HENATES

A major assumption that underpins President Buhari's budget 2016 is the belief that once it is well with federal government finances, it is well with the Nigerian economy. This is definitely a dangerous fallacy. Whether healthy or not, government activities in Nigeria can make a bad situation worse if there is not enough foreign exchange to service Nigeria's economic independence as a nation state. This is because in view of the very low level of production in the  country currently, particularly manufacturing and agriculture, each demand created through capital or recurrent expenditure applies pressure on the nations foreign reserves since we now import almost everything including petrol. For example before the self sufficiency in cement production, each government housing programme and road construction effort meant that millions of tons of cement had to be imported. Indeed, the demand was so much at a time in the history of this nation that ships lined up at the wharf ...

Oando PLC is putting finishing touches to the financial reengineering of its subsidiary Oando Energy Resources Ltd to ensure greater flexibility in the management of regulatory costs. According to the notice on the website of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Oando PLC is offering $1.20 per each common share to minority common share holders. This offer, says the notice is consideration which represents 177.2% premium on the 20-day volume weighted average price of the same common shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange up to December 21, 2015 and based on Bank of Canada's closing exchange rate of $1 to 1.3965 by December 21. A committee of independent directors led by Bill Watson had reportedly review the arrangement before it was  endorsed by the Board Of Oando. The notice said that the agreement to back up the minority shares was reached between Oando PLC and Oando Exploration Holdings ltd registered in British Columbia as a subsidiary of Oando PLC. Contacted by Henates, the CEO o...

The boat of Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals PLC is still leaking. In fact it leaked so badly in the year to September 2015 that Shareholders fund is now almost half of what it was at the start of year 2014. According to audited figures released this week, Neimeth shareholders fund by the year close was N1157.3m, down 22.5% on the N1493m by 2014 year close which was itself 13.9% drop on year 2013 close. This was because the loss for 2015 at N21.5 on each N100 income was almost the 2014 figure of N11.9. It all ended that way in 2015 because the story comes to a tale of income drops amidst  increase in expenses and, in the case of direct cost, in spite of more than proportionate decrease. Neimeth's total income dropped by 11.7% to N1468.5m as main line business revenue dropped by 10.3% to N1460.7m from N1628.4m and income from other sources went down 78% to N7.8m from N35.5m. Showcasing the lone good news in the figures was the 11.2% decrease in cost of sale to N776.1m...

In Nigeria, the use of ATM as payment medium abroad suffered a major blow recently when the present administration under President Buhari okayed the decision by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to stop the use of Nigerian ATM cards outside Nigeria from January 2016. It was indeed a deadly blow because in recent months, with the CBN stopping access to official foreign exchange for some imported goods, it had become a major payment medium for many traders. That was in addition to being ready and convenient medium for upkeep of Nigerian students abroad and Nigerian tourists. Now, Nigerian ATM's poison is bound to be sweet meat for international money transfer operators (IMTOs) in Nigeria. This is because for most of the affected persons, particularly Nigerian students abroad and tourists, the best option from January 1 2016 will be international money transfer. Under guidelines for IMTO services approved by the CBN, application for operators licence must be accompanied with a...

There are no short cuts to ending or restructuring the now very visible and threatening Nigerian appetite for foreign goods. Decades ago it was an expression of so called class culture. In the era, Nigerians wore Italian shoes and clothes, drank imported wines and partook in much more just to showed he or she belonged to a class that can afford to. Meanwhile, even manufacturers imported inputs. Then it graduated into the average Nigerians taste for cheap second hand clothes, second cars; and foodstuffs like rice that were in short supply locally or are relatively costly. Then we had the more recent officially sponsored appetite for imported fuel and due to disenabling environment, decline in local manufacture especially as evidenced by close down of vehicle Assembly lines; tyre manufacturing factories, textile factories and the like. Now Nigeria has hit the bottom. The oil boom has finally hit all time low and so, the Central Bank of Nigeria has been doing all it could to hold ...

From today December 23, 2015 to December 29, one is forced to suspend posting of articles on this blog. The reason is simple: I have been at Jesse my place of origin for days now and will not get back to Apomu  in Ogun state till after the Christmas. Down here internet access is very limited to very early in the morning and I had to script and post the piece on Buhari's budget ,for example in less than an hour. So to avoid avoidable errors due to haste, suspension was the only option. Let me use this opportunity to appreciate all who have stayed with us and hope that this intellectual romance, which I think is mutually beneficial, will continue. Happy Christmas and God willing, the best we all wish ourselves in 2016. Seeing you on the other side of Christmas.

When we human beings fall prey to illusions, it becomes very easy to wish away difficulties and fly to the highest heavens in reverie. Hence, the budget presented by president  Muhammadu Buhari to the national assembly Tuesday, December 22, can only be described as budget of illusions, certainly not budget of assumption with which it was tagged. Swimming in cloud nine, sure it was easy to more than double the capital budget to N1.8trillion from N557bn in 2015. This new vote, declared the president, represents 30% of the total budget. Unfortunately, we all know that the very first casualties when revenue does not trickle in as expected is always the capital budget. Now how easy will it be to hit revenue target in 2016? Answer: Not likely to be easy at all because benchmark crude oil price was already well below budget base $38 per barrel. Meaning hope can only come from great harvest from non oil revenue drive and a determination to stay on course with capital budget since it is...

In the three months to September 2015 direct cost pressure made a mess of profitability McNichols Consolidated PLC was poised to achieve. According to the figures for the first quarter released recently, McNichols had good reason to end the period with higher gain per each N100 income but for the stumbling block provided by cost of sale that more than doubled. The growth in turnover recorded, at 91.8% was good enough. Turnover closed the quarter at N753.2m compared to N392.6m previously. But cost of sale growth made it look like water poured on the back of a duck. Direct cost of producing the goods sold came to N616.5m representing 115.6% rise from N285.9m in previous first quarter. Worse was the fact that the damage done could not be repaired by far lower increase in selling and administration cost and drop in finance charges recorded. Selling and administration cost ended at N79.1m, up 29.7% on N61m by September 2014. On the other hand finance charges declined by 32.2% ...

The Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission has finally deregistered 84 capital market operators for being inactive. According to SEC notice on it's website, this was in furtherance of the provisions of Section 39(1) & (2) of the Investment and Securities Act 2007. Of the 84  about 33 were fund or portfolio managers, while about 27 were stockbrokers. The rest were involved in more than one activity before they became inactive. However, about four were issuing houses; two were Trustees while there was one rating agency on the list. It will be recalled that earlier a listed group of capital marker operators had been asked by SEC to give course before September 15, 2015 why they should not be deregistered. There were 94 operators in that original list and apparently this got trimmed to the 84 now deregistered.

Those 580 investors who lodged formal complaints with the Securities and Exchange Commission against Mega Asset Managers Ltd have two days left to verify their claims for payment. The investors had earlier appeared before the SEC Administrative Proceedings committee to  prove their claims against Mega Asset managers for fraudulent conversion of clients funds and other violations of the Investment and Securities Act (ISA) 2007 and SEC's rules and regulations. Subsequently, it was decided that the complainants be compensated  and were thus asked to contact SEC zonal offices with proof of identification account details and Bank Verification Number (BVN) by December 23 this year. Curiously, about 162 out of the beneficiaries did not provide any address or contact phone number, and a couple gave only phone number. The majority, from their given addresses, were from Onitsha Anambra state and its environs. About 29 of them were from Lagos but mostly care a firm, M. O Chukwuma Okaf...

NASCON ALLIED INDUSTRIES: New Directors Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Sani Dangote and S O Olamide have resigned from the board of Nascon Allied Industries PLC and in their place new directors have been appointed since December 15,. Mrs Yemisu Ayeni, ex finance director of Shell Nigeria Exploration takes over as the Chairman of the board of directors after being admitted as a director. Mrs Ayeni was also president and council member of the Nigerian Stock Exchange Also admitted to the board were two other directors: Dr Chris Ike Ogbechie and Fatima Wali-Abdulrahman Dr Ogbechie is the current chairman of Diamond Bank and a facilitator at Lagos Business School. On the other hand, Wali-Abdulrahman is an architect and board member of Oando Foundation and Consolidated Discounts ltd. NIGER INSURANCE: NEW DIRECTORS. Following the retirement of Alhaji Bala Zakariyu as chairman and Mr Frederick Nnandi Udechukwu as director, new directors have been appointed for Niger Insurance PLC. They ...

FORTE OIL: NEW INCOME STREAM Soon a new income stream may start to reflect and indeed contribute substantially to the fortunes of Forte Oil PLC. According to a notice signed by the General Counsel of Forte Oil, Akinkeye Olagbende esq, the company has been awarded the contract to lift crude oil on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria. According to Mr Olagbende, this " follows ... successful bid for the rights to the lifting contract as tendered by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)." By implication, Forte Oil stands to earn money as soon as it starts lifting crude as per the awarded rights in addition to its present activities in the sale of petroleum products within Nigeria. Meanwhile, in another notice, this time signed jointly by Mr Olagbende and the Group Chief Executive, Mr Akin Akinfemiwa,  venerable Layi Bolodeoku has resigned from the board of Forte Oil as non-executive director with effect from December 17, 2015. No reasons were give...

Finance income which used to be a good shock absorber for Learn Africa PLc is getting weak. Or so the figures for the nine months to September indicate clearly. By September 2014 as Learn Africa closed with N19.2m operating loss N29.4m finance income  saved the day for a final N10.2m profit before tax. The same thing occurred in the nine months to last September but finance income chipped in less. This time around  operating loss at N10.7m, was less but finance income came up with only N16.2m which was still enough to allow the company end with N5.59m profit before tax. The 44.9% drop in all important finance income was understandable. Learn Africa had less cash to play with. The nine month closing figure of cash and cash deposits was N223.2m, down 59.7% on the N553.3m available at the same time in 2014. Incidentally, cash became less available as receivables grew 23% to N1771.8m from N1440.8m and inventories rose by 15.7% to N1714.4m. No doubt, should the shock absorber cont...

A new Executive director has been appointed to the board of Honeywell Flour Mills PLC in the person of experienced international accounting and managemebt person, Mrs Oluseye Sandey. She came aboard as finance and IT director from December 15, 2015 bringing to bear over 30 years in auditing, budgeting and reporting, business development and taxation within and  beyond Nigeria. Mrs Sandey, a chartered accountant, had joined Akintola Williams Deloitte in 1988 then later joined Coca Cola where she served in various capacities across Africa. When she joined Coca cola in 1994, her assignment was as budget manager Nigeria region. Between 1996 and 2002 she became region treasury manager and accounting manager. By 2002 she moved to Abidjan Cote devoire as finance manager Coca Cola  West Africa region in charge of end to end finance operations for 23  countries in West and Central Africa The next year saw her at Coca Cola export corporation in Casablanca, Morocco as region finance m...

Now that every minister and the President continues to assure Nigeria and Nigerians that the time to cut recurrent expenditure is now, let us hope they are truly serious. If they are, three things are obvious: 1) Times that demand such decisions are not the right time to add to recurrent expenditure unless such is one that cannot be avoided for now. 2) Times that command such decisions are times for reviewing recurrent expenditure outlets that could be blocked, reshaped or reduced in line with the times. 3) Times that make it necessary for citizens to tighten their belts or cough out more in taxes, are times that demand transparency; absence of political egos and high sense of commitment to the common good. Now if we take them one by one, the bullet to be bitten by President Buhari and his executive "noise makers" become obvious. On point one above, yes the President and his party did promise Nigerian youths and school pupils lots of freebies but as events have si...

International Breweries PLC is brewing less profit this financial year, according to figures for the half year to September released not too long ago. From the figures International Breweries (IB) ended the half year with only N9.64 gain on each brew it sold for N100 on the average as against N19.8 by the same time in the previous year. This figure is based on total income of the company by the half year mark. Revenue from main line business of brewing had increased only by a very marginal 0.71% from N10069m to N10140m but finance and other income pushed  overall income growth to 3% at N10374.5m Then of course, the gain curve went down because all the expenses outgrew the very marginal increase  in income. Direct cost rose by 4.57% to N5051.7m from N4831m while all overheads increased by 16.7% to N3283.7m from N2814.7m Then as if to drive the nail harder, finance costs more than doubled  to N790.8m from N308.9m and losses recorded from other non-core sources rose by 104.7% to N...

Red Star Express PLC will need to glitter some more if it hopes to end the financial year to March better than it did in the previous year. That is, if its mid year figures to September was anything to go by. According to the figures, turnover from main line business barely grew yet even this was watered further by decrease in income from other sources. Main line revenue closed the period at N3357.3m, up only 1.47% on N3308.8m previously. Naturally this growth was too low for expenses to stay in line. Cost of sale increased by 4.36% to N2491.8m from N2287.8m thus depressing gross profit to N865.5m compared to N921m earlier. Then overheads ended 2% up at N598.6m from N587m. Along the same vein finance income dropped by 39.7% to N5.04m from N8.36m and other income went down 25.4% to N6.4m from N8.58m. A breather, on the other hand, came from 46.6% drop in finance cost from N11.8m to N6.3m. Balancing off, Red Star Express ended the half year with N224.3m profit before tax, ...

For now,  no stock broker in Nigeria will be able to execute a whole or none order on behalf of any client till further notice. This is because the Nigerian stock exchange has decided to suspend this portion in the rules and regulations that guide dealing activities in the market, according to Tinuade T Awe esq, General Counsel and Head,of Regulation. The suspension is with immediate effect and puts on hold  the relevant articles without amending the rules approved by SEC since November 22, 2013. Whole or none orders are orders that only trade when the entire units is bought or sold by one other counter party's order. Without a matching order, it is not executed. Such orders have a way of guiding against too many new shareholders to a quoted company's portfolio but can also be exploited to corner choice offers to the detriment of best priced orders. In today's electronic trading system, clear orders with clear time frame for execution help the system allocate secu...

Guinness Nigeria PLC will be entering the spirit market in Nigeria from January after coughing out N2.35bn for exclusive distribution of Diageo PLC  brands. According to notice sent to the Nigerian stock exchange, under the new arrangement Guinness Nigeria will take over various assets including inventory and existing markets for the brands in Nigeria. According to Mr Peter Ndegwa, the managing director. the deal is to facilitate Guinness Nigeria involvement in all segments of the drinks market in Nigeria. Currently it is involved in beer brewing and sale; production of nonalcoholic drinks  and ready to drink products. Diageo, says Ndegwa  will thus release its hot drinks into the existing Guinness Nigeria portfolio which allows it to " compete within other cross segments within the market" However, Diageo PLC remains the majority and controlling shareholder in Guinness Nigeria, so the whole thing almost seems like fixing and paying the price for the spirit  brands al...

The major shareholders of Tiger Branded Consumer Goods PLC (TBCG)  hitherto known as Dangote Flour mills has been reached by its major shareholders. According to information sent to the Nigerian stock exchange, the major shareholders. Tiger Brand ltd and Dangote Industries (DIL) have reached an agreement which is however subject to the approval of Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Exchange control division of the South African Reserve Bank. Under the Share purchase and sale agreement Dangote Industries will inject N10bn into the company while Tiger Brands will offload its 65.7% holding to DIL for a nominal consideration. In addition Tiger Brands will write off its outstanding loans to Tiger Branded Consumer Goods TBCG) and also assume outstanding debt guarantee of TBCG. It will be recalled that in November Alike Dangote and three other directors resigned from the board of TBCG while Tiger Brands itself announced it will give no more financial support to ...

Wapic Insurance PLC has been increasingly walking on thin ice this financial year especially in the quarter to September. According to figures for the nine months to September released not too long ago in spite of fairly good growth in income, higher cost increase dragged Wapic into loss league in third quarter and very slim profit margin for the nine months. Gross premium income had increased by 52.5% to N1619.6m from N1061.8m in the third quarter and by 24.3% to N4380.6m in nine months while reinsurance dropped by 8.09% in the third quarter but rose by 3.34% in nine months. Much the same way fees and commission rose by 41% in third quarter to finish nine months 29% up at N316.1m just like other operating income up 42.1% third quarter to N53.3m and at N251.3m ended nine months many times the meagre N2.3m for nine months in 2014. Investment income recorded modest 5.4% increase in third quarter that watered down to 2.14% in nine months to N1219.5m compared to N1194m at the same time in ...

NEW COMPANY SECRETARY FOR FLOUR MILLS. The board of directors of Flour Mills of Nigeria has announced the appointment of a new company secretary in the person of Mr Joseph Odion Umolu. Mr Umolu takes over from Alhaji Olalekan Saliu who retires by December 31 although will continue on the board as non-executive director. The new company secretary is currently head, legal services and assistant company secretary. He joined Flour Mills in 2012 rising to his present position after a rather mobile but active career. He holds an LLM from the University of Lagos and has had a career that spanned from his stint at Gocuz Group as administration/ corporate affairs manager to Zik Chuka Obi & Co; and the Lagos state judiciary. Between 2003 and 2004, he was with Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority before joining Union Bank in 2004 rising to be legal office manager by 2007. CHAMPION BREWERIES GETS TWO NEW DIRECTORS. Two new directors have been appointed to the board of Champion Brewe...

Most likely early 2016, the changes you may notice in almost all the indices on the  Nigerian stock market currently published each dealing day by the Exchange will not be solely due to changing market fortunes. It could be because the baskets for the indices have been changed. According to a release by the Exchange the baskets of the indices are subjected to annual review and the 2015 one is almost concluded. According to the release; pencilled down to be removed from the NSE 30 index are Cadbury Nigeria; First City Group; Mobil Oil and UACN. They may be replaced by Presco PLC; Champion Breweries; Total Nigeria and Glaxo SmithKline Consumer. Also, likely to exit from the consumer goods index basket are Vitafoam; Tiger Branded Consumer Goods; and Honeywell Flour mills.They may be replaced by Vono products; Northern Nigeria Flour Mills; DN Tyre & Rubber. The banking index basket may witness exit of Wema bank and Fidelity bank and entry of Skye bank and Unity bank. There ma...

The newly appointed deputy managing director of Japaul Oil & Services may turn out to be the new broom needed to help check the sliding fortune of the company. By September 2015 the figures did not look good. Revenue from main line was not only down , this was accompanied with increased cost of sale and less than proportionate decrease in other costs. In the end,loss reported  ballooned to N2353.4m from N490.6m previously. Japaul's main line revenie had declined by 12.8% to N7227.7m from N8291.8m while cost of sale increased by 15.4% to N5177m from N4487.5m. Finance cost too rose by 15.8% to N1083.1m from N935.1m although lease interest dropoed by 25.6% to M267.8m from N360m. Finally administration cost decreased by only 0.56%  to N3151.7m from M3169.3m. In the end, Japaul settled for N32.2 loss on each N100 income compared to only N5.8 at the same time in 2014. Eventually, it was nine months of tight liquidity. So tight in fact that Japaul had to increase overdra...

One thing was imperative from the figures to June 2015 released not too long ago, the time has come for shareholders to decide whether DN Tyre & Rubber should continue in business. The figures were for nine months to June and ironically it painted a picture of a company that had just lifted a huge weight off its shoulders and so should look ahead with more confidence. Well may be it can but the decision still has to be taken whether shrinking sales and yearly losses is worth the candle of hope. Within the period DN Tyre turnover dropped by 33.1% to N66.4m from N99.3m. N At the same time no operating cost dropped that fast. Cost of sales declined by 28% to N67.7m. Hence gross loss of N1.27m was recorded compared to modest N5.38m gross profit by June 2014. Then selling and distribution cost dropped by 21.4% to N0.997m and administration expenses declined by 3.76% to N145.8m. All these laid the foundation for higher loss but that was not to be because interest paid came to...

Even by Nigerian stock market standards Union Diagnostic & Clinical Services PLC is a small company being one of those still battling to cross N2bn turnover mark. However, it is among the few still looking good in these trying times. According to figures for nine months to September released not too long ago, Union Diagnostic almost doubled its profit margin within the period and more importantly had enough cash to invest substantially in new equipment. By September Union Diagnostic revenue had increased by 21.1% to N936.8m from N773.7m at the same time in 2014. Then, as if to come up with more tasty ending, only costs essentially outside management control grew out of line. Cost of sale rose by a lower 15% from N398.5m to N458.2m thus ensuring 27.6% increase in gross profit. Along the same vein, labour cost grew by only 0.99% to N132.5m and more importantly, other major overheads dropped. Transportation expenses decreased by 18.8% to N14.7m; repairs and maintenance cost ...

Updates on the Buhari administration's 2016 N6 trillion budget indicate that N500bn is to be set aside for his party's promise of N5000 for unemployed youths monthly and one free meal a day for all primary pupils in public schools. There is no reason to doubt this but there is every reason to worry over the future economic health of Nigeria if these promises are kept as envisaged in the 2016 outlook. Firstly, even if the promises must be kept, obviously N500bn is likely to be under provision and could indicate how well thought out the two promises have been so far. As usual very reliable data is hard to come by but a March 26 report by Nigerian Punch newspaper had quoted then official education roadmap as putting  public primary schools in Nigeria at 54,434 with a little above 24.4m enrolment by 2006. Now nine years after, it can not be expected that enrollment will be lower than this even if the 2006 figure was overestimated. So, assuming 24.4m pupils are given one mea...

The performance of University Press PLC for the year to March 2026 may be close to what was  achieved in 2015 financial year, if figures to September are anything to go by. According to the figures released not too long ago, 2014 pattern is playing itself out. For example, in the first half of 2014 University Press closed with 25.4% profit margin after being helped greatly by 35.3% clocked in the second quarter between July and September. This year the story is almost the same. The second quarter gain in each N100 income was N35.1 but in the six months to September the actual came to only N24. The main reason being that more revenue flowed in within the second quarter while profit before tax dropped at a relative slower pace when compared to the first quarter April to September revenue came to N1140.4m that is 13.8% down on corresponding levels in the previous year. Of this, N995.1m was earned in the second quarter alone representing 7.81% decrease on same period last year. ...

The President Buhari administration may borrow up to N729.4bn in 2016 if the worst happens to its recently released wishes for N6 trillion budget. According to the budget and planning Minister. senator Udoma Udo Udoma, part of the funds for the proposed budget is to be borrowed within the range of 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) allowed by law. As at the third quarter of this year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria's GDP was N24,313,636.94m and 3% of that comes to about N729.4bn. However, two major factors could stop the President and his men from seeking this much in order to actualise the N6trillion hopes. One of them is the current low value of the Naira which will mean that each dollar earned will translate into far more Naira than Goodluck Jonathan, with his luck, got. The second is the pegging of crude oil production at 2.2m barrels per day given that in recent years the average has been more above than below this figure. This and the low Na...

From the half year figures to October 30 released recently, Cutix PLC is cruising well for a closing double digit gain on N100 income this financial year. This was due more to higher growth in revenue in the second quarter although cost pressure within the same period was equally more. By October, Cutix revenue had dropped slightly by 0.91% to N1132.9m but in the second quarter, the growth recorded was actually 26.2%. However, cost pressure came more from 4.74% increase in administration expenses by half year to N152.6m more so in the second quarter with increase recorded at 8.29%. There was also pressure from finance cost which by half year was up 27.7% even as income decreased although second quarter growth was less at 19.1%. In spite of the pressures Cutix ended second quarter with 9.17% gain on N100 income (profit margin) compared to 5.31% by the same quarter in the previous year. In view of the lower pressures in the first quarter, the full profit margin for half year ...

If you are one of those worried about recently discernible increase in loan loss provision by most banks in Nigeria, well stop worrying. It has the blessing of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). We found out on Saturday December 5, that the CBN early in November sent a circular to all banks to increase loan loss provision to 2%. The circular was dated November 11 2015 and signed by Mrs Tokunbo Martins as director of banking supervision. After acknowledging concern of the financial sector in recent times because of macroeconomic environment, the circular told banks: "..In line with the provision of section 12-14 of the Prudential Guidelines for Deposit Money Banks 2010....banks are required to immediately increase the general provision on performing loans to 2% in the Prudential review of their credit portfolios. This is an attempt to ensure that adequate buffers against unexpected loan losses are built up." It added : " This directive is without prejudice to th...

A new Deputy Managing Director has been appointed for Japaul Oil & Maritime Services PLC with effect from November 23, this year. He is Mr Kayode Tolulope Oluwasegun-Ojo. Mr OJO, a fellow of the chartered institute of chartered accountants of Nigeria, also graduated from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ileife with Bsc in economics. He brings to bear on his new job wide experience in management across various sectors of the economy particularly in audit, assurance, banking and aviation. In 2009 he joined Nigerian Aviation & Cargo Handling Co (NAHCO) as executive director finance and strategic planning rising to become acting managing director in November 2010 before being confirmed as CEO in June 2011. It was while he was CEO of NAHCO the company became the first ground handling company in West Africa to attain IATA confirmed ISAGO status. He resigned from NAHCO in 2014 to pursue other interests.

By the end of this year it is almost certain that FBN Holdings PLC, the group that includes First Bank, will no more be involved in FBN Microfinance Bank ltd. According to a letter of intent sent to the stock exchange December 3, signed by head of finance. Oyewale Ariyibi  FBN has secured the go ahead from the Central Bank of Nigeria to disinvest from its microfinance subsidiary. As a result, the statement said. FBN Holdings has executed a sale and purchase agreement with Letshego Holdings Ltd to " sell its shares  to Letshego". " We expect that the sale will be concluded before the end of this year" the letter declared. For those who took time to study FBN Holdings 2014 published accounts, this may not come as a surprise. In that report, the Group CEO Bello Machido did not say much about how the microfinance arm of the group fared while hinting at changing outlooks for others. FBN Holdings PLC now comprises 11 subsidiaries involved in commercial banking ;...

Foreign and Nigerian investors can now monitor their investment; buy and sell shares quoted in the Nigerian stock exchange from their mobile phones. According to the CEO of the Exchange Mr Oscar Onyema. at least seven dealing members (stockbrokers) " have developed applications" that allow their clients to monitor. buy and sell their stocks and shares while on the move. Mr Onyema was speaking November 3, 2015 during the induction ceremony for 31 new dealing clerks at the exchange. He told the new clerks "I welcome you all into a new relationship that faces inwards for professionalism  integrity, transparency and reliability and outwards in excellent service to our investing and issuer communities" Apparently with an eye on recent changes in the rules and regulations of the exchange, he added " we are changing the game as well to become a more transparent and efficient exchange" because "our long term outlook for the exchange remains positive...

Thank God I have been a vegetarian for more than 20 years now but I still recall years before that when isiewu (goat head) bone got stuck in my throat. There I was sometime in 1991 or 1992 having a quick top up before goinon a scheduled business trip to the north and it happened: isiewu bone got stuck in my throat. My trip was called off; my day turned into one nightmare of hard to swallow overflowing spit and much more. I tell you it was not an experience I would wish my enemy if I had one and so I feel for President Muhammadu Buhari even if what is presently stuck in his political throat are not real isiewu bones like mine. The first and apparently most troublesome of the bones was inherited from Goodluck Jonathan primarily because Goodluck did not have enough luck in reserve to over ride the no way from the nation when he attempted to bite the bullet. Now it is Buhari who must take a decision on fuel subsidy and the petroleum industry bill before Nigeria goes down subsidis...

The quarter to September 30 2015 for Tourist Company of Nigeria (TCN) was remarkable mainly because it raised hopes that the loss league could be a thing of the past. According to the figures for the period released recently a combination of fairly growing turnover and lower increase in expenses could not overcome pressure from cost of financing but it helped to reduced the loss recorded considerably. TCN's revenue had increased by 18.6% to N789.1m from N665.2m reported by September 2014. Equally heart warming was the fact that the total costs incurred to record this growth increased by only 4.52% to N807m from N772.1m. As a result great promise emerged as operating loss reduced by 83.3% from N106.9m to N17.9m. However, this was deemed a little later as finance cost for the quarter rose by 36.9% to N137.2m from N100.2m. In view of this the final decrease in loss recorded came to 25.1%  dropping from September 2014's N207.1m loss before tax to N155.1m. That means t...

Obviously, Nigerian Enamelware PLC should end the financial year to  April 2016 better than it did last financial year but the first quarter momentum has to be rekindled or even improved upon. According to the figures released recently for the half year to September, more of the goodies actually happened in the first quarter to July 2015.. For example, Enamelware's gain on each N100 recorded was N6.03 by first quarter but the full half figure came to a much lower N5.19. This was principally because the bulk of the turnover and cost saving recorded occurred then thus leading to 87.9% of gross profit and 59.2% of the profit before tax for the full half being earned in the first quarter. The half year revenue came to N1347.8m with N51.7% or N686.7m being clocked in the golden egg quarter. Yet it accounted for 50.4% of both direct cost and administration costs and even 50.6% of financing cost. However, by half year, the potential was there that Enamelware will surpass fortune...

Chances are high that Chellarams PLC will end the year to March 2016 with profit as against loss hitherto. According to the half year figures released recently, in the two quarters, good cost control paid off well especially in the first quarter to June 2015. Yes, turnover continued to drop in both quarters with 14.7% decrease in the first quarter snowballing into 20.1% drop by September from N13403.4m to N10714.4m. Inspire of this, new hopes were raised as cost of sale dropped at faster rates first in the quarter yo June (by 23.7%) and later in the full half year by 22.8% to N8719.4m from September 2014's N12073.5m. Then good grip over distribution costs bore fruits as in the first quarter. it dropped by 21.9% and then built on that to end the half year down 39.8% from N223.3m by 2014 September to N134.5m. In the case of administration overheads, the healthy 23.1% decrease by the first quarter eased to only 17.4% drop from N1342.7m to N1109.3m by September. The hope ki...

GUINNESS NIGERIA APPOINTS EDOZIEN DIRECTOR Guinness Nigeria PLC has announced the appointment of Ms Ngozi Oluwatoyin Edozien as a non- executive director. She replaces Ms Yvonne Ike who resigned from the board of directors recently. Ms Edozien is an alumni of Harvard Business university. She started her working career in 1985 with Solomon Brothers and J P Morgan then joined McKinsey & Company. In recent past she served as CEO of various companies including Pfizer Nigeria and Actis Capital. She has also served on the board of Diamond bank and African Investor. Currently, she is also on the board of Mouka Foam, Stanbic IBTC , UAC, PZ Cussons and Payatech ltd. She is also director of African Leadership Network and member of Delta State vision 2020. SEC ADVISES INVESTORS ON e-DIVIDEND The Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has advised investors to approach their banks or registrars to complete their e-dividend payment mandate. For ninety (90) days from ...

Once again many are stoking the fire that will set Nigeria ablaze. The arrogant North is once again bestriding Nigeria like an overlord seeking less than patriotic alliances between so called majority tribes only to ensure that presumed second class citizens remain second class. The easy money worshipping West that measures all things by what can be grabbed is at it again dancing beautifully to tantalizing tunes played by self appointed saviours focussed more on how to cage other tribes or persons who have the audacity to differ. The East, always caught in its balloon of being the smartest on the land is also at it again issuing ultimatum to people they know that in their stubbornness are not best equipped to see fire ahead before they step into it. Now the IBO's are suffering what no other Nigerian tribe is suffering. North east is not suffering under the arrogance of the North West. The Ibos are now suffering what the minorities have not suffered in the past even in the first Rep...