The Nation Newspaper

Tag: reduces

  • College reduces fees

    THE  management of Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education (AOCOED) Otto/Ijanikin, Lagos State, has reduced fees for its full-time Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) students.

    A statement made available to The Nation stated that the reduction was arrived at a meeting the institution’s management held with the Students’ Union (SU) executives.

    The statement, signed by the Registrar, Mr Shehu Abdulqadri Muhideen, stated that management of AOCOED agreed to the agitation by students for a reduced fee, after a meeting with SU executive late last month.

    The students kicked against an upward review of the fees, which was agreed between management and the Parents’ Forum last October.

    With effect from the 2017/2018 Academic Session, tuition for 100-level students on regular NCE programme, is N25,000 as against N28,000. The reduced fee  covers acceptance fee, administrative charges, ICT levy, biometric ID card, sports, medical, library and teaching practice (TP).

    Similarly, 200 and 300 level students would pay N15,000 as against the N18,000 earlier agreed upon at the Parents’Forum. The fee covers administrative, ICT, ID and card, among others.

    Other items, such as sports, medical and library, will attract no charge for 200 and 300 level undergraduates.

    T

  • SEC limits private placement to 30%, reduces cost of issue

    SEC limits private placement to 30%, reduces cost of issue

    Quoted public limited liability companies will henceforth not be able to issue more than 30 per cent of their outstanding paid up share capital through private placement.

    Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is currently reviewing rules and regulations on new issue. A draft of the amendments indicated that public quoted company shall not be able to offer more than 30 per cent of their issued share capital in private placement.

    According to the amendments, the aggregate number of shares to be offered through private placement by a public quoted company ‘shall not exceed’30 per cent of its existing issued and paid-up capital prior to the offer.

    Also, the apex capital market regulator plans to reduce the cost of issue in the primary market by aggregating all costs to the issue under a single bracket.

    According to the amendments, the cost of issue shall not exceed 3.17 per cent for equity and 3.9375 per cent for bonds of the gross total proceeds, indemnity fee, advertisement, and printing and take on fees for registrars, from the issue or such percentage as the Commission may prescribe from time to time. Some cost elements like advertisement, indemnity fee and printing fee among others were previously not included under the same cost bracket.

    Many companies had used the private placement window to raise new funds in recent time. Wema Bank and Unity Bank Plc recently raised new equity funds through private placements. Unity Bank had raised N39.22 billion in combined rights and special placement offers.

    Unity Bank floated a rights issue of 38.45 billion ordinary shares and special placement of 40 billion ordinary shares, both of which were offered at par value.

     

  • NERC reduces 60% charge for GENCOs as revenue dips

    NERC reduces 60% charge for GENCOs as revenue dips

    The Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has reduced 60 per cent capacity charge for the Electricity Generation Companies (GENCOs) due for this month following losses of revenue in the industry.

    The Managing Director, Egbin Power Plant, Mr. Kenneth Uzoigwe disclosed this  yesterday while crying out to the Minister of Power, Prof Chinedu Nebo over the firm’s loss of N570million revenue due to lack of gas and electricity meters.

    He said: ”NERC has tried to encourage the generation companies mitigating the loss of revenue, by allowing us take away 60 per cent of this month of our capacity charge. Even the market operator is not what it should be. We are just accumulating debt.”

    He urged the Federal Government to act urgently to arrest the situation.  Uzoigwe noted that the current revenue profile of the firm from  November 1 to date, is a daunting data for would-be investors.

    He said: “Our experience after privatisation has been undesirable . Let me just use that mild word because as at the end of last month,  our books showed that we were losing revenue to the tune of N570million doing business from  November 1 to date . “The revenue profile in the industry is very poor. And if other investors look at it, it may give results that may not be desirable for the country.“

    Uzoigwe who spoke during the minister’s visit to the NERC office in Abuja, noted that despite the investment of N7billion in the power plant that has 1,180 Mega Watts (Mw) generating capacity, the station can only generate 600Mw.

    He regretted that Egbin Power Plant cannot take advantage of its economic of scale in the industry.

    The CEO said: “One thing is to have available capacity another thing is to have reliability. We have brought Egbin to the point where it is reliable for 1,180Mw. But Hon. Minister, in the last  three months, we have been generating only about 600Mw and we can’t take advantage of economies of scale in the business we are doing. We are losing revenue continuously.”

  • Prayer reduces severity of Boko Haram attacks, says Jonathan

    Prayer reduces severity of Boko Haram attacks, says Jonathan

    President Goodluck Jonathan has attributed the relative peace in the country to prayers offered by various religious faiths.

    Dr Jonathan spoke yesterday at the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Olive Tree Parish, Ikoyi, Lagos, where he attended the service.

    The service was attended by the General Overseer of the Church, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, his wife, Pastor Folu, and the Resident Pastor and former Attorney-General of Lagos State, Pastor Yemi Osinbajo (SAN).

    Lagos State Deputy Governor, Mrs Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire and the governor’s wife, Mrs Abimbola Fashola, were also at the service.

    Also at the service was Ms Olajumoke Akinjide, the Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and the Supervising Minister of Police Affairs.

    President Jonathan said the country had experienced unfair share of global terror but remained united and unshaken because of the prayers of the faithful.

    Said he: “I want to thank all of you for your prayers for this country. I thank Christians and other religious groups who prayed for this country, especially at the period the whole world is facing a lot of challenges.

    “You will agree with me that whenever you tune your television, especially the international news centres, like CNN, Aljazeera or Sky news, you always see breaking news.

    “All the breaking news are always negative; you hardly see any positive breaking news all over the world.

    “In Nigeria too, we have been having our own unfair share of these negative news brought about by Boko Haram, but we believe that God knows it all. Without your prayers, probably it will have been worse than this.”

    The President, who said God had been faithful to Nigeria, added that “God will continue to hear our prayers so that our country will get out of these challenges and other crimes.”

    Jonathan specifically thanked Pastor Adeboye and the Redeemed family for the 100 days fasting and prayers declared since January, saying “for the Redeemed family, we have to sincerely thank you because you declared 100 days of fasting, which is not an easy task.

    “Even to keep faith with the orthodox 40 days fasting during the lent period in which I also participate, it is not easy.

    “You fasted not because of your personal interests, but for the country. I have to thank the General Overseer and all of you who have been fasting. May God answer our prayers.”

    Pastor Adeboye said the church would continue to seek the face of God for the country and its leadership.

    He said: “I can assure you that we are praying and we will continue to pray because we have no other place to go to and God has a reason for that.”

    The pastor enjoined the congregation to always seek the face of God and patiently wait for God’s visitation.

    Pastor Adeboye gave biblical references of Sarah, Rachel and Modeciah, whom he said God remembered and turned their situation around after many years of waiting.

     

  • Cadbury Nigeria reduces capital base by N12b

    Cadbury Nigeria reduces capital base by N12b

    Cadbury Nigeria Plc is reducing its capital base by about N12billion under a plan approved yesterday by its shareholders.

    The measure will result in the cancellation of two of every five ordinary shares held by investors.

    At the extra ordinary general meeting in Lagos, 88.14 per cent of shareholders, who accounted for 99.6 per cent of the company’s shareholdings, approved the capital reduction proposed by the Board. Polling results by the registrars to the company, First Registrars, which conducted the voting, indicated that 11.86 per cent of shareholders, accounting for 0.40 per cent equity stake voted against the proposal. Voting was done on one-share-one-vote polling basis.

    Cadbury Schweppes Overseas Limited (CSOL), United Kingdom, the majority core investor in Cadbury Nigeria, holds 74.99 per cent equity stake in Cadbury Nigeria.

    Under the capital reduction plan, Cadbury Nigeria will return excess capital of N11.9 billion to its shareholders by cancelling two out of every five ordinary shares currently held by the shareholders. Consequently, it will reduce the share capital account by an amount equivalent to the par value of the cancelled shares and share premium accounts by about N11.27 billion.

    Also, each shareholder will receive returned capital per cancelled share at N9.50 per share. Meanwhile, the company will use the 30-day volume weighted average price of the stock at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to pay for fractional shares that may arise from the transaction. The capital reduction is expected to take effect in the first quarter of 2014.

    Audited report and accounts of Cadbury Nigeria for the year ended December 31, 2012, showed that the balances in the share capital and share premium accounts were N1.6 billion and N11.5 billion respectively.

    While many Nigerian minority shareholders had kicked against the capital reduction, the board of the company said that the capital reduction was necessitated by current cash position of the company in relation to its operations and the need to optimise return on capital.

    In an explanatory note made available to shareholders, directors of the Cadbury Nigeria, who were all present at the EGM, said they had assessed the company’s current financial position including liquidity and amounts due to creditors as well as possible capital investments and near-term growth opportunities and came to the conclusion that the company has more capital than it required now or in the near future.

    The board stated that it then considered three options to deal with the excess capital including retaining the capital for future use, deploying the capital immediately and returning the excess capital to shareholders.

    According to the board, the possibility of retaining the excess capital was ruled out because the excess capital would have to be invested in low-return, low-risk investments in the meantime, which will negatively impact on return on capital.

    The board noted that deploying the excess capital now without immediate value-enhancing opportunities may destroy shareholder value.

    Directors of the company stated that they opted for the return of excess capital to shareholders because they reasoned that each shareholder will be in the best position to determine his risk-return profile as well as the most suitable investments to optimise the value of his capital.