The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Profit

  • Seplat declares interim dividends as net profit drops by 62%

    Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc recorded low performance in the third quarter as net profit dropped by 62 per cent to N13.6 billion.

    The board of directors of Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc has however recommended distribution of interim dividend of $0.04 or four cent to shareholders of the upstream oil company.

    Shareholders whose names are found on the company’s register at the close of business on October 29, 2015 will be entitled to the cash benefit. Nigerian investors and others who may opt to receive their dividends in Naira will use the exchange rate on October 29 to determine the equivalent Naira value.

    The nine-month report for the period ended September 30, 2015 showed that profit after tax dropped from N35.4 billion in 2014 to N13.6 billion in 2015. Profit before tax had dropped from N35.4 billion to N13.54 billion. Operating profit also declined from N39.51 billion to N22.69 billion while gross profit slumped to N38 billion in third quarter 2015 as against N54.6 billion in third quarter 2014. The oil company’s turnover had dropped from N92.01 billion to N83 billion.

    The council of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) had recently approved application by Seplat to create a multi-million shares employee incentive scheme that will ensure periodic distribution of the equities of the oil and gas exploration and production company to employees. Seplat is listed on the NSE and the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

    With the approval, Seplat will finalise the process of establishment of an “Employee Long-Term Incentive Plan” under which more than 10.13 million ordinary shares of 50 kobo each will be warehoused and distributed to pre-qualified employees of the oil company. The approved initial shares are currently valued at about N2.48 billion. Seplat opened this week at N244.69 per share.

    The “Employee Long-Term Incentive Plan” is the final phase of a two-part incentive scheme under which the six-year old company plans to reward directors and employees, especially those executives and directors that contributed to its hugely successful initial public offering (IPO).

    After a highly successful global IPO of $500 million, Seplat had made history mid April 2014 as the first upstream company to be listed on the NSE. It also simultaneously listed its shares on the LSE. The initial offer size of the IPO was expected to raise gross proceeds of approximately $500 million, equivalent to £300.9 million and N82.5 billion. It was however oversubscribed. It subsequently increased its capital base by about N5.78 billion with the absorption of the oversubscription from the IPO by adding 10.03 million ordinary shares of 50 kobo each to its shares. The company attributed the additional shares to oversubscription and allotment that resulted from the IPO.

    The Nation had earlier exclusively reported that Seplat Long Term Incentive Plan (LTIP) consists broadly of two components including share incentives related to the company’s successful global initial public offering and annual share bonus.

    Under the global IPO bonus scheme, the company would issue bonus shares to directors and senior management staff at nominal cost to the company.

    The company will issue ordinary shares to its executive directors and senior management as a reward for their contribution to achieving a successful global offer as stated in the prospectus dated April 9, 2014. A total of 7.75 million ordinary shares qualify as global offer bonus shares out of which 3.87 million shares vest immediately but will be held till 2015 and 3.873 million shares will vest after two years.

    Also, the company will also issue unspecified ordinary shares under its annual share incentive scheme.  The annual bonus scheme is a performance-related deferred annual bonus award by reference to performance against objective performance targets during the previous financial year.

  • Transcorp records N7.2b pre-tax profit in Q3

    Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (Transcorp) witnessed a top-down decline in performance in the third quarter as the group struggled with decline in its hospitality and tourism business.

    Key extracts of the nine-month report for the period, which ended September 30, 2015, showed that group turnover dropped marginally to N30.43 billion in 2015 as against N31.40 billion recorded in comparable period of 2014. Gross profit also dropped from N21.12 billion to N18.18 billion. Operating profit declined to N11.04 billion as against N12.36 billion.

    Profit before tax slipped from N9.71 billion to N7.19 billion while profit after tax dropped from N8.26 billion in third quarter 2014 to N5.88 billion in third quarter 2015. Group total assets, however, rose by seven per cent to N182.98 billion by September 2015 as against N170.76 billion recorded at the beginning of this year.

    Chief executive officer, Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) Plc, Mr. Emmanuel Nnorom, said the performance of the conglomerate in the past nine months reflected the stability that has been injected into the group’s corporate strategy since 2011, particularly in light of the challenging business environment.

    According to him, the power business has remained a key part of the group’s business contributing 65 per cent of revenue and the diversification of the business lines has provided stability.

    “We expect significant improvement in the power sector in the coming weeks, as this accounts for a significant part of our turnover,” Nnorom said.

    Group chief financial officer, Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) Plc, Ibikunle Oriola said the group’s agribusiness contribution has increased by 1220.5 per cent, with revenue growth of 1179 per cent driven by orders received for sale of orange juice concentrate.

    “We have maintained steady top line numbers in our power and hospitality business, as our Agribusiness continues on a strong growth trajectory,” Oriola said.

    He noted that revenue declined slightly by nine per cent in the hotel business as average daily rate grew to offset the impact of slightly declining occupancy rates caused by lower visitors’ traffic in Abuja adding that the group expects a stronger finish in the fourth quarter of 2015 due to a number of announced events and expected uptick in government activity.

    Transcorp, which is owned by more than 300,000 shareholders, holds a diversified portfolio comprising strategic investments in the power, hospitality, agribusiness and oil and gas sectors. The conglomerate’s notable businesses include Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja; Transcorp Hotels Calabar; Ughelli Power Plc, Teragro Commodities Limited, operator of Teragro Benfruit plant and Transcorp Energy Limited.

    Transcorp recorded a turnover of N41.3 billion for the year ended December 31, 2014, indicating an increase of 120 per cent over N18.8 billion recorded in 2013. Group gross profit also rose by 92 per cent to N27.6 billion as against  N14.4 billion in 2013.Group operating profit rose by 33 per cent to N13.6 billion. However, profit before tax declined by 14 per cent to N7.7 billion in 2014 from N9.0 billion in 2013. But total assets for the group grew by 14 per cent from N149.6 billion in 2013 to N170.8 billion in 2014. It declared a dividend per share of 6.0 kobo.

    The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) named Transcorp as the most compliant quoted company in 2014. According to the NSE, the most complaint listed firm award is given to the company that demonstrates the highest degree of compliance with the rules and regulations regarding disclosure obligations of listed companies to the Exchange in a particular year. Such a company is also expected to have demonstrated its recognition for the importance of corporate governance.

  • Fidson records modest growth in profit

    Fidson Healthcare Plc fell back on internal cost management to reduce the adverse impact of considerable decline in turnover and sustain modest growth in profit.

    Key extracts of the third quarter report and accounts of the healthcare company for the period ended September 30, 2015 showed that it reduced total operating expenses and cost of sales by 30 per cent and 14 per cent respectively to mitigate the top-down impact of 18 per cent decline in sales. The reduction in expenses and costs enabled the company to grow pre and post tax profits by two per cent each.

    Turnover dropped to N6.16 billion in third quarter of 2015 as against N7.51 billion recorded in comparable period of 2014. Cost of sales however dropped from N3.4 billion to N2.9 billion while distribution and administration expenses also reduced from N3.13 billion to N2.19 billion. With these, profit before tax increased marginally from N685.8 million to N696.3 million while profit after tax inched up to N473.5 million in 2015 as against N466.4 million recorded in comparable period of 2014. Earnings per share thus improved marginally from 31 kobo to 32 kobo.

    Fidson Healthcare had increased cash payouts to shareholders by 50 per cent as the company’s earnings firmed up in 2014. The company distributed N225 million to shareholders as cash dividends for the immediate past business year ended December 31, 2014. Shareholders received a dividend per share of 15 kobo as against 10 kobo received in the previous year.

    The dividend increase was directly related to the improvements in the earnings of the healthcare company. Key extracts of the audited report and accounts of Fidson Healthcare for the 2014 business year showed significant growths in key fundamentals.

    The company’s profit before tax rose by 249 per cent from N249.6 million in 2013 to N870.8 million in 2014. Profit after tax jumped by 308 per cent to N631.8 million in 2014 as against N154.9 million recorded in 2013. Earnings per share thus increased from 10 kobo in 2013 to 42 kobo in 2014.

    Fidson had relied on impressive cost management and improving operating efficiency to drive the bottom-line. While its turnover rose by five per cent from N9.25 billion to N9.73 billion, it moderated cost of sales to four per cent growth and reduced operating expenses by nine per cent.

    The management of the company said its growth trend evidenced its ability to maintain its products’ market share in key therapeutic areas.

    “This is driven by innovative products, strategic marketing approaches, robust distribution channels as well as relentless efforts in ensuring quality and various anti-counterfeiting initiatives,” Fidson had stated.

    The management reassured that the company is also well positioned for huge growth opportunities, following the projection of a significant improvement in sales upon the completion of its ultra-modern WHO Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) compliant plant. The plant is proposed to begin operation in 2015.

    The plant is expected to broaden the company’s products base, increase its capacity and consequently profitability and growth opportunities.

    Operations Director, Fidson Healthcare Plc, Mr. Biola Adebayo, said the new manufacturing plant, which will aggregate the existing manufacturing lines from other existing plant and add a new line for intravenous products, will be a game-changing investment that will further enhance Fidson’s leadership position in the healthcare industry and position it in good stead to compete for global healthcare funds and orders.

    According to him, the new plant would further enhance the local manufacturing capacity of the company with more than two-thirds of its products expected to be produced locally.

    He added that the new manufacturing plant, which is being built to WHO standards and certification, will enable Fidson to engage in contract or tall manufacturing for many global pharmaceutical companies, which want to manufacture their products in Nigeria but do not want to establish full-fledged manufacturing plants.

    Adebayo noted that the prospects for the company’s growth is huge pointing out that there are no more than three companies manufacturing its new line of intravenous products and the volume needed by the country is so huge.

     

     

  • Honeywell records high profit as costs fall

    Honeywell International Inc, a U.S. manufacturer of aerospace parts and climate control systems, reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit as costs fell.

    The company, whose customers include Airbus Group SE (AIR.PA), Boeing Co (BA.N) and Bombardier Inc (BBDb.TO), has been cutting jobs and selling or merging businesses to reduce costs and boost efficiency.

    Honeywell’s expenses fell  by  seven percent to $6.65 billion in the third quarter, while operating margins rose to 18.3 per cent from 16.2 per cent, a year earlier.

    However, the company’s revenue fell five percent, missing analysts’ expectations, hurt by a strong dollar.

    Honeywell also cut its 2015 revenue forecast to $38.7 billion from $39 billion-$39.6 billion.

    Sales fell by two  per cent in the company’s aerospace business, its largest, and three percent in its automation and controls business.

    Excluding the impact of a strong dollar, sales rose about two percent in the aerospace business and three percent in the automation and controls business.

    The net income attributable to Honeywell rose to $1.26 billion, or $1.60 per share, in the quarter ended Sept. 30 from $1.17 billion, or $1.47 per share, a year earlier.

    Analysts had expected a profit of $1.55 per share and revenue of $9.85 billion, according to Thomson Reuters

  • Firm’s net profit rises to $10.5m

    Renaissance Capital recorded $10.5 million net  profit for the six months ending June 30, compared with $8.7 million in June last year.

    This year’s figures showed the firm delivered strong revenues from its core businesses, including global markets, which showed a solid performance led by particularly strong growth in Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities (FICC), despite headwinds.

    Continued focus on cost management has resulted in a 25 per cent decrease in operational costs year-on-year. Total operating expenses declined to $73.7 million from $98.3 million in 2014 year-on-year. Total operating income reached $97.8 million.

    In the first six months of the year, Renaissance Capital has initiated coverage of stocks and sectors in the new frontier space, including consumer, cement, fertiliser and utility companies in Pakistan, as well as the banking and construction sectors in wider Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

    As part of Renaissance Capital’s plans to grow its MENA offering from its Dubai office, the firm continued to expand its services in Egypt along with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) markets.

    The firm remained committed to developing and strengthening its team with new hires and promotions in fixed income, research and trading operations. Specifically, Victor Lugo joined the firm as Director of FICC Sales, and Elena Kolchina was appointed Director and Fixed Income Strategist in July.

    In the same month, Renaissance Capital announced the appointment of James Friel as Global Head of Investment Banking, who joined the firm from Rothschild. In Sub-Saharan Africa, Temi Popoola was hired as Head of Equities and recently appointed as CEO of the firm’s Nigeria office, to further strengthen its already established offering on the ground.

    Renaissance Capital CEO, Igor Vayn, said: “We are pleased to announce strong results as we celebrate two decades of successful operations in emerging and frontier markets. During this time, the Firm has grown from a Russia-focused bank to one of the leading international investment banks in the emerging and frontier space. Renaissance Capital’s geographical diversification is one of the key factors that led to all-round positive results for the Firm despite turbulent market conditions globally.

    He added: “We know that only the highest quality research and service bring the necessary comfort level for investors looking at new markets, from Russia to Africa and across the Middle East and frontier space. Our goal is to stay at the forefront, offering best in class trading, banking and access to capital to our clients from around the world.

    Looking to the rest of the year, we will use our expertise and experience to navigate the challenging market conditions as we remain committed to our core markets, and work to maintain our leading positions across the product offering.”

    After hinting that the Central Bank of Nigeria’s currency controls were making Nigeria’s bond market transactions too complex to meet its rules, JP Morgan, the United States-based lender, has moved to expel Nigeria from it) by the end of the month, as a result of the illiquidity and lack of transparency in our foreign exchange market.

     

  • UBA trims loans as African units turn profit

    UBA trims loans as African units turn profit

    United Bank for Africa (UBA) lowered its forecast for 2015 loan growth to five to eight percent from 15 to 20 per cent as rising regulatory and economic uncertainty increase risks to lending, the bank said yesterday.

    UBA CEO Phillips Oduoza told Reuters in an investor call that the lender would maintain a conservative approach to lending for the second half of the year with a view to balancing risk with returns.

    Loans grew 8.5 percent in the first half with foreign currency loans accounting for 30 per cent of total N1.16 trillion ($5.8 billion) loan book. That compares with 14 per cent growth in loans last year.

    Oduoza said the bank would maintain its other forecasts. He forecast 2015 return on equity (ROE) would be above 20 percent, up from 19.2 per cent last year. ROE hit 22.3 percent in the first six months of the year.

    “We have revised downwards our loan growth target … given renewed uncertainty in the global and domestic market we would maintain a conservative approach,” HE said.

    Nigeria’s economy slowed sharply to 2.35 percent in the second quarter from 6.54 percent a year ago as lower crude prices took its toll on Africa’s biggest economy and top oil producer.

    The drop in crude prices also hit the currency market, prompting the central bank to tighten access to dollars in a bid to curb speculation on the naira, in turn hurting bank revenues from foreign exchange activities.

    Oduoza noted that regulatory risk was also rising with the government withdrawing public funds from the banking sector.

    Last week, UBA posted a pretax profit rise of 35 per cent in the first half to N39.04 billion ($196 million) and declared a dividend of 0.20 naira, thanks to increased income from business customers.

  • Honeywell Flour Mills’ profit drops by 39% in three months

    Honeywell Flour Mills Plc suffered a slowdown in the first quarter of this year as the flour-milling company struggled with sluggish sales and high operating expenses.

    Key extracts of the interim report and accounts of the company for the three-month period ended June 30, 2015 showed that sales dropped by 3.03 per cent while pre and post-tax profits declined by 32.6 per cent and 38.7 per cent respectively.

    Turnover dropped to N12.9 billion by June 2015 as against N13.2 billion recorded in comparable period of 2014. Operating profit declined by 12.8 per cent from N743 million to N648 million. While finance cost dropped considerably from N725 million to N311 million, increase in selling and distribution expenses from N1.57 billion to N1.73 billion further undermined the bottom-line.

    Profit before tax thus dropped from N585 million to N394 million. Profit after tax also declined from N462 million to N283 million. Earnings per share dropped from 5.83 kobo to 3.57 kobo. The company’s total assets dropped slightly from N67.94 billion to N67.9 billion. However, shareholders’ funds increased marginally from N20.3 billion to N20.6 billion.

    The first quarter report further highlighted the declining performance of the company. The audited report and accounts of Honeywell Flour Mills for year ended March 31, 2015 had shown that turnover dropped from N N55.08 billion in 2014 to N49.06 billion in 2015. Gross profit dropped from N10.46 billion to N7.5 billion. Profit before tax slumped to N1.43 billion in 2015 as against N4.24 billion in 2014 while profit after tax declined to N1.12 billion in 2015 compared with N3.35 billion in 2014.

    Honeywell Flour Mills Plc plans to leverage on increased local inputs to reduce exposure to foreign exchange volatility, improve its logistics and consolidate its market share as part of comprehensive growth plan to drive the performance of the company in the years ahead and minimize external influences on earnings.

    Managing Director, Honeywell Flour Mills, Mr. Lanre Jaiyeola, had blamed the company’s low performance on unfavourable extraneous factors that have proven more challenging and less controllable and adversely impacted the results.

    The company noted that the pressure experienced in the top-line reflected the intense competition around price war going on in the industry and the falling Naira.

    The company attributed the latest performance to several factors including the Apapa traffic gridlock and declining infrastructure around the ports.

    “Roads leading to and from Apapa have effectively become car parks. Truck parking facilities around the ports that should have been completed years ago seem to have become abandoned projects. These problems have compromised our logistics efficiency by frustrating the prompt loading of products resulting in longer loading turnaround times and reduced stock turnover,” the company said.

    Jaiyeola lamented the economic loss arising from the falling Naira, the perennial chaotic traffic and debilitating condition of the roads leading in and out of Apapa.

    According to him, the company’s customers, suppliers, haulage partners and staff demonstrated great courage, loyalty and commitment during these challenging times.

     

    “It takes, on an average, eight hours for customers to access or exit the factory. Added to these, is a rise in dollar denominated input costs.  Costs of wheat and spare parts have been rising because of the falling Naira to forex rates. These challenges coupled with weakening macro-economics of the country, means it takes much longer to factor such cost increments into product prices,” Jaiyeola said.

    He however noted that the company plans to build on some successes recorded in the last financial year, including the wide acceptance of its new flour brand: Honeywell Composite Flour (HCF) which contains 10 per cent High Quality Cassava Flour (HQCF).

    According to him, the company will continue to evaluate opportunities to increase use of local inputs in its portfolio that helps it to reduce its exposure to forex volatility.

    He outlined that the management has been implementing new initiatives to improve outbound logistics and service delivery including the operation of off-site warehouses and optimization of its 24-hour loading programme.

    Jaiyeola said Honeywell Flour Mills is also taking a leading role in the engagement with the Federal Government, Lagos State Government, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and other stakeholders to find immediate and long term solutions to the traffic problems in Apapa.

    He added that the company is also focusing increasing penetration to the retail segment, energizing its loyal customers and activating new consumers, stressing that the company is constantly seeking out innovative and cost efficient best practices in manufacturing to improve performance.

     

     

     

     

  • Co-operative Bank says it will make no profit until 2017

    The troubled Co-operative Bank has said it would not make a profit for another two years as it reported another loss.

    Pre-tax losses for the first six months of the year were £204.2m, compared with losses of £77m a year earlier. The figure was slightly better than expected.

    It said it was now in better shape to withstand economic stresses.

    The bank almost collapsed in 2013 after a huge black hole was discovered in its accounts. The Co-op Bank was owned by the 150-year old Co-operative Group until it had to be rescued in 2013 following the discovery of a £1.5bn black hole.

    In that year, it contributed £2.1bn of losses of £2.3bn – the largest in the Co-operative Group’s 150 year history. The group had to seek outside investors to prop up the bank, which is now 80% owned by hedge funds, with the remainder held by the Co-op Group.

    One option under consideration is to float shares on the stock market in an initial public offering (IPO).

    But its chief executive, Niall Booker, said it was unlikely to embark upon a stock market listing until it was closer to making profits.

    But he said that was not something that would happen in the near future: “We won’t be profitable in 2015 and we won’t be profitable in 2016 either.”

    In the first half of 2015, the bank set aside £49m to cover misconduct and legal charges, lost £38.2m on sales of assets needed to reduce the bank’s overall levels of debt, and spent an extra £33.1m on improving “systems and processes.”

    A regulatory report, penultimate week, criticised the bank for misleading investors. The bank escaped a fine, however, because the regulator said it needed all the money it has to strengthen its balance sheet.

    At the end of last year, the bank failed a Bank of England stress test, designed to test banks’ ability to withstand another financial crisis.

    The black hole discovered in 2013 has been linked to losses on commercial property loans, stemming from Co-op Bank’s 2009 merger with the Britannia building society.

    A number of top executives then left the bank, including former chairman Paul Flowers who left the bank following a drugs scandal.

    Before the discovery of financial problems, Co-op Bank was being lined up by the government to take over more than 600 branches of Lloyds Bank, a plan that was then abandoned.

  • Fidson Healthcare records N477m profit in H1

    Fidson Healthcare Plc braced industry and macroeconomic headwinds to grow pre-tax profit to N477 million in the first half of 2015.

    Key extracts of the six-month report for the period ended June 30, 2015 showed that the company recorded a pre-tax profit of N477 million in 2015 as against N456 million recorded in comparable period of 2013. The report showed that turnover dropped by 12 per cent to N4.034 billion compared with N4.573 billion in the corresponding period of 2014. Earnings per share improved to 22 kobo as against 21 kobo in comparable period of 2014.

    The report meanwhile showed that a quarter-on-quarter growth in revenue of 128 per cent as sales returned to normal levels post-elections.

    The company noted that despite the year-on-year slowdown in sales, which was largely due to the prolonged general elections and transition period, margins improved over the first six months, driven by the company’s cost optimisation drive.

    Operating expenses dropped by 67 per cent from N150 million in 2014 to N49 million in first half 2015, with selling and distribution expenses also decreasing from N605 million to N325 million, a decline of 46 per cent.

    Fidson, which recently emerged as the recipient of the Frost & Sullivan 2014 Growth Excellence Leadership Award in the Nigerian pharmaceutical industry, continues to gear up for the commissioning of its World Health Organisation (WHO) Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) compliant plant, where it would manufacture IV fluids in addition to existing product offerings. The new plant is scheduled to be operational before the end of 2015 and is expected to broaden Fidson’s product base and increase its capacity.

    Fidson’s growth opportunities have also recently been enhanced by the announcement of its partnership with Immune Therapeutics Inc, a United States (US) public company to market “LodonalTM” in Nigeria. “LodonalTM” is a patent-protected product that is indicated for the management of patients with immune-compromise.

     

  • Cement Company of Northern Nigeria declares N1.918b profit

    Cement Company of Northern Nigeria declares N1.918b profit

    • BUA supports govt’s sugar policy

    Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN) Plc (Sokoto Cement), a subsidiary of BUA Group, has declared a profit after tax (PAT) of N1.918 billion for the 2014 financial year. This represents a 23.05 per cent increase from a PAT of N1.559 billion in 2013.

    Speaking at the company’s 36th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Abuja, the Chairman of CCNN Plc, Mr. Abdulsamad Rabiu, said despite lower cement sales recorded in the last quarter of 2014 mainly due to pockets of unrest in CCNN Plc’s business markets, the company’s focus on efficiency and strategic investments resulted in steady growth during this period.

    Rabiu said from a high of N2.77 billion in 2013, CCNN Plc’s production and operational expenses significantly declined to N2.40b in 2014.

    Shareholders were also apprised about notable developments the company took in the financial year, including CCNN Plc’s proposed N48b cement plant expansion, which will modernise production facilities and raise the company’s output to 2.0 million metric tonnes of cement annually.

    Other business of the day included an amendment of articles 117 and 119 as contained in CCNN Plc’s Articles of Association, which saw shareholders assent to changes in reportage of financial results as well as the recognition of electronic mail addresses respectively.

    Analysts expect BUA Group, CCNN Plc’s chief shareholder to further boost revenue in 2015, with the coming on stream of its three million metric tonne Obu Cement plant in Southern Nigeria.

    Ms Adetutu Adegbayibi, an Investment Research Analyst at Meristem Securities anticipates that CCNN Plc’s figures for 2015 could show a PAT of N1.94 billion, 1.93 per cent higher than 2014.

    Established in 1962, CCNN Plc, which is one of Nigeria’s oldest cement companies, produces and markets cement under the brand name ‘Sokoto Cement’. The company also runs the only cement plant in North-West Nigeria. Its primary catchment areas are Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Katsina, Kano, and Kaduna States.

    Nigeria’s food and infrastructure conglomerate BUA Group, has reaffirmed its commitment to implement the Federal Government’s backward integration policy in the sugar industry through its sugar subsidiary, BUA Sugar.

    BUA Group operates a state-of-the-art sugar refinery in Lagos and plans to commission its second mega sugar refinery in Port-Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, by the end of this year. The combined capacity of these two refineries of around 1.5million metric tonnes/year will make BUA Group the largest single refiner of sugar within Nigeria.