The Nation Newspaper

Tag: PAT

  • PAT, WATT seal N7.2b infrastructure investment deal

    A new player in the telecoms infrastructure sharing industry, licensed by the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) for collocation and infrastructure sharing services, Pan African Towers (PAT) and a Canadian firm, WATT Renewable Corporation, at the weekend in Lagos, sealed an infrastructure investment financing deal to address the energy needs of the telecoms industry.

    WATT Renewable Corporation Chief Operating Officer and founder,  Oluwole Eweje, who spoke on the sideine of the sigining ceremony in Lagos, said it is an infrastructure based partnership in which his firm will supply power to the tower firm.

    According to him, power accounts for about 70 per cent of the firm’s operating cost (opex), adding that WATT’s mandate is to provide between 40 and 50 per cent savings on opex.

    “So, part of what we are doing is  using a combination of technology and conventional energy sources to provide power  to offtaker, which is PAT.  The offshoot of all of these is the socio-economic component of what we are doing. We are not just providig power to the business, part of what we are doing is that we are looking at using that as anchor station so that we can provide power to businesses within the country, which currently do not have power., “ Eweje said.

    He said the partnership has been in the works for about a year before the final signing of the deal.

    He  added that investors are committed to spending about N7.2billion on the project. “We are looking at over $20 million that would be spent on the project,” he said.

    Also, Pan African Towers Limited CEO, Wole Abu, said the sigining ceremony was a significant milestone in the firm’s pursuit of innovation, service delivery and pushing the country towards  achievment of the Federal Government’s National Broadband Plan, which informed the licensing of infrastructure firms by the NCC.

    According to him, there will be reduction in opex and improve end user’s experience of service quality. About 70 per cent of problems associated with service quality, he said, could be traced to power related disruptions.

    He said: “Quality of service, I am sure you suffer from one challenge or the other. Do you know that 70 per cent of those drop calls can be traced to disruptions either they ran out of diesel or the generator has a problem or they stole the generator.”

    The firm, he said, has plans to hit its target of erecting 2000 towers in areas where it has presence in Nigeria and other African countries.

    PAT, which prides itself as innovative player in the market, has concluded arrangements to grow its initial tower portfolio from an existing 850 towers to 2000 towers across the West African sub-region, with most of the discussions at advanced stages.

    Director, Investor Relations at WATT Renewable Corporation, Sherisse Alexander, said PAT is not only going to be assisted in its business model, but in terms of providing it with mini-grids that will be deployed.

    According to her, this will translate to the growth of the communities because businesses in the communities will be able to power their operations. This, she said, will trickle down in terms of the socio-economic impact it will have on the entire value chain.

    In sub-Saharan Africa alone, several telecom towers are still being managed in-house by Mobile Network Operators (MNOs).  PAT said it has mapped out a strategic growth plan to acquire and manage to lease over 2,000 towers in the next 12 months in Nigeria and three other African countries. The growth plan will see PAT becoming a major player among independent towers companies and equally make it the fastest growing  a feat that took many TowerCos years to attain, with many MNOs already looking in the way of tower divestment and infrastructure sharing.

  • Afriland Properties reports 233% increase in PAT

    A friland Properties Plc has posted a Profit After Tax (PAT) of N1.02 billion for the year ended, December 31, 2017, representing 233 per cent increase compared to the N307 million realised in 2016.

    Total assets in the year under review stood at N19.8 billion, which represents 17.9 per cent increase over N16.8 billion recorded in 2016.

    The Board of Directors gave the report during the company’s 5th Annual General Meeting, which took place at the Banquet Hall of Lagoon Restaurant on Tuesday, March 27, 2018. The shareholders also approved the Board’s proposal to pay a sum of N137.39 million as dividend, translating to 10 kobo per ordinary share.

    In the 2017 financial year, Afriland properties Plc also recorded 11 per cent growth in revenue from N1.1 billion in 2016 to N1.3 billion, while profit before tax increased by 96 per cent to N1.06 billion from N0.540 billion in 2016 financial year.

    The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Afriland Properties Plc, Mrs. Uzo Oshogwe, stated that “though the year under review was a period of unprecedented challenges and profound economic instability, our company was steadfast in our delivery and dedication to our clients while earning a good return for our shareholders. Our teamwork and intense focus reflects in the strong performance across our businesses.

    “Our purpose to improve lives by investing in the development, management and maintenance of world-class Real Estate offerings across Africa, remains a driving force and we would continue to build our capabilities and investments in our people, systems and products.

    “Though the operating environment may not change significantly, we are confident that our strategies will yield even better results in the coming years. We are closely monitoring various policy measures being taken by the Government to further sustain the gains made in 2017.

  • Banks to contribute 5% of PAT to fund import substitution

    Banks to contribute 5% of PAT to fund import substitution

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    Deposit Money banks have agreed to contribe five per cent of their Profit After Tax (PAT) to a pool of funds to fund eligible bankable projects meant for exports and to drive the economy.

    Based on the industry’s last three years profit and loss account, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and members of the Bankers’ Committee have estimated that about N24.9 billion almost N25 billion will be contributed annually by the banks which on the average, is the expected yield of the five per cent PAT of the banks in the last three years.

    Addressing reporters at the end of the first  committee’s meeting for this year, Director Banking Supervision of the CBN, Mr Ahmed Abdullahi,  said the fund would be kept in the CBN “and the scheme will be controlled by members of the bankers committee itself, there will be a project review committee that will review submissions by entrepreneurs that require funding and that project review committee would make the recommendation to the the board of trustees of the bankers committee.”

    Abdullahi stated that “the scheme is such that each bank will have an equity holding in the scheme based on its annual contribution from its profit.”

    He added that “banks have submitted their 2016 statement of account and they are to be published not later than April of 2017 so we’re going to start the scheme in 2017 using 2016 financials of banks. The idea is to help the federal government’s drive to diversify the economy, any scheme or industry that is going to be export driven will benefit, similarly any industry that is going to provide import substitution.”

    The decision to introduce this new initiative, he explained is because “a number of SMEs and agric businesses do not have enough credit to drive business activities so the Bankers’ Committee felt that they should lend a helping hand to the economy in providing credit to those businesses that are important to the real sector, those businesses that are important in diversifying the economy away from oil.”

    A project he said will be financed for a maximum of 10 years it can be earlier, the gestation period is what matters, businesses do not have long term funding this can allow funding up to a period of 10 years.

    Corroborating what the CBN official said, Managing Director of FSDH, Mrs Hamda Ambah,  noted that “this is an equity fund not a loan, the banks will come and provide equity that will be there for up to 10 years and the banks will also take an equity and look at getting equity type returns before they exit in 10 years. No interest rates, just a share in the profit, the banks collectively will have an ownership stake and benefit if the investment is successful and exit after 10 years. It will be like we are coming to take shares in your company, it’s like partnership.”

     

  • Mansard Insurance posts N1.22b profit

    Mansard Insurance Plc has recorded an all time high profit of after tax (PAT) of N1.22 billion in the last three quarters of the year.

    The risk bearing firm disclosed this in a statemnt, adding that the amount is about 98 per cent higher than its PAT in the corresponding period in 2011.

    According to the company, its gross premium written rose by 22 per cent from N8.26 billion in 2011 to N10.05 billion in 2012 while profitability rose by 98 per cent in the last three quarters of the year.

    The statement also noted that the company’s net insurance premium revenue rose by 22 per cent to N3.55 billion from N2.92 billion recorded in the corresponding period in 2011. Also the firm’s investment and other operating income rose by 91 per cent to N1.26 billion in the period under review from N662 million recorded in a similar period in 2011.

    Mansard stated that its profit before tax rose by 68 per cent to N1.37 billion from N811 million in the same period last year. The company’s total asset stood at N29.86 billion up from N24.69 billion in 2011, an increase of 21 per cent within the reviewed period

    The company’s Chief Clients Officer, Tosin Runsewe, said: “Our result as at the end of September 2012 validates our leadership position within the industry and shows that we remain on track towards achieving our strategic goal for the year.

    “These achievements are as a result of improving underwriting performance, impressive sustainable growth in investment, and greater focus on cost optimisation without compromising excellent service delivery to our esteemed customers and gains made from the expansion of our retail distribution network.”

    She said with this position, the company expects to meet stakeholders’ expectations by the end of the year.

    Chief Financial Officer, Rashidat Adebisi, noted that the improved indices during the period under review further affirmed the company’s strategic intent of building a robust and diversified retail sales force focusing on the vastly underserved Nigerian retail market.

    The company stated that although insurance receivables rose by 59 per cent to N2.64 billion in the third quarter of the year and also from N1.66 billion in December 2011, it actually fell by 11 per cent when compared to its position as at the end of June 2012 figure of N2.97 billion which was indicative of the payment cycle for very large institutional clients.