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Tag: revenue

  • Honeywell Flour Mills revenue hits N53.27b

    Honeywell Flour Mills revenue hits N53.27b

    Honeywell Flour Mills Plc has, despite the tough economic environment, grown its revenue from N50.88 billion last year to N53.27 billion in the year, representing a five per cent increase year-on-year.

    It posted 191 per cent increase in gross profit from N4.36  billion in 2016 to N12.71 billion in the 2017 financial year.

    The company achieved a 291 percent increase in profit before taxation, to N5.47 billion in 2017 from a loss position in 2016. Consequently, the Company declared a dividend of 6 Kobo per ordinary share to its shareholders at its just concluded Eighth Annual General Meeting (AGM).

    The AGM attracted an unprecedented many shareholders who welcomed the improved  performance  in the company.

    Chairman of the company, Oba Otudeko, said the impressive result is a result of the medium term strategy of the company hinged on the platforms of growth, efficiency and capability as critical enablers of success.

    Otudeko attributed the improved earnings and profits to the company’s relentless focus on lower cost sourcing for raw materials and foreign exchange and increased efficiency in manufacturing.

    He said: “In 2017, we reaped the benefits of a well-executed input cost management strategy. Our results show continued growth and a substantial step-up in profitability despite the volatile economic environment. It was achieved largely through improved efficiency.

    “Our manufacturing function drove further efficiencies through continuous improvement in projects that enhanced engineering and plant maintenance processes and ensured higher levels of production efficiency.’’

    The chairman assured shareholders of the board and management’s dedication, diligence and commitment to the company’s mission, which is to produce consistently good quality flour and other wheat based products for the complete satisfaction of its highly valued customers.

    Honeywell Flour Mills Managing Director, Lanre Jaiyeola, said the company was making significant changes to its business to lay a better platform for the years ahead.

    Looking further, he said: “In Financial Year 2018 and on the heels of an improving economic environment, we expect to record further improvements in performance, reigniting our growth agenda and extracting increased efficiency and cost reduction through a recently-launched company-wide transformation and continuous improvement programme.”

    A shareholder, Sir Sunny Nwosu, commended the company’s efforts at ensuring that it remains on the path of growth, urging them to continue to focus on lower cost sourcing for raw materials.

    Nwosu charged the board and management to remain steadfast with its aggressive strategies to further grow market share and increase revenue significantly in alignment with its mandate.

  • Senate vows to continue investigation into alleged N30tn revenue scam despite blackmail

    The Senate will continue ongoing investigation into the alleged N30 trillion  revenue scam in the import and export chain, the Chairman its Committee on Customs, Excise and Tariff and Marine Transport said yesterday.

    Committee Chairman Hope Uzodinma told reporters shortly after meeting with some of the affected companies on Wednesday in Abuja.

    He said the interest of the Senate in the investigation was to assist the government to recover monies trapped in the import and export chain.

    ”There are allegations that the investigation is borne out of personal interest.

    ”Once a Senate in a committee of the whole passes a resolution such as this it cannot be termed as the decision of a single senator.

    ”You may not like my face as a person but it is important to look at the credibility of the work we are doing.

    ”This is so that together we will succeed in making sure that the import export circle is sanitised, trade is facilitated and non-oil revenue is recovered and strengthened.

    ”In that manner,  government will not rely so much on oil and with that whether crude oil is sold or not,” he said.

    He further said that while some detractors had alleged that the investigation was a sham, some of the indicted companies had started refunding money running into billions of Naira to the Federal Government

    ”As a result of this investigation the banks which are the authorised dealers in the export and import chain have been making effort to remit everything collected by them to the Central Bank.

    ”We are doing this on a friendly note because we do not want to send a wrong signal to the market.

    ”Although more funds other than the N120bn I announced some time ago have been recovered but  because we do not want to send the wrong signal we are limited to speak further on how much has been recovered so far.

    ”However, we will definitely come up with the figures recovered at the end of the investigation, ” he said.

    Uzodinma explained that the committee was saving the figures till the end of the investigation because some of the companies were quoted on the Capital Market and would not want to  send panic to the market.

    He also explained  that the committee resorted to interfacing with individual  companies rather than meeting with them in group,  adding that the strategy had  yielded positive result.

    He said” the companies are now free to admit and some of them have promised to make payments.

  • Federal Account revenue drops to N387.31bn for July

    Federal Account revenue drops to N387.31bn for July

    The three tiers of government got a rude shock on Tuesday evening when they were told that revenue accruing into the Federation Account from oil and non-oil sources recorded a decline of N183.26 billion from N570.58 billionn received in the month of June to N387.31 billion in July.
    As a result of the drop in revenue, the allocation to the three tiers of government dropped by N184.35 billion from N652.2 billion in June to N467.85 billion in July.
    Permanent Secretary , Ministry of finance, Dr. Mahmoud Isa Dutse confirmed the amount yesterday at the close of the minthly Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting. The amount shared comprised Value Added Tax( VAT), Company Income Tax (CIT) and Petroleum Profit Tax( PPT).
    Dutse said the decline in revenue was caused by a drastic fall in revenue from Companies Income Tax due to the expiration of the deadline for filing tax returns.
    He noted that while oil revenue recorded increases due to rise in export sales for the federation by $62 million, the same could not be said of non-oil revenues.
    According to Dutse, “though the month under consideration recorded increase in average Price of crude oil from $50.27 to $51.05 per barrel and significant increase in export volume by 1.20 million barrels, resulting in increase revenue from export sales for federation by $62 million, the amount shared reduced drastically.”
    A breakdown of the total allocations for July showed that the Federal Government received N193.04 billion, states N130.69 billion, local governments N98.01 billion while N31.59 billion was given to the nine oil producing states as 13 per cent derivation.
    Reacting to the drop in allocation, the Chairman, Forum of Finance Commissioners, Mahmud Yunusa lamented the drop in revenue, he however warned that “time had come for states to start looking inwards to shore up revenue. We need to block leakages in revenue and come up with reforms to shore up revenue. We are also working on cost of running governance and any cost that is not necessary in running government needed to be reduced.”
    The balance in excess crude account is put at $2.3 billion.

  • Bayelsa ministry decries low local govt revenue

    The Bayelsa Ministry of Local Government Administration on Wednesday decried the dwindling revenue accruing to the councils, resulting in their inability to pay workers’ salaries.

    Commissioner for Local Government Administration Dr Agatha Goma told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that local government workers were being owed nine and half months salaries.

    Goma, in a statement on Wednesday, said the state had received from the Federal Account, the sum of N1.11 billion accruing to the eight local governments for the month of June 2017.

    According to her, the money is insufficient for the councils to meet their salary obligations to local government.

    “After the statutory deductions of N70 million for pensions, staff training, and bailout repayments of N16.28 million, the net allocation amounts to N1.02 billion.

    “With a local government workers’ salary bill of N609.17 million and primary school staff salary of N648.73 million, amounting to N1.26 billion, there will be a shortfall of about N233.2 million.

    “This means that without some assistance/support, the June 2017 federal allocation to the councils will not be able to pay the salaries of workers.

    “This also means that there will be no funds available even to administer the local governments. This has been the plight of the local governments since 2014, wherein the allocations have been far less than the wage bills.”

    The commissioner noted that persistent shortfalls had continued in spite of the intervention efforts by the present administration.

    The intervention, she said, included civil service reforms and other policies aimed at addressing the huge wage bills and other fiscal challenges.

    She applauded Governor Seriake Dickson for non-interference in the local government funds in the state and all the support he had provided in the form of policies, administrative guidelines and financial bailouts.

    The national headquarters of the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) in June listed Bayelsa as the most indebted of 23 states with 16 months’ salary backlog.

    NULGE National President, Mr Ibrahim Khaleel, alleged that Bayelsa owed between 10 months and 16 months while Kogi owed between seven months and 15 months.

  • N100b revenue in five months: Wike has no excuse for non-performance, says Peterside

    N100b revenue in five months: Wike has no excuse for non-performance, says Peterside

    The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State during the 2015 election, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, has stated that Governor Nyesom Wike has no excuse for non-performance, in view of the N100 billion revenue his administration has received from the federation account in the last five months.

    He also described non-performance as the hallmark of Wike’s administration.

    Peterside, in a statement yesterday by his Media Team, lauded the Federal Ministry of Finance for revealing that Rivers got the highest amount of N34 billion from Paris Club refund, in addition to over N75 billion accruing to the state from federal allocations in the past five months.

    He said: “There is nothing on the ground to suggest that Rivers State received the huge amount of money, especially with the sustained insecurity, inability to pay pensioners and staff of the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency (RSSDA) and non-employment of Rivers youths, among other outstanding obligations.

    “The Rivers governor is busy brandishing projects executed by the immediate past administration of Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi and trying to claim credit for same.”

    Peterside, who is also the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), said Wike was running the affairs of the state to the detriment of the majority.

    He lamented the high level of insecurity in many parts of the state, adding that Wike has failed in the area of his primary responsibility.

    The NIMASA chief said: “The first responsibility of a state governor is security of lives and property. Despite the huge revenues that have come the way of our state, Wike is yet to understand that governance goes beyond carrying out a handful of projects. The will to ensure security of lives and property and provision of jobs for our teeming youths go hand in hand.

    “Unemployment is on the rise and this is what is fueling criminality and crimes in the state. Rivers youth have been abandoned to their fate, with no clear policy to enable them to achieve their aspirations.

    “With the amount of money the governor has received in the last five months, in addition to over N100 billion borrowed from banks, there is no reason why our state should not be better secure and courting favours of investors.

    “Since Wike became governor, no major investor, either foreign or local, has looked the way of Rivers State. Despite wasting our money in hosting all manner of events, no serious attempt has been made to employ our youths. Rather than create employment, the Rivers governor has made more people jobless. All visionary policies and programmes of his predecessor (Rotimi Amaechi) have become moribund.

    “The only company engaged in any massive project in Rivers state today is the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) on Bonny Island and we all know the roles played by former Governor Amaechi (now Transcription Minister) to bring the headquarters to Rivers State.”

    Peterside, a former member of the House of Representatives, also called on Wike to listen to Rivers people and make his administration open and transparent for citizens to know what accrues to the state and how their commonwealth was being utilised, not for the benefit of a few, but for everybody.

     

  • Obaseki to boost revenue for councils

    Obaseki to boost revenue for councils

    Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki has pledged his administration’s commitment to work with local government administrators to boost their Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

    The governor spoke in Benin, the state capital, at a two-day retreat, tagged: Reforming Local Government Administration in Edo, organised for local government administrators.

    The state, he said, organised the retreat to discuss the challenges confronting local governments with a view to proffering solutions to them.

    Obaseki said the drop in crude oil prices made it impossible for Federal allocation to sustain local governments.

    The governor said his administration decided to put measures in place to boost councils’ IGR.

    He said: “Let us be frank with ourselves. We need to strategise on how we can boost revenue and reduce costs. Those are the solutions I can see. We have introduced the use of technology to collect revenue for local government areas in the state. In the pilot phase of the scheme, we were able to raise IGR from N42,000 to N500,000 at nine different collection points in Oredo Local Government Area every day.”

    Obaseki said Edo State would make 15 of its 18 local government areas viable before September through the new method of IGR collection.

    The governor urged the administrators to support the process, emphasising the need for the councils to improve their intelligence gathering system to curtail security challenges in state.

  • I-G orders dismantling of illegal revenue roadblock nationwide

    I-G orders dismantling of illegal revenue roadblock nationwide

    The Inspector-General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris, has ordered the removal of all illegal road blocks by unlawful revenue collectors across the country.

    A statement issued by the Force Spokesman, CSP Jimoh Moshood in Abuja on Sunday, said that the Special X-Squad Teams of the Force had been deployed to begin the exercise on April 17.

    Moshood said that the exercise would remove obstructions on public highways and roads mounted by unlawful revenue and tax collectors, NURTW among others.

    Moshood said the X-Squad Teams deployed were under strict instructions to also arrest, investigate and prosecute any person or group of persons found committing this illegal act.

    ” It is unlawful and contrary to the laws for any individual, or group under any name to take laws into their hands and block any Road or highway under the guise of collection of Revenue/Tax,” he said.

    He advised all relevant State Governments Local Government Councils, Boards of Internal Revenue Services across the Country to desist from the acts as it was against the laws of the nation.

    The spokesman said that these illegal road blocks were most times taken over and used by armed robbers and Kidnappers to rob, kidnap and maim innocent travelers and other road users.

    He warned that anyone arrested in the act would be prosecuted along with their sponsors.

    “Parents and guidance are also enjoined to monitor their children and wards not to be used to commit illegal acts under the pretence of employment.

    “The renewed commitment of the Nigeria Police Force to continue to enforce the law, guarantee adequate security and safety of every Nigerian and ensure crime free society remained unwavering,”he said.

  • Council chief to embark on aggressive revenue drive

    The newly sworn-in-caretaker, Chairperson for Okitipupa Local Government Area (LGA), Mrs Morenike Alaka, has promised to embark on aggressive and legitimate revenue drive to put the council on a sound footing.

    She said this in Okitipupa while speaking with journalists.

    According to her, “Now that the allocation from the Federal Government has dwindled owing to the recession in the country, our major task is to embark on legitimate revenue drive just as Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu has implored us to make positive impart in the lives of our people at the grassroots.”

    She said there is enough abundant natural and human resources to develop the council.

    “The natural resources are the fertile land which can be used for agriculture and the large chunk of the youth is the human resources who would work on the farmland to generate revenue for government,” she said.

  • Senate probes N4tn revenue leakage in Customs

    Senate probes N4tn revenue leakage in Customs

    The Senate Committee on Customs, Excise and Tariff has begun investigation into over N4 trillion revenue leakage in the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) between 2006 and 2016.

    Chairman of the committee, Sen. Hope Uzodinma, spoke in an interview with reporters in Abuja.

    Uzodinma vowed that his committee will recover the money.

    Preliminary investigation by the committee, he said, showed  N4 trillion leakage was was due to infractions, including abuse and non-implementation of Form M (foreign exchange form).

    He noted that other factors that may have been responsible could have been wrong classification of cargo under harmonised system codes, non-screening of cargoes coming into the country and lack of adequate ICT infrastructure for revenue collection.

    Uzodinma said cancellation of pre-arrival assessment reports, abandonment of single goods declaration might also have been responsible for the leakage.

    He said: “The Senate Committee on Customs has condemned the inability of the technical committee on the implementation of comprehensive import supervision scheme to ensure that the provisions of the Act are followed to the latter.

    “The committee frowns at the quantum of revenue losses and it will stop at nothing in ensuring that those involved in this ugly act would return all recoverable monies with them.

    “The committee also frowns at the level of collusion and corruption within the Customs Service.

    “At the end of our current investigation, all these will become a thing of the past and customs revenue will be enhanced and non-oil revenue will be improved upon.

    “What we are investigating is not money spent. It is the leakages.

    “For instance, I am supposed to pay XYZ amount of duty, I will abandon the documentation, go get fake documents, collude with customs, pay maybe a fraction of it and carry my goods. With that, the true import circle is not closed.

    “Another instance is that  assessment is abandoned or I  fill the form M for example with a pro forma invoice, apply for foreign exchange in Central Bank, XYZ amount of money is allocated to me, money  moves in but  no goods shipped.

    “I will then go get fake documents, collude with Customs and then retire the allocation.”

    The committee chairman noted that “this sharp practices, which also include round tripping and false declarations, had over time led to increase in the exchange rate.”

    He said it was also observed that in most cases, the amount of money spent was not commensurate with the volume of goods imported.

    He added that his committee had started investigating activities of companies and banks indicted in the matter.

  • Man held for alleged impersonation of revenue officials

    Man held for alleged impersonation of revenue officials

    Rapid Response Squad (RRS) operatives have arrested a 37-year-old man, Olaitan Shofolahan, for allegedly impersonating Lagos State Land Use Charge officials.

    Shofolahan, according to RRS, cited unemployment for his action.

    The Accounting graduate of the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, was arrested last Thursday in Lekki Phase 1, in Eti–Osa Local Government Area of the state while allegedly attempting to defraud an estate resident of millions of naira in Land Use Charge dues.

    The suspect, who was working in his brother’s audit firm in Sabo, Yaba, Lagos Mainland, before leaving in search of greener pasture, told RRS that he could not get a job in Lagos State Civil Service because there were no vacancies.

    He was quoted as saying: “I was working with my brother in his audit firm in Sabo, Yaba, earning N45,000 monthly before I left the firm in search of employment. I was at Lagos State Civil Service Commission several times to seek employment. It was during one of my visits that I learnt that payment for Land Use Charge in the state is through a code. The code is engraved on every metal sticker issued to every house.

    “It is with this code that you get an annual bill of the house and that you can get your charges printed out with the bills. That was how I started moving round choice locations to get their codes and print their bills.Any house that does not owe, I discard but those with huge bills, I work on them. But I noticed that some of them requested for my identity card. I forged a Lagos State Government identity card using a sample that I saw somewhere in Alausa Secretariat, Ikeja.

    “I have been in the business since February, 2015. I have observed that owners of buildings in Lekki have capacity to settle their bills quickly, that was why I have focused there. Unfortunately for me, it was in this location that I was caught. I entered the building in Lekki Phase 1 unknown to me that the officials of the Lagos State Land Use Charge were there with the house owner. I saw the owner discussing with them but I didn’t know their identity. The owner of the building after sitting me down invited RRS officials to arrest me.

    “Since I have been impersonating, I have only realised N30,000 which I collected from an home owner in Alausa while pretending to be an official of the state. I have not collected any other money apart from that. Each and every time I visited these buildings, they ask me to come back later”.

    RRS said it found five land use bills with charges above N1 million and a forged Lagos State Government identity card on the suspect.

    Police spokesperson Olarinde Famous Cole, an Assistant Superintendent (ASP), said the suspect, has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Yaba.