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Tag: Red Star

  • Red Star plans new capital raising

    Red Star Express Plc has planned to raise new capital as the logistics and courier company moves to diversify its operations.

    Its Managing Director, Mr Sola Obabori, said the company would be raising the new capital in two tranches as part of efforts to provide supports for its business development plan.

    Speaking at the presentation of the underlying facts behind the operations of the company to the investing public at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Obabori said the company has the potential to successfully raise the new funds, citing its historical performance and future outlook.

    “I have no doubt in my mind that we will be able to raise the money. This is why we are so confident about the figures we have put forward,” Obabori said.

    He noted that as Red Star Express celebrates its 25 years in business, the company will be diversifying into the agro business with the approval of the government.

    “The agro space in Nigeria is beginning to experience some buoyancy. Quite a lot of countries, especially in Europe and the United Kingdom, are beginning to request for products in Nigeria to be shipped to them. In the last 18 months, people have gone so much into farming in Nigeria trying to create new wealth in that environment. So, for us as a company we are beginning to look at the agro chain services, so we can move our products and services into that environment,” Obabori said.

    He added that the company will also invest in new ventures, which will unlock long term value through strategic investments as well as explore new growth opportunities in pharmaceutical logistics, agro trade, technological services, prints and packaging.

    Obabori said there would be expansion of existing businesses, including warehouses and fleet in order to increase coverage and visibility.

    He pointed out that the company’s subsidiary in Niger Republic has growth opportunities, noting that work has been done to ensure that the subsidiary taps into opportunities in the country.

    “It promises to bring additional revenue and profit  to the fold of Red Star Express.  More offices in underserved locations will be opened,” Obabori said.

    According to him, the company is targeting turnover of N8.1 billion for the year ending 2018, while profits before and after tax will be N883 million and N618 million respectively.

    “The logistics business is a wide one. Cargo is a major area where you can have more volumes once you have the economy bouncing back and you can have more people importing and exporting,” Obabori said.

  • Red Star Express to transit to holding company

    Red Star Express to transit to holding company

    Red Star Express Plc is concluding arrangements to transit from its group structure to a holding company as the leading logistics and courier company seeks to raise new capital to boost its operations.

    Its Chairman, Dr Mohammed Koguna, said the company plans to change its operating structure from group to holding company to reflect its business expansion and other emerging opportunities.

    According to him, the change to holding company is necessitated by the various initiatives the company seeks to explore and the need to have a more structured accounting system.

    “These are part of the company’s expansion plans aimed at taking full advantage of business opportunities,” Koguna said.

    The company has secured shareholders’ approval to raise transit to holding company and to raise additional capital. The new capital raising could be raised through debt issue, equity issue or a combination of both equity and debt.

    Red Star Express Group includes three subsidiaries – Red Star Freight Limited, Red Star Logistics Limited and Red Star Support Services Limited. The group engages in courier services, mail management services, freight services, logistics, warehousing and haulage.

    Koguna, who owns the largest equity stake in the company, said the group has identified some growth platforms that will become full subsidiaries in the years ahead.

    “We will continue to be innovative so as to ensure the steady growth of the company which would bring about sustained progression in terms of returns on investments.

    Our watchword in the management of both our human and capital resources will be to focus on cost efficiency, and concentrate on opening new horizons that will ensure we remain the market leader in our industry,” Koguna said.

    He assured shareholders of improved returns in the years ahead noting that the interests of shareholders and other stakeholders would be given priority at all times.

    Red Star Express earlier this month distributed about N235.8 million as cash dividend for the 2017 business year, representing a dividend per share of 40 kobo.  Key extracts of the audited report and accounts of the company for the year ended March 31, 2017 showed that turnover rose from N6.63 billion in 2016 to N7.3 billion in 2017.

    Profit before tax increased from N572.11 million to N653.2 million while profit after tax improved from N334.43 million last year to N426.76 million in 2017. The group’s total assets also increased from N3.76 billion in 2016 to N4.43 billion in the year.

  • Red Star restates commitment to service delivery

    Red Star restates commitment to service delivery

    Red Star Express Plc has assured its clients and customers nationwide that the closure of the Abuja Airport will not affect its business.

    Abuja is a major destination for all courier business. Most packages emanate from Lagos and other economic cities, such as Port Harcourt, Kano, Kaduna, Ibadan for next day delivery to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), while others transit through Abuja to core northern states. The FCT also generates a lot of traffic in terms of shipments going to other regions which makes the Abuja Airport very vital for smooth operations in the courier industry.

    The Assistant General Manager (AGM) Operations and Services, Mrs. Inemesit James-Okoro, said Red Star Express has in place, modalities that ensure prompt deliveries of client’s packages anywhere in major cities across the country, saying that apart from the option of land transportation, there are other air services to neighbouring cities around the FCT to facilitate early morning deliveries.

    “We are out to provide Speed, reliability and ‘peace of mind’ for customers shipping in and out of the FCT during the closure of Abuja Airport as announced by the Federal Government” she stated.

  • Red Star Express’directors meet on dividend

    Directors of Red Star Express Plc are scheduled to meet tomorrow to consider the possible dividend to be recommended to shareholders as investors await the audited annual report and accounts of the courier and logistics company.

    The meeting, scheduled for the company’s office in Lagos, will focus on the final review and authorisation of the audited report and accounts for the year ended March 31, 2015.

    Red Star Express distributed N206 million as cash dividend in 2014, with shareholders receiving 35 kobo on every share. It has maintained a progressive dividend pattern in recent years in spite of tight bottom-line. The company increased cash dividends slightly from N176.85 million in 2012 to N188.64 million in 2013. Dividend per share thus improved from 30 kobo in 2012 to 32 kobo in 2013.

    Key extracts of the unaudited report and accounts for the third quarter ended December 31, 2014 showed appreciable growth in turnover but the bottom-line remained under pressure. Turnover rose to N5.0 billion in 2014 as against N4.77 billion recorded in comparable period of 2013. Profit before tax inched up from N441.03 million to N441.56 million. Profit after tax rose slightly from N308.72 million to N309.09 million. Earnings per share stood at 52 kobo.

    Red Star Express’ share price dropped by five per cent to close at N4.75 per share at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Monday. At the current price, Red Star Express carries a probable dividend yield of about 9.3 per cent based on the previous year’s dividend payout.

    Red Star Express was incorporated as a private limited liability company in 1992. It became a public limited liability company and was quoted in 2007. Wholly owned by Nigerian institutional and individual investors, the major core investor in Red Star Express is Dr. Mohammed Koguna. Koguna, through direct and indirect holdings, holds 33.25 per cent equity stake. Red Star Express has some 4,361 shareholders with 589.5 million ordinary shares of 50 kobo each.

  • Red Star Express to declare dividend next week

    Directors of Red Star Express Plc are scheduled to meet next week to consider the audited annual report of the courier and logistics company for the year ended March 31, 2015.

    The meeting will also deliberate on possible dividend payment to be recommended to shareholders. The directors are scheduled to meet on Thursday, June 25 at the company’s office in Lagos.

    Red Star Express distributed N206 million as cash dividend in 2014, with shareholders receiving 35 kobo on every share. It has maintained a progressive dividend pattern in recent years in spite of tight bottom-line. The company increased cash dividends slightly from N176.85 million in 2012 to N188.64 million in 2013. Dividend per share thus improved from 30 kobo in 2012 to 32 kobo in 2013.

    Key extracts of the unaudited report and accounts for the third quarter ended December 31, 2014 showed appreciable growth in turnover but the bottom-line remained under pressure. Turnover rose to N5.0 billion in 2014 as against N4.77 billion recorded in comparable period of 2013. Profit before tax inched up from N441.03 million to N441.56 million. Profit after tax rose slightly from N308.72 million to N309.09 million. Earnings per share stood at 52 kobo.

    Red Star Express’ share price rose by 3.14 per cent to N5.25 per share on Monday as investors anticipated above average dividend yield. At the opening price of N5.25 on Tuesday, Red Star carries a probable dividend yield of about 6.7 per cent based on the previous year’s dividend payout.

    Red Star Express was incorporated as a private limited liability company in 1992. It became a public limited liability company and was quoted in 2007. Wholly owned by Nigerian institutional and individual investors, the major core investor in Red Star Express is Dr. Mohammed Koguna. Koguna, through direct and indirect holdings, holds 33.25 per cent equity stake. Red Star Express has some 4,361 shareholders with 589.5 million ordinary shares of 50 kobo each.

  • Seven-Up, Red Star Express to declare dividends next week

    The boards of directors of Seven-Up Bottling Company Plc and Red Star Express Plc may announce dividend recommendations for the immediate past year next week as the directors meet to authorise the annual reports and accounts for the year.

    Regulatory filings at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) indicated that the two quoted companies might have finalised their audited accounts and reports and were ready to make dividend recommendations. Both Seven-Up and Red Star Express operates similar year-end of March 31.

    Under the listing requirements and corporate governance standards at the NSE, the two companies are expected to submit their audited report and accounts for the year ended March 31, 2014 on or before June 30, 2014.

    Post-listing rules at the NSE require quoted companies to submit their earnings reports, not later than three months after the expiration of the period. However, a general extension of one-month grace period earlier granted by the NSE would still apply to both Seven-Up and Red Star Express, indicating that the final deadline for the submission of their earnings reports might be extended to July 31, 2014, after which they would be sanctioned by the NSE if they failed to submit their earnings reports.

    Reports at the Exchange indicated that the board of Seven-Up has scheduled a meeting for next week’s Monday with two main agenda; including final review and approval of the audited report and declaration of dividend.

    Also, the board of Red Star Express will later in the week meet to discuss the company’s audited accounts and make dividend recommendation to shareholders.

    The two boards are expected to immediately communicate their decisions at the respective meeting to the NSE.

    Many market analysts said they expected Seven-Up to increase its cash dividends given its dividend trend in the previous years and the strong performance it had recorded by the third-quarter of the immediate past year.

    Seven-Up had doubled pre and post tax profits in by the third quarter ended December 31, 2013, underlining strong top-down growth and efficient sales and financing cost management.

    The interim report for the nine-month period showed that the soft drink bottling company optimized appreciable increase in sales with efficient cost management to deliver its strongest growth in recent period. With nine-month earnings per share already 37.4 per cent above full-year earnings per share in the immediate past year, Seven-Up significantly scaled up performance during the period. Turnover rose by 23 per cent while gross profit increased by 32 per cent. Pre and post tax profits jumped by 191 per cent and 180 per cent respectively.

    The nine-month report underlined improvement in the profitability of the company. Gross profit margin increased to 39.42 per cent in 2013 as against 36.65 per cent recorded in comparable period of 2012. Profit before tax margin more than doubled at 9.28 per cent in 2013 compared with 3.91 per cent recorded in 2012.

    The nine-month report showed a turnover of N54.95 billion, 22.7 per cent above N44.78 billion recorded in comparable period of 2012. Gross profit increased from N16.41 billion to N21.66 billion. Profit before tax rose from N1.75 billion by December 2012 to N5.10 billion in December 2013. Profit after tax also leapt from N1.40 billion in 2012 to N3.92 billion. Earnings per share for the nine-month period thus stood at N6.13 as against N2.19 recorded in comparable period of 2012.

    Against the background of 70 per cent increase in net earnings per share in 2013, the company had increased cash dividend by 10 per cent. Audited report and accounts for the year ended March 31, 2013 indicated that basic earnings per share improved from N2.62 to N4.46. The company increased cash dividends to N1.41 billion compared with N1.28 billion distributed for the 2012 business year. This implied a dividend per share of N2.20 in 2013 as against N2 in 2012. Notwithstanding the increase in cash payout, dividend cover increased from 1.3 times to 2.0 times. Net assets per share also increased by 22 per cent from N16.09 to N19.63.

    Also, Red Star Express had slightly increased cash dividends in the previous year. Audited report and accounts of the company for the year ended March 31, 2013 showed that turnover rose by 5.0 per cent from N5.03 billion in 2012 to N5.29 billion in 2013. Profit before tax however dropped by 12 per cent from N617.93 million to N544.96 million. Profit after tax was almost flat at N304.53 million in 2013 as against N304.8 million in 2012. Notwithstanding, the company increased cash dividends slightly from N176.85 million to N188.64 million. Dividend per share thus improved from 30 kobo in 2012 to 32 kobo in 2013.

  • Lagos applauds Red Star Express Cooperative

    Lagos applauds Red Star Express Cooperative

    The Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperative has adjudged Red Star Express Cooperative Society as the most outstanding cooperative society in Lagos, applauding it for its numerous grassroot-oriented and impactful projects and schemes, including the Red Star Estate.

    Commenting on the development, Red Star Express, Marketing Manager, Ngozi Ochokwu expressed gratitude for the commendation from the state government.  She said, ‘over the years, the society has embarked on minor and major projects to benefit its members, such as the sale of electronics, bulk purchase of food items and the Magboro Estate Development named the “Red Star Express Estate.’

    Red Star Express Cooperative Multipurpose Society was founded in 1997 and was registered as FedEx Red Star Express Co-Operative Thrift and Credit Society (RSE CTCS). The cooperative society has 483 members and is still thriving to reach its goal by embarking on other housing projects.

    One of its flagship projects, Red Star Express Estate, was established in 2006, accommodating 40 houses and 20 occupants.  The estate has elicited commendation from notable organisations including the River State Co-operative Federation and Lagos State Government.

    Currently, Red Star Express Cooperative Multipurpose Society has membership strength of 483 and is still thriving to reach its goal by embarking on other housing projects. Red Star Express Cooperative Multipurpose Society was founded in 1997 and was registered as FedEx Red Star Express Co-Operative Thrift and Credit Society (RSE CTCS).

    Red Star Cooperative is an arm of Red Star Express Plc, licensee of the globally acclaimed Federal Express (FEDEX) and a foremost one-stop logistics firm in Nigeria.