December 19,2022

A lot happened in corporate Nigeria last week. There was capital raise, financial disclosures, earnings forecasts and more. 

On that note, we welcome you again to Nairametrics’ Corporate News Roundup. This is brought to you courtesy of Quidax. Let’s recap the main stories. 

Oh! by the way, it seems like congratulations are in order for Argentina

FCCPC investigates three companies 

Nigeria’s top generator importers, assemblers and distributors are being investigated by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC). Among them are Mikano, JMG and Jubali Brothers.

Why the investigation? Well, some customers lodged complaints with the FCCPC accusing the companies of deceit and overpricing. They were also accused of import/customs clearing malpractices and other alleged crimes

Bear in mind that as top generator importers, these companies play a key role in Nigeria’s energy sector. No thanks to the epileptic power supply in the country, many Nigerians/companies rely on generators to meet their energy needs. Therefore, Mikano and the other companies play an important role in the importation, assemblage, and distribution of generators to customers across the country.

If they’ve been taking advantage of their important role by overpricing their products for instance, then that’s unfortunate. That’s why this investigation by FCCPC is important

Already, the government said it has obtained a search warrant from the Federal High Court as it begins to gather evidence to prove if there was maleficence on the part of the companies. We hope they do a good job at this investigation

Ventures Platform closes major fund

Good news for African startups as VC firm, Ventures Platform, announced that it closed a $46 million intercontinental fund. The fund saw participation from some top-tier global banks, DFIs, corporates and high net-worth individuals (HNIs). 

Having sealed this fund, Ventures Platform said it will now double down on its investments in early-stage African startups

Shareholding adjustments

Last week, Seplat Energy announced that one of its majority shareholders increased its shareholdings with an additional 52,544,527 units. By so doing, the shareholder — Sustainable Capital Africa Alpha Fund — now has 8.93% voting right. 

Before now, Sustainable Capital Africa Alpha Fund had a voting right of 5.11% voting following its acquisition of 30,071,128 units of shareholding in Seplat two years ago

In a somewhat similar development, Dangote Cement Plc announced that its shareholders unanimously approved the company’s plan to buy back 10% of its issued share capital.

A statement seen by Nairametrics said the share buyback will help Dangote Cement to improve its return on equity and ensure future long-term growth

Let’s move on to some earnings reports…

Insurance firm, SUNU Assurances Nigeria Plc, announced a gross premium income of N3.9 billion for the nine months between January and September. This represents a 22% increase compared to N3.2 billion as of Q3 2021.

Pre-tax profit rose by 557% to N374 million, up from N55 million last year

Earnings forecast for Q1 2023

As 2022 gradually comes to an end, many companies have begun projecting their 2023 earnings. Last week, three NGX-listed companies released their Q1 2023 earning forecasts. Let’s recap these forecasts, starting with Unity Bank.

The lender said it is targeting to rake in N20.86 billion worth of revenue, N17.04 billion in interest income, and N336.37 million in profit after tax

TotalEnergies projected N85.97 billion worth of revenue during the first quarter of 2023. 

It also projected N14.99 billion in gross profit, N4.69 billion worth of profit before tax and N3,17 billion worth of profit after tax

Geregu Power Plc said it is targeting N17.12 billion in revenue during the first quarter of 2023.

 It will also target profits before and after tax of N5.02 billion and N3.39 billion, respectively

Lastly in today’s roundup, Fidelity Bank Plc announced the retirement of Kings Chukwu Akuma from its board of directors, effective November 24th 2022.

Akuma’s retirement came six years after he was appointed as a Non-Executive effective November 2016