NEWS
Nigerian Breweries Records N479.8bn Revenue in 6 Months
Nigerian Breweries Plc, a leading total beverage alcohol company, has declared a 34 per cent increase in its operating profit for the half-year ended June 30, 2024.
Mr Hans Essaadi, the Managing Director, Nigerian Breweries Plc, said this in a statement on Wednesday in Lagos.
Essaadi said the company recorded a 73 per cent increase in revenue within the period.
He said that the company’s revenue during the period surged to N479. 8 billion from N277.4 billion in the comparative period of 2023.
He noted that the company was able to achieve all that in spite of the challenging operating environment characterised by soaring inflation, exchange rate volatility, security challenges, elevated input costs, and rising cost of living.
Essaadi stated that in the six months ended June 30, 2024, Nigerian Breweries demonstrated resilience and was on the path to recovery as seen in the results delivered.
He attributed the company’s revenue growth performance to strategic pricing, innovation, volume growth, and market recovery.
“Cost of sales, distribution, and admin expenses increased by 46 per cent, largely due to inflationary pressure and foreign exchange devaluation impacting imported materials.
“We also continue to invest behind our brands and categories and support the recovery of the market,” he said.
Essaadi also disclosed that the company was in the process of initiating a rights issue to raise up to N600 billion additional capital.
This, he said, would restore the business to profitability and enhance operational and financial stability as part of its resilient and forward-thinking strategy.
“The funds raised will be used to eliminate our foreign exchange-denominated debts and reduce our local debts, thereby mitigating our exposure to the continuing economic challenges.
“Through our cost-saving and other efficiencies initiatives, we recorded a 34 per cent increase in operating profit, signalling the resilience and strength of our operations.
“We are conscious of the continued challenging operating environment with double-digit inflation and pressured consumer income spending.
“However, we continue to focus on our strategy to deliver value to our shareholders while contributing to the country’s economic development,” he said.(NAN)
NEWS
Customs Intercept Contraband Worth N510.92m in Two Conths
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Federal Operations Unit Zone C, says it intercepted contrabands with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N510.92 million between July 15th and September 15th, 2024.The zone covers the six states in the South-South geopolitical zone and the five states in the Southeast geopolitical zone.
This is contained in a statement signed by Jerry Attah, Public Relations Officer, NCS, Zone C, and made available to journalists on Wednesday. According to the statement, Comptroller Michael Ugbagu, NCS, Zone C, gave the statistics while showcasing the seized contraband to relevant regulatory agencies at the Government Warehouse in Edo.Ugbagu said that the zone also recovered the sum of N25.57 million from demand notices raised based on some infractions noticed, making a cumulative sum of N536.49 million recorded within the months under review.“The DPV was derived from our seized goods, which include 49,699 sachets of various brands of tramadol and 3,350 bottles of various cough syrups with codeine without an NAFDAC number.“1,015 sacks of dry donkey meat and skin, 75 jumbo bales of second-hand clothing, 463 cartons of foreign spaghetti, 269 pieces of used pneumatic tires, and 56 cartons of smuggled foreign tomato paste.“More worrisome is the interception of 49,699 sachets of various brands of tramadol and 3,350 bottles of various cough syrups with codeine without NAFDAC registration numbers.”He noted that the cough syrup with codeine and tramadol without NAFDAC registration numbers, if not intercepted, could have had adverse effects on youths.He added that the items were mostly intercepted along the Ewu-Okada/Benin expressways based on credible intelligence. (NAN)NEWS
APC Forum Decries Deplorable Condition of Federal Roads
The Forum of Stakeholders of the All Progressive Congress (APC) has decried the deplorable condition of some federal roads in Nigeria. Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, the North-Central Chairman of the forum, said this in an interaction with newsmen on Wednesday in Jos. Zazzaga described some of the federal roads as ”death traps”, particularly those within the north-central region.
He said that some of the deplorable roads in the region include Jos-Akwanga, Makurdi-Oturkpo-Otukpa, Makurdi-Ankpa, and Jos-Saminaka. Other roads that needed urgent attention, he said, included Suleja-Minna, Ejule-Otukpa, Ganawuri-Manchok, Lokoja-Abuja, Lapai-Agaie-Bida, Birnin-Gwari-Bokani-Mokwa, Minna-Zungeru-Tegina-Kontagora. ”Currently, the north-central region has the most deplorable roads and highways in the country. ”These deplorable roads have brought severe hardship on the people and lost lives and property through preventable road traffic crashes. ”We call on President Bola Tinubu to intervene and ensure the rehabilitation of these roads because good roads are vital enablers of development,” he said. The chairman also called on governors of states within the region to reconstruct the dilapidated roads and seek refunds from the federal government. ”Though these are largely federal roads, they are located within states, and the beneficiaries are the people of these states. ”So we call on state governments to reconstruct these roads and seek refunds from the federal government,” he added. (NANNEWS
Yuan Strengthens 7. 087 Against Dollar
The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, strengthened 160 pips to 7.087 against the dollar on Wednesday.This is according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.In China’s spot foreigners exchange market, the yuan is allowed to rise or fall by two per cent from the central parity rate each trading day.
The central parity rate of the yuan against the dollar is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the opening of the interbank market each business day. (Xinhua/NAN)