is now left for us to ensure that we qualify. Luckily for us, presently at this under-17 level in Africa, we are well ranked.

    “In the female category, we are ranked number one, while in the male category, we are the third best team in Africa. So, we will be going into the qualifiers to show our superiority and also qualify for the YOG in China,’’ the beach volleyball commission chairman said.

    Nimrod said he was hopeful they would finish first at the qualifiers, saying this would help determine the countries Nigeria would be paired with at the YOG.

    “Our desire is to be the first in both categories, because the ranking determines which group one falls into when the Games starts. And it will prevent us from confronting tougher opposition. So, we are doing our best to become the first in Africa in both categories,’’ he said.

    Nimrod, however, promised that the problem of visa denial, which the team suffered from several times last year, would not repeat itself as the problem was being addressed.

    “The Confederation of African Volleyball (CAVB) has already told the countries which have good rankings to start visa processing for our teams as early as possible. And we have started since the beginning of this year, since we know that we have a line-up of activities to avoid a repeat of what happened last year,’’ the NVBF board member said.

    NAN reports that beach volleyball, which replaced indoor volleyball, is one of the 28 events to be competed for at the YOG. The Games is scheduled to hold from August 16 to 28 in Nanjing, China.

  • UNILAG VC optimistic about name change

    UNILAG VC optimistic about name change

    •Graduates 6,932 students

    Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Prof Rahamon Bello has said he is optimistic that the university would retain its name.

    Addressing journalists at a press briefing held in the Senate Chambers on Monday ahead of next week’s golden jubilee convocation, Bello also assured graduating students that their certificates would bear the old name.

    He said: “Even if the university name will change it cannot be retroactive. Those who are graduating now will have UNILAG on their certificates. It will only take effect on those who will be admitted under the new university name. But God forbid that the name will be changed. UNILAG name is not changing because I have it on authority in black and white from the Federal Ministry of Education that UNILAG’s name will remain UNILAG’s name until an amendment to the Act establishing the university. And by the grace of God, UNILAG will remain UNILAG. A fifty-year old man cannot change his name.

    “Mr President in his wisdom much earlier on had said he would allow the law to take its course and the name can only be changed by the National Assembly. And we will be at all the hearings concerning the change and we will give reasons why we don’t want the name change and I am sure that the National Assembly will support us.”

    President Goodluck Jonathan had announced a new name for the university (Moshood Abiola University of Lagos, MAULAG) during his last Democracy Day address. However, his decision was challenged by the alumni association of the university in the court of law which ruled that the status quo should remain until the Act establishing the university is amended.

    The procedure for amendment has already been sent to the National Assembly and has passed the second reading.

    Giving details about the convocation, Bello said 6,932 students will be awarded diplomas, certificates, degrees and higher degrees on Wednesday February 6 and 7.

    Of the 3,664 undergraduates from the 11 faculties and the Distance Learning Institute, Prof Bello said 91 students are graduating with First Class degrees – with the top three being women.

    In the postgraduate category, 38 will earn Postgraduate Diplomas (PGD), 3,182 Masters Degree, one Master of Philosophy and 47 Doctor of Philosophy.

    Meanwhile, the university will also award honorary degrees to four dignitaries on Februart 8. They are Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Late Prime Minister of Nigeria; Chief Arthur Christopher Mbanefo, Pro-Chancellor and Governing Council of the university (1984-1985); and Chief Afe Babalola, Pro-Chancellor and Governing Council of the university (2001-2008).

    Speaking about the convocation programme, Bello said the convocation lecture would be delivered by Prof Munzali Jubril on February 5 after his (Bello’s) investiture as Vice-Chancellor. Award of degrees, diplomas to graduands of faculties of Arts, Business Administration, Education, Engineering, Environmental Sciences, Science, Social Sciences and Distance Learning Institute will take place on February 6, while those of the college of medicine, faculties of Business Administration, Engineering, Law, Pharmacy and School of Postgraduate Studies will hold February 7.

    Six professors will be appointed emeriti professors on February 8. They are: Prof Yetunde Mercy Olumide, retired professor of medicine; Prof V.O.S. Olunloyo, Professor of Systems engineering; Prof A.A. Susu, Professor of Chemical Engineering, Prof I.A Adalemo, Prof of Geography; Prof P.O. Adeniyi, Professor of Geography; and Prof L. Oyebande, Professor of Geography.