Business

A Civil Society Organisation (CSO), Initiative for Leadership and Economic Watch in Nigeria (ILEWN), has urged the new board of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to embark on policies and programmes that will ensure confidence in the capital market.

A statement signed by the Executive Director of ILEWN, Mr Splendour Agbonkpolor, tasked the new SEC board to right all perceived wrongs perpetrated against some companies particularly the sanctions imposed on Oando Plc and its management team.

The call is coming following Monday’s inauguration of the new SEC board appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Agbonkpolor congratulated the new SEC board, Chaired by Mr Olufemi Lijadu, and urged the team to justify the confidence reposed in them.

He stated that the SEC legal team had also acknowledged queries in several quarters challenging the lack of due process in the investigation of Oando.

“The SEC has enormous responsibility of ensuring that the Nigeria capital market is robust to ensure local and international investors have confidence in it.

“However, recent actions of the SEC management have cast aspersions on its neutrality as a regulatory agency.

“Therefore, the new board has enormous task of correcting all the perceived injustices seen to have been done by the SEC to some players in the sector.

“Worthy of note is the decision of SEC to keep Oando Plc suspended in spite of its failure to make public its findings of the investigation it carried out two years ago,” the group stated.

Agbonkpolor further argued that the failure of the commission to make public the findings of its investigation before sanctioning the oil company created the impression that it was acting a script.

It would be recalled that SEC had On May 31, ordered Oando’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr Wale Tinubu, and other affected board members to resign based on the report of forensic audit performed by Deloitte and Touche which revealed alleged infractions.

The infractions according to SEC include: False disclosures, market abuses, misstatements in financial statements, internal control failures, and corporate governance lapses, stemming from poor board oversight, among others.

But the company immediately replied, saying the alleged infractions and penalties were unsubstantiated, ultra vires, invalid and calculated to prejudice the business of the company.

Similarly, SEC further directed Oando to suspend its annual general meeting.

One of the bookrunners handling Airtel Africa Ltd.’s planned initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange said on Monday it had received indications of interest worth about $200 million from pre-IPO investors.

Airtel Africa, a unit of India’s Bharti Airtel Ltd., last week set a price range of 80 to 100 pence per share for its IPO.

The firm is expected to raise 595 million pounds from the issuance of 595.2 million to 744 million new shares. (Reuters/NAN)

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele says there are plans to carry out a recapitalisation exercise for deposit money banks in the country.

Emefiele made this known on Monday while unveiling the five-year plan of the bank.

Bank recapitalization is the act of changing the capital structure of a bank to provide more equity funds to meet the bank’s long-term financing needs to ensure the security of shareholders fund.

In July 2004, the CBN announced the recapitalization of the banking sector from N2 billion to N25 billion with effect from December 31, 2005.

This led to the reduction in the number of banks to 24 from 89.

“We will continue to improve our on-site and off-site supervision of all financial institutions while leveraging on data analytics and our in-house experts across different sectors to improve our ability to identify potential risks to the financial system as well as risks to individual banks,” he said.

“In the next five years, we intend to pursue a programme of recapitalising the Nigerian banking industry so as to position Nigerian banks among the top 500 in the world.

“Banks will, therefore, be required to maintain a high level of capital as well as liquid assets in order to reduce the impact of an economic crisis on the financial system. With a rise in digital payment and cybersecurity threats.”

According to Emefiele, the apex bank will continue to defend the naira within the next five years as there are no plans to float the naira.

He said this would “reduce the impact that exchange rate volatility could have on our economy”.

On the country’s external reserves, Emefiele said the balance now stands at $45bn as of June 2019.

He said the bank put all necessary measure to ensure the steady growth of the country’s external reserves after the recession.

“I am delighted to note that our external reserves have risen from 23 billion dollars in October 2016 to over 45 billion dollars by June.

“Inflation has also dropped from 18.72 per cent in January 2017 to 11.40 per cent in May.

“Our CBN purchasing manufacturers index has risen for 26 consecutive months since March 2017, indicating continuous growth in the manufacturing sector.

“As a result of measures implemented by the CBN which improved access to raw materials and finance for manufacturing firms GDP growth has risen for seven consecutive quarters following the recession.

“And, our exchange rate has appreciated from over N525/$1 in February 2017 at the Bureau De Change window to N360/$1.

“With the improved inflow of foreign exchange, the exchange rate has remained stable around N360/$1 for the past 27 months,” he said.

According to him, with concerted efforts by the monetary and fiscal authorities the bank implemented a series of measures which led to the recovery of the economy from the recession by the 1st Quarter of 2017.

Speaking on recovery efforts, Emefiele said part of the measures deployed to support the recovery included tightening of the monetary policy rate in order to rein in inflation.

The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has issued a bench warrant for the arrest of Innocent Chukwuma, chief executive officer of Innoson Nigeria Ltd.

Ayokunle Faji, the presiding judge, issued the bench warrant on Monday, citing Chukwuma’s failure to appear before him over an alleged N2.4 billion fraud case.

According to NAN, the court also ordered the arrest of two of Chukwuma’s employees.

The Innoson CEO is being prosecuted alongside Charles Chukwuma, Maximian Chukwura, Mitsui Osk Lines (MOL), a shipping company and Anajekwu Sunny.

The defendants had been charged to court for their alleged role in conspiring to unlawfully falsify shipping clearance documents.

They were accused of presenting the falsified shipping documents as collateral to Guaranty Trust Bank Plc to obtain a loan of N2.4 billion.

The federal government claimed that the defendants committed the offence at Apapa Wharf, Lagos, on October 10, 2013.

Abubakar Malami, who was attorney-general of the federation and minister of justice at the time, had taken over the case.

Julius Ajakaiye, the prosecutor, had said the charge was served on the defendants by an order for substituted service on February 8, 2016 following the AGF’s take-over of the case.

Ajakaiye said since then, the third and fourth defendants had been coming to court, while the first, second and fifth defendants had refused, failed and neglected to appear in court till date.

He had argued that the defendants were yet to take their pleas and so, should be compelled to appear.

Ajakaiye had also urged the court to grant his application by ordering their arrest.

The team of defence counsel had on their part, urged the court to dismiss the application as the defendants were not properly arraigned before the court, adding that the court lacked jurisdiction to do same.

After arguments, the court had then adjourned the case for ruling.

Delivering his ruling, Faji first highlighted the various arguments and submissions as canvassed by respective parties.

He held that it is clear that the first, second and fifth defendant have not appeared in the criminal charge and consequently held that the application by the prosecution has merit.

“I hereby order as follows: warrant of arrest is hereby issued against Innocent Chukwuma, Charles Chukwuma and Sunny Anajekwe,” he held.

He then adjourned the case till June 28.

In the charge, the prosecution accused the defendants of conspiring to unlawfully falsify shipping clearance documents.

They were accused of “uttering” (presenting) the alleged falsified shipping documents as collateral to Guaranty Trust Bank Plc to allegedly obtain a loan of N2.4billion.

The prosecution claimed that the defendants committed the offence at Apapa wharf on October 10, 2013.

The alleged offence is contrary to sections 1(2) (c) and 3(6) of the miscellaneous offences act, cap M17, laws of the federation 2004.

Chairman of the Resort Group, Dr Wale Babalakin (SAN), has said ignorance was responsible for infrastructure deficit in Nigeria.

Speaking in Lagos at the Annual Lecture of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), themed “Infrastructure Development and Growth in Nigeria: Prospects and Challenges”, Babalakin said Nigerians were suffering for “a deep level of ignorance”.

Explaining that “we have gotten our educational system wrong”, the lawyer said the system doesn’t teach people what their rights are and the fundamentals of building a strong society.

Babalakin, who is the Pro-Chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), said there was need for Nigerians to hold the government accountable and persistently demand for their entitlements.

He said development cannot happen in a situation where people are too ignorant of their rights to question the status quo and they accept whatever is thrown at them.

Babalakin’s words: “You can go through the primary, secondary and university systems today without realising that government owes you anything or knowing that telling the truth is fundamental in building a society and you say you want to develop infrastructure”.

Explaining that infrastructural development was not about money but serious commitment and a lot of intellectual rigour, Babalakin cited an example of the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal 2 (MMA2), which was built by one of his companies, Stabilini Visinoni Limited (SVL), 12 years ago and is being managed by another of his companies, Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL).

The businessman said those who approved the concession for the terminal did not want the project completed, adding that he completed the project “against the run of play”.

His words: “And from the first day, they took away 60 per cent of our revenue against our agreement.”

He identified the problems he experienced with the government as ignorance, deliberate refusal to understand and malice, adding: “It has been 12 years since we completed MMA2 and no government, including the state government, has done anything comparable. This is because infrastructural development is not about money. It is about serious commitment and a lot of intellectual rigour. A few terminals have been built but they are not workable.”

For example, he said the new International Airport built in Lagos, which cost $600 million, has no provision for coordinated movement, adding that a Chinese company was asking for another $400 million to make it “workable”.
Identifying some of the anomalies at the terminal, the lawyer said: “There is no link between the car park and the terminal building. There is no apron. You have to taxi to the old terminal to board. With 10 per cent of that as support from the government and encouragement, we will do ten times better and we are willing to.”

On his challenges at MMA2, the lawyer said it took 10 years to prove that BASL was never indebted on MMA2.

His words: “The Supreme Court only ruled on April 5 that government was owing us N132 billion. Where were the bankers since 10 years? They were nowhere to be found. As soon as there was a hitch, they surrendered us to be consumed by the system. We had a clear agreement on where the money was going to come from and when somebody breached the agreement, I expected them to file behind me to address the issue, but they didn’t do so. They just abandoned us.”

He said it was sad that at the credit committee of bankers, the discussants were people who had never made a matchstick before and had no understanding of the issues, yet they were making uninformed decisions on major projects.

Babalakin advised prospective investors to ensure that they have a solid legal team in place before investing their money “to prevent stories that are heart rending and damaging”.

On the setting up of AMCON, the lawyer said the idea could have been good but the implementation was archaic, unconstitutional and an embarrassment for those born into the legal profession.

He said: “Giving such powers to anybody without a process is unthinkable. We had three issues before AMCON. In one of the transactions, we knew we didn’t owe money and it was in the witness box that the lawyers of AMCON realised that we were never given a loan and as such, there was no loan agreement to present to the judge. It was the peak of mental laziness. The judge awarded N3 billion against AMCON for libel and damages because we didn’t owe any money and had been maligned.”

On the cancellation of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway project, which was initially awarded to one of his companies, Bi-Courtney Highway Services Limited (BHSL), Babalakin said his team got the road design ready within a month but it took the government over 21 months to approve it.

He said it was sad that seven years after the project was cancelled, the road was only 40 per cent ready.

“They are building 40 per centof what we wanted to build and the project has no design. It is a mere resurfacing of the 1977 road. The architecture of that place has changed phenomenally since 1977 and our design accommodated all the changes. We had seven overhead bridges along the road. There is no projection for any overhead bridge there now. Our total cost was N112 billion. Now, over N350 billion has been spent on 40 per cent of what we planned to build and they are still at 40 per cent”.

Babalakin urged bankers to form the intellectual bulwark to help the financing of projects in Nigeria, regretting that the system “is still very pedestrian”.

Cadbury Nigeria Plc has rewarded its shareholders with a total dividend of N471 million for the financial year ended December 31, 2018, in line with its current efforts to create more value for investors.

Mr Atedo Peterside, Chairman, Cadbury Nigeria, made the disclosure at the company’s 54th Annual General Meeting (AGM), in Lagos on Friday.

The dividend translated to 25k per share when compared with 10k paid to the shareholders in the comparative period.

Addressing the shareholders, Peterside attributed the company’s positive growth during the year under review to success of its cost-cutting measures, effective marketing strategy and superlative performance of its various brands.

The chairman also assured the shareholders that Cadbury Nigeria would continue to sustain its dividend policy.

“We re-launched our iconic cocoa beverage drink, Bournvita, with a new improved taste, last year, in line with consumers’ tastes and preferences.

“Feedback from consumers indicate that the new Bournvita has gained wide acceptance.

“Cadbury Hot Chocolate 3-in-1 brand, our treat portfolio, recorded substantial growth, driven by its unique offering, while our gum and candy brands also recorded success in their respective categories.

“In addition, we sustained our current price competitiveness, and increased our Route-to-Market coverage/footprint in 2018,” he said.

Responding on behalf of the shareholders, Mr Boniface Okezie, National Coordinator, Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria, urged the company to continue to evolve ways of consolidating on the performance of its brands.

Okezie called on the company to explore other options, including local manufacturing of Hot Chocolate 3 in 1, which was currently imported from Ghana, to create more jobs locally.

He commended Mondelez International, the company’s majority shareholder and the Board of Directors of Cadbury Nigeria for the appointment of Mrs Oyeyimika Adeboye as the first female Managing Director of the company.
He said the appointment had restored confidence in the ability of Nigerians to lead multinationals.

He, however, charged Adeboye, who took over from Mr Amir Shamsi, to justify her elevation by sustaining the momentum and taking the company to greater heights.

Okezie also welcomed the appointment of Mr Ogaga Ologe, the company’s erstwhile Financial Controller, who was appointed as the new Finance Director.

Cadbury Nigeria Plc is the pioneer cocoa beverage manufacturer offering some of the most loved brands in the country.
Cadbury Nigeria is a 74.99 per cent-owned subsidiary of Mondelēz International, a global snacking powerhouse with an unrivalled portfolio of brands.

The remaining 25.01 per cent of shares are held by a diverse group of indigenous, individual and institutional investors.

At least 1,790 MultiChoice employees are in danger of losing their jobs as the pay-TV operator plans to restructure the company’s customer service model.

The company reportedly has a subscriber base of more than 15 million.

In a statement Friday, the company said it would cut jobs at its call and walk-in centres, adding that it has begun ‘a consultation process’.

It said the changes in the customer service model were in response to evolving customer behaviour as subscribers opt for digital platforms instead of telephone or walk-in services.

MultiChoice Group CEO, Calvo Mawela, said: “This has not been an easy decision to make but, in a business driven by advancing technologies, we must continue to drive efficiencies yet be agile enough to adapt to evolving customer needs to ensure that we remain relevant, competitive and sustainable.”

The company added that it would create new job opportunities for multiskilled staff who have expertise, skills and technological abilities to enhance the customer experience.

It said it would offer voluntary severance packages and other benefits for affected staff as part of a comprehensive support programme, in agreement with unions and employee representatives.

Earlier on Friday, Reuters reported that a South African trade union said Multichoice Group had notified workers of its intention to lay off 1,790 workers.

The employees were notified on Friday afternoon, but the union has not been officially informed, a statement by the Information Communication and Technology Union (ICTU) said.

It remains unclear Friday evening if the decision would affect Nigerian employees of the company.

MultiChoice Nigeria was launched in 1993 as a pioneering joint venture between MultiChoice Africa and Nigerian businessman and senior advocate of Nigeria, Adewunmi Ogunsanya.

According to details on its website, the company started operating with only 30 employees and since then, has grown to a team of more than 1000 people while indirectly supporting thousands of more jobs.

In servicing customers and serving their needs for great local content, Multichoice said its business’s economic impact “runs to hundreds of billions of naira.”

Airtel Africa Plc, the second largest telecommunications group in Africa is set to sell its shares to Nigerian investors at between N363 and N454 per share.

The company in an offer prospectus obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos said the shareholders’ offer was part of its global offer to raise 750 million dollars.

The company said the shares would be offered to high networth investors and institutional investors through book building.

Book building is a process used by companies to raise capital through public offerings, both initial public offers (IPOs) or follow-on public offers (FPOs), to aid price and demand discovery.

The offer price is determined after the bid closure based on the demand generated in the process.

It said the company’s shares would be listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and London Stock Exchange (LSE) after the book building.

NAN reports that the company plans to offer 501.125 million and 716.406 million shares to Nigerians.

The directors, according to the prospectus, believes that offering the shares in Nigeria and listing on the NSE would encourage operational discipline through the establishment of an independent capital structure and governance framework following the successful turnaround of the Group’s operations.

It added that it would introduce an optimal capital structure and enable improved leverage for greater flexibility in pursuing growth opportunities going forward.

The prospectus stated that listing on the exchange would provide access to the capital markets and diversification of the Group’s capital base to support its continued growth.

The company noted that the net proceeds of the offer would principally be for debt reduction.

The issuing houses for the offer are Barclays Securities Nigeria and Quantum Zenith Securities Investments Limited.

It said the application had been made to the NSE for the Ordinary Shares to be admitted to the official list of the NSE.

“An application for the Ordinary Shares of the Company to be listed on the official list will be done pursuant to the cross-border listing requirements of the NSE.

“It is expected that the Nigerian Admission will become effective on 4 July 2019 and that unconditional dealings in the Ordinary Shares will commence on The NSE on 4 July 2019.

“The Nigerian offer is subject to the satisfaction of conditions, which are customary for transactions of this type including Nigerian Admission becoming effective on 4 July 2019.

“There shall be no underwriting arrangement for this offering,” it said.

NAN reports that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on June 18, confirmed that the company had filed an application for listing on the exchange.

A senior management source who pleaded anonymity confirmed the development to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

He noted that the application was filed by the company this June, adding that, the commission was presently looking at it in line with its rules and regulations.

The source said SEC would continue to protect the interest of investors in the market in line with its mandate to regulate and develop the capital market.

President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Mele Kolo Kyari as the new group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.

A release today in Abuja by Ndu Ughamadu, NNPC group general manager, Group Public Affairs, stated that President Buhari also appointed alongside Kyari, seven new chief operating officers.

Until his new appointment, Kyari, a geologist, was group general manager, Crude Oil Marketing Division of NNPC and also doubled, since 13^th May, 2018, as Nigeria’s national representative to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC.

President Buhari has directed that the New GMD and the newly appointed chief operating officers work with the current occupiers of the various offices till July 7, towards a smooth transition on July 8, when their appointments would take effect to ensure a smooth transition.

However, the appointment of Farouk Garba Said (North West), who is replacing a retiring chief operating officer, is effective from June 28.

The newly appointed officers are Roland Onoriode Ewubare (South-South), chief operating officer, Upstream; Mustapha Yinusa Yakubu (North Central) – Chief Operating Officer, Refining and Petrochemicals; Yusuf Usman (North East) – chief operating officer, Gas and Power and Lawrencia Nwadiabuwa Ndupu (South East), chief operating officer, Ventures.

Others are Umar Isa Ajiya (North West), chief financial office, Adeyemi Adetunji (South West), Chief Operating Officer, Downstream and Garba Said (North West), chief operating officer, Corporate Services.

Ughamadu stated in the release that NNPC group managing director, Maikanti Baru, had congratulated the new appointees.

Kyari is a quintessential crude oil marketer with prerequisite certification and outfield pedigree in Petroleum Economics and crude oil and gas trading.

In the last 27 years he had traversed the entire value chain of the petroleum industry, with exceptional records of performance.

Under his watch, the Crude Oil Marketing Division has recorded noticeable transformation in the management and sales of the various Nigeria’s crude oil grades via an infusion of transparency and automation of the processes, the release by the NNPC spokesperson, stated.

Kyari would be the 19^th group managing director of the national oil company

Femi Otedola, billionaire businessman, says the sale of Forte Oil Plc, has been completed.

Last year, Otedola, who was chairman of the oil firm, had announced the plan to sell off his 75 percent stake in the company to “maximise the opportunities in refining”.

In a message he posted on Wednesday, the businessman said the process had been completed and he is now prepared to focus on his investment in the power sector.

“A few years ago, my team and I embarked on an arduous task of transforming a moribund petroleum marketing business, African Petroleum Plc (formerly British Petroleum) into Forte Oil Plc; a leading integrated solutions provider with solid footprints in downstream petroleum marketing, Upstream Services and Power Generation and one in which we built intrinsic value to the benefits of our shareholders,” he wrote.

“In line with my principle of business focus, we have divested from our marketing and upstream businesses and shall from now on focus and consolidate on the gains of our power generation business, Geregu Power Plc. We wish our successors the very best and urge them to build on our legacies which have been established since 1964.”

The Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Maikanti Baru, says the country’s daily oil production is currently 2.32million barrel per day.

Mr Baru disclosed this on Tuesday when a delegation of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) led by its President, Chris Isiguzo, visited his office in Abuja.

“Since we came in July 2016, we are focused on increasing production of oil and gas and condensates.

“At some point, our national combined production was about a million barrels; I am happy that as at the end of 2018, we have moved on averaging last year, about 2.1 million barrels.

“As I am speaking, this morning, I look at our production figures, combined oil and condensates we are pushing 2.32 million barrels a day,” he said.

According to him, the stability and ability to push production has come as a consequence of several factors, both internally, externally and also with the help of the media.

Commenting on the gas sector, he said the corporation had also pushed from a low level of about 450 million standard cubic feet per day for the domestic alone and currently hovering at about 1.5 billion SCF per day of gas.

He noted that internally, its subsidiary, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), had pushed their production on the equity side, from a low figure of 65,000 barrels per day in 2016 to over 166,000 barrels per day equity.

“Overall production of the NPDC, we are able to maintain it at close to 300,000 barrels per day. It is quite a significant boost,” he added.

The GMD further said that NPDC, had become the main supplier for gas for the power sector, supplying over 800 million SCF per day required to boost the production of power in the country.

“Currently, the power that we enjoy has about 80 per cent input from gas-driven thermal power plants.

“Our drive for transparency has also produced a lot of fruits. We have been able to attract Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), into the oil and gas industry, and in 2017 alone, we have attracted about 3.6 billion dollars.

“In 2018, we have shot up by three billion dollars, at the moment, some of our officers are in London, where they are negotiating about seven billion dollars as FDI for the oil and gas sector.

“In terms of crude oil cost of production, it has significantly improved from the 27 dollars per barrel in our Joint Venture operations, and it has come down to 22 dollars per barrel.

“We are looking for further reduction this year, to about 20dollars per barrel,” he added.

On Exploration, he noted that at the Kolmani River prospect in the Gongola basin, the corporation targeted for the well to be done in 60 days, but because of the interest, “we are doing intensive testing and we still have not hit the Total Depth (TD).

“We think maybe by next week, we will be able to hit the TD of 14,250 feet. The TD is not sacrosanct. If we find that there are interesting signs beyond the TD, the rig has a capability of 20,000 feet.

“There are interesting things we are doing, all these to increase the reserves of the nation. This, we are doing assiduously,” he said

On the refineries, he said that the contractors were still on site with the review for effective evaluation, adding that the corporation expected that by October it would be concluded and it would move to look for financiers.

He urged the media to continue to support efforts that would help to protect oil infrastructure in the country.

Earlier, Mr Isiguzo commended Mr Baru on the transparency and efficiency in the management of the affair of the corporation.

.

He appealed to the security agencies, host communities and traditional rulers to support NNPC’s effort to protect the oil pipelines and infrastructure across the country.

He said the union would partner with the corporation and continue to carry out its roles for the growth and development of the sector.

“We are committed to go beyond unionism to make impact in the society, which is our primary role and we have started that with the launch of our magazine ‘The NUJ Defender’.

“We believe that our collaboration NNPC will continue to help the sector and the country at large,” he said.

(NAN)

Airtel Nigeria has officially filed an application with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for listing of its shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

A senior management source, who pleaded anonymity, confirmed the development to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Tuesday.

He noted that the application was filed by the company two weeks ago, adding that the commission was presently looking at it in line with its rules and regulations.

The source said SEC would continue to protect the interest of investors in the market in line with its mandate to regulate and develop the capital market.

The source added that the application would be given express consideration if the company met all the requirements for listing on the nation’s bourse.

NAN reports that Airtel Africa Ltd, a unit of India’s Bharti Airtel Ltd, said on June 17, that it intended to list its shares on the NSE at the same time with the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

The company said although the listing on the NSE was on, it had set a price range of 80 to 100 pence per share for its planned Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the LSE.

The company said conditional dealings in its shares were expected to begin on or around June 28, and the final pricing would be announced the same day.

The IPO for the London listing is expected to raise 595 million pounds (749.05 million dollars) from the issuance of about 595.2 million to 744 million new shares.

The company said the value of the offer ranged between 3.01 billion pounds and 3.62 billion pounds. (NAN)

Barely two years Heritage Bank and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) disbursed a loan for building a N2illion processing facility for Triton fish/chicken in Oyo state, the firm has commenced export of all kinds of frozen foods to some parts of Europe and African countries.

The loan that was given under the Commercial Agricultural Credit Scheme (CACS) in 2017 has fast track the production of Triton’s fish/chicken in Oyo and sold as BIG SAMS in Poland, Romania, Egypt, Liberia and Ivory Coast to mention few.

The move by Heritage Bank was part of efforts to support the real sector, boost foreign exchange, unlock food and wealth creating potentials in the nation’s agricultural space.

TAAL, also known as Triton Farm, accessed the CACS through Heritage Bank to set up aquaculture businesses- nursery/hatchery for the production of fingerlings and brood stock in Ikeja; and earthen ponds for catfish and tilapia in Asejire, Iwo and Gambari towns in Oyo State.

The company said its strategy is to embrace backward integration through production of fish locally and reduce its importation of frozen fish, as well as assist small scale farms by producing quality breed fingerlings.

Meanwhile, during a tour at the farm in 2017, Minister of State for Agriculture, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, commended the company, stating that the CBN and Heritage Banks’ financial support to the company’s achievement was very fundamental as investment in food security was probably the most profitable venture anyone could think of.
He however, said that Nigeria has a deficit of over two million metric tonnes of poultry produce, and over three million metric tonnes deficit in fish farming products, adding that the agro-production deficits show huge investment potential in the sector.
He stressed that banks should now finance more agricultural projects than trading, oil and gas, as the future is highly dependent on agriculture.

The MD/CEO of Heritage Bank, Ifie Sekibo stated that that partnership between the bank and Triton Farm local production will conserve scarce foreign exchange and enhance food security.

“Nigeria’s current demand capacity for fish is estimated at 2.7million metric tons and the country currently produces 800,000 metric tonnes. Triton is now producing 25,000 metric tons and with them on board, about 25,000 metric tonnes capacity will be added to our current production, the company’s projection is to reach 100,000 metric tons in five years,” he said.

Sekibo, who was represented by the Group Head, Agriculture Finance unit off the Bank, Olugbenga Awe, stressed that Heritage Bank’s support for small-scale enterprises is well known and most of these SMEs play in the agriculture sector.

According to him, the bank sees agriculture as one of its heritage that can empower individuals and communities in terms of creating wealth from the soil and through the entire value –chain using value addition and industrialisation.

“We are also focused on small holder farmers as we currently support thousands of farmers in Kaduna and Zamfara states in rice and soybeans production under the Anchor Borrowers Programme.

“We are also targeting the youth that are interested in agriculture through our partnership with CBN on Youth Innovative Entrepreneurship Development Programme,” he assured.
The Chairman, Triton Group, Ashvin Samtani, said the farm was fully integrated in aquaculture, poultry and crop production and is a platform to create employment for teeming youth.

“Triton Farm is designed to train youth in agriculture and create employment, as well as generate wealth. This is the only farm in the whole region that is fully integrated in aquaculture, poultry and crop production,” he stated.

As the multi media pan-Nigeria promo campaigns turn full circle on countdown, the leading Nigeria’s marketing and brands summit/awards, MARKETING EDGE Awards has gone live on electronic billboards in Lagos.

The high-tech innovative billboards are part of the strategic moves aimed at boosting the brand equity of the widely accepted IMC twin event. Some of the strategic locations include but are not limited to Eko Bridge, Ojuelegba, Ogba, Allen Avenue, Victoria Island, Marina, Festac, Apapa and Surulere among others.

According to the Publisher/CEO MARKETING EDGE, John Ajayi, preparations are in full swing to accord the 2019 edition of the award show all the pomp and pageantry the great annual event deserves.

“All hands are on deck and preparations are in full swing to make this year’s event a lasting experience for creative and hardworking practitioners and stakeholders. We assure you it’s going to be one of the most remarkable IMC industry encounters and conversations would be held around it – post-event,” he said.

Speaking further, he explained that no other awards ceremony touches the heart of the IMC industry, celebrates and encourages creativity like MARKETING EDGE annual Awards.

“Ours is no longer a mere awards ceremony. It has become a tradition and an experience that IMC professionals look forward to. Call it an annual IMC festival of creativity if you like. We are fully and strategically on top of our game to celebrate creative excellence at this year’s event. There’s going to be nothing like it,”  Ajayi assured .

The 2019 awards committee revealed it has added more Marketing Edge Awards go live on Lagos electronic billboards categories for inclusiveness and was ready to take a holistic look at IMC industry. The jurors, it said, will assess every entry professionally and dispassionately.

With the MARKETING EDGE Awards gone live on electronic billboards, the event could be said to have succeeded in implementing it’s 360 degrees communications strategy as virtually all platforms have commenced full scale campaign on it and disseminated news about it.

The Marketing Edge Annual National Marketing Summit Brands & Advertising Excellence Awards is a yearly offering of MARKETING EDGE, Nigeria’s leading brands and marketing publication, to IMC industry as a demonstration of its commitment to its vision of ‘Promoting the Brand Idea’.

This year’s award coincides with the 16th year anniversary of the organisation.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has placed cautionary red alerts on 34 companies  for their inability to meet listing requirements, implying underlying corporate governance weaknesses that investors need to consider about the companies.

The latest tracker on compliance with basic listing requirements at the stock market obtained by The Nation at the weekend indicated that the companies were flagged by the NSE for failure to submit their financial statements within the stipulated timeline.

The Exchange stated that the identified companies “fell short of the minimum listing standards in terms of timely disclosure of their audited annual financial statements”, a major infraction that directly affects the market’s efficient price discovery and liquidity.

According to the Exchange, the 34 companies failed to submit their financial statements and accounts for the first quarter of this year, ended March 31, 2019, in contravention of the extant listing requirements at the market.

Post-listing rules at the NSE require quoted companies to submit interim or quarterly report not later than 30 calendar days after the end of the relevant period.

Most quoted companies, including banks, major manufacturers, oil and gas companies, breweries and cement companies use the 12-month Gregorian calendar year as their business year. The deadline for the first quarter, which ended March 31, 2019 was Tuesday, April 30, 2019.

Quoted companies are also required to publish the financial statement within five business days after the date of filing, in at least one or two national daily newspapers, and post it on the company’s website, with the web address disclosed in the newspaper publication.

Also, an electronic copy of the publication shall be filed with the Exchange on the same day as the newspaper publication. Where the company chooses to audit its quarterly accounts, it shall be required to file such accounts not later than 60 calendar days after the relevant quarter.

The report, which was based on the Compliance Status Indicator (CSI) of the NSE, uses three-letter codes to mark out companies that fall below the post-listing requirements at the Exchange and it is usually part of the consideration for regulatory reviews and approvals at the Exchange.

The companies flagged with the red-alert warning codes included Lafarge Africa Plc, Lasaco Assurance Plc, Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc, Niger Insurance Plc, Aso Savings & Loans, Capital Oil, Conoil, Cornerstone Insurance, Daar Communications, Deap Capital Management & Trust Plc, DN Tyre & Rubber Plc, Evans Medical Plc and A.G Leventis Nigeria Plc.

Others were Anino International Plc, First Aluminium Nigeria Plc, Fortis Microfinance Bank Plc, FTN Cocoa Processors Plc, Goldlink Insurance Plc, Guinea Insurance Plc, International Breweries Plc, International Energy Insurance Plc, Juli Plc, NPF Microfinance Bank Plc, Omatek Ventures Plc, RT Briscoe Plc, Resort Savings & Loans Plc, Royal Exchange Plc, defunct Skye Bank, now Polaris Bank; Smart Products Nigeria Plc, Staco Insurance Plc, Standard Alliance Insurance Plc, Unic Diversified Holding Plc, Union Homes Savings & Loans Plc and Universal Insurance Company Plc.

Besides the warning red flags, the companies are also required to pay monetary fines for the defaults. While authorities at the Exchange have not indicated the actual amounts payable by the companies, the report noted that “the sanctions for non-compliance with periodic financial disclosure obligations are clearly spelt out in the rules”.

Monetary sanctions could range from N100,000 to N100 million. Under the rules at the Exchange, late submission under the first instance of 90 days could attract N9 million, the additional period of 90 days will attract N18 million while such delay beyond the first 180 days to the next 180 days could attract as much as N72 million, bringing fines payable by a defaulting company within a year mto N99 million.

The  Federal High Court sitting in Lagos on Monday summoned Keystone Bank over the trial of the former Managing Director of Bank PHB, Mr Francis Atuche, and the Managing Director of Spring Bank, Mr Charles Ojo, both whom are standing trial over N125 billion fraud.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) preferred an amended 45-count charge bodering on the alleged offence against the duo.

The defendants were arraigned before Justice Saliu Saidu on February 20, 2014, before the judge was transferred out of the Lagos jurisdiction.

1. Following the transfer of Saidu, the case file was re-assigned to Justice Ayokunle Faji and the defendants were subsequently re-arraigned before the court on February 18, 2017.

Although, Justice Saidu was eventually returned to the Lagos division, the matter still continued before Justice Faji.

The defendants had pleaded not guilty to the charges on their re-arraignment, while the court had allowed them to continue on the earlier bail granted by Saidu.

Trial has since commenced before Faji with the prosecution still leading evidence.

At the last adjourned date on June 11, a second prosecution witness, Mrs Philipa Odesi, had in her lead examination, given evidence about the operation of credit facilities in the bank.

The court had subsequently adjourned the case untill June 17 for continuation of trial.

When the case was mentioned on Monday, Mr Chukwudi Enebeli of Pinheiro LP announced appearance for the prosecution. He informed the court that the prosecution had issued service of a subpoena signed by the court, on Keystone Bank last week.

He said further that the subpoena was for the bank to produce certain documents necessary for the trial, adding that a representative of the bank, one Mr Eze Asiegbu was present in court.

Prosecution however, informed the court that all documents had not been gathered, and in the circumstance, sought a further date for trial.

Justice Faji consequently, adjourned the case until Nov.11, 15, 28, and 29 as well as Dec. 3, 4 and 5 for continuation of trial.

The defendants were first arraigned ten years ago (2009) before Justice Akinjide Ajakaiye. Ajakaiye had granted them bail in the sum of N50 million each with two sureties each in like sum.

They were later re-arraigned before Justice Binta Murtala-Nyako on Feb. 3, 2012, and subsequently, re-arraigned before Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia on Jan. 16, 2013 following the transfer of Murtala Nyako.

Both judges had adopted the bail terms granted by Ajakaiye.

The EFCC had again on Feb. 20, 2014, re-arraigned the accused before Justice Saliu Saidu, following a re-assignment of the case, and then re-arraigned them in 2017 before Faji

According to the charge, the defendants were alleged to have granted credit facilities, manipulated shares and committed general banking fraud to the tune of N125 billion.

The offences contravene the provisions of Sections 7(2) (b) of the Advanced Fee Fraud Act, 2004, and Sections 15(1) of the Failed Banks (Recovery of debts) and Financial Malpractices in Banks Act, 2004.

It also contravenes the provisions of Section 516 of the Criminal Code Act, Cap C38, Laws of the Federation, 2004, as well as Section 14 (1) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act, 200.

Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank (AfDB) says he will seek a second term.

He made this known on Friday at the ongoing annual meetings of the bank in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.

“I will run as a candidate to complete the work we have started,” he told journalists at the closing press conference.

“I understand the responsibilities. I do not work for myself. I work with all of my body to fast track the improvement of this continent with the support of our donors.

“I am driven by Africa and it is not a chore for me. It is a labour of love so I am humbled when I see the trust placed on me to elect me as president of the bank.”

Listing the achievements of the bank, Adesina, who is a former minister of agriculture in Nigeria, said 55 million people now have access to an improved transport system because of the bank’s projects.

He said 16 million now have electricity in their homes and 32 million can access clean water and medical facilities.

Nigeria made about N85 trillion ($236.2 billion) from oil between 2014 and 2018, the 54th edition of Annual Statistical Bulletin by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), has revealed.

The revenue earned in the five-year period is almost 10 times the 2019 budget of N8.91 trillion signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari in May.

The figure puts Nigeria in 6th place and the highest oil revenue earner in Africa among the 14 OPEC member countries surveyed in the report.

The highest revenue in the review period was N27.1 billion ($75.2 million) recorded in 2014, followed by 2018, when N19.6 billion ($54.5 million) was earned.

N14.8 billion ($41.2 million), N9.8 billion ($27.3 million) and N13.7 billion ($38 million) were earned in 2015, 2016 and 2017 respectively.

Saudi Arabia topped the earners table with $194.4 billion followed by United Arab Emirates’ $74.9 billion, Iraq’s $68.2 billion, Iran’s $60.2 billion and Kuwait’s $58.4 billion.

On volume of crude oil exported, the report said OPEC member countries sold an average of 24.67 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2018, a slight increase of about 14,000 b/d, or 0.1 %, compared to 2017.

The bulk of sales were made to countries in Asia and the Pacific, followed by Europe and the least exports to North America.

According to the OPEC bulletin, Nigeria’s daily crude oil production in 2018 was 1.601 million b/d, a 4.3% increase from the 1.535 million b/d recorded in 2017.

The largest oil producer in Africa had agreed to cap its output at 1.685 million b/d after reaching agreements with OPEC in January to regulate oil supply in order to drive up prices.

Some other reports have however said Nigeria has been producing above the OPEC quota, although the output still falls short of the 2.3 million b/d target the 2019 budget is benchmarked against.

According to S&P Global Platts survey, Nigeria’s production in May was 1.86 million b/d, a drop from the 1.95 million b/d recorded in April.

This could mean a reduction in estimated revenues for 2019 budget, especially if oil prices remain at the benchmark $60 per barrel or falls in 2019.

Ethiopian Airlines says it will be the last airline to operate the Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft after the model has been adjusted and re-certified by the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), US.

Esayas Hailu, managing director, Ethiopian International Services, disclosed this while speaking with journalists in Addis Ababa, Ethiopian capital, on Wednesday.

On March 10, an Ethiopian Airlines’ flight ET302  en route Nairobi from Addis Ababa crashed six minutes after take-off, killing all 157 persons on board.

The victims included two Nigerians– Pius Adesanmi, Canada-based professor of Literary Arts, Carleton university, and Biodun Bashua, a former UN and African Union (AU) deputy joint special representative in Darfur, Sudan.

The crash was the second involving Boeing 737 MAX 8 within five months – a Lion Air crashed in Indonesia in October 2018.

The March incident led to the grounding of aircraft model by airlines across the world.

Halilu said the airline will only fly the aircraft after it had been certified and flown by American and European airlines.

He added that Boeing would have to also train its pilots on the technicalities of the aircraft.

“Ethiopian Airlines has four grounded B737-Max-800 aircraft with an order for 27 more which will be determined after the adjustment by Boeing,” Hailu said.

“ET has vowed to be the last airline to fly that aircraft. We can only fly it after others in Europe, America and the Gulf States have and after it has been recertified by the FAA.

“Boeing will also come up with a list of other training for our pilots and crew because we have a B737-Max-800 Simulator in our facility.

“Everybody knew that it was the design of the aircraft that led to the crash and Boeing and the FAA have attested to that.

“Our commercial brand emerged stronger and the public’s confidence to travel with us have not been affected.”

The Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) has expressed its displeasure on the failure of Air Peace to report incidents that involved one of its aircraft

In a statement, the spokesman of AIB Tunji Oketunbi said the failure of the airline to report serious incidents involving two of its Boeing 737-300 aircraft with Registration Marks 5N-BUK and 5N-BUO to the Bureau as mandated by Law is not acceptable.

Accident Investigation Bureau wishes to express its displeasure over the persistent failure of some airlines to report accidents or serious incidents to the Bureau as mandated by Law.
“On the 5th of June 2019, the Bureau received notification about a serious incident involving a Boeing 737-300 aircraft with Registration Marks 5N-BUK, belonging to Air Peace Limited from a passenger onboard. It was reported that the said incident occurred on Wednesday, May 15, 2019, while the aircraft was on approach to Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos from Port Harcourt.

The aircraft was said to have experienced a hard landing as it touched down on the runway (18R).
Upon receipt of the notification, the Bureau visited Air Peace Limited office and confirmed the said occurrence.

The Bureau further conducted a damage assessment on the aircraft, which revealed that the aircraft made contact on the runway with the starboard engine cowling as obvious from various scrapes, scratches and dents, an evidence of tyre scouring on the sidewalls of the No. 4 tyre as well as bottoming of the main landing gear oleo struts. There was also visible damage to the right-hand engine compressor blades.,” AIB affirmed.

The statement said further, “the aircraft has since been on ground, awaiting implementation of the hard landing inspections recommended by the aircraft manufacturer, the Boeing Company.

This includes an inspection of the right-hand engine pylons and the wing root, due to the heavy impact concerns.

It said further discussions with the Maintenance Personnel of Air Peace Limited revealed that CFM International, the engine manufacturer, has also been contacted with regard to necessary inspections, to ascertain the serviceability of the starboard engine.

The nature of the damage, according to AIB, “suggested that, there was a high probability of an accident as captured in the definition of Serious Incidents in the Bureau’s Civil Aviation (Investigation of Air Accidents and Incidents) Regulations 2016 viz:
‘An incident involving circumstances indicating that there was a high probability of an accident, and is associated with the operation of an aircraft …’
It added, “Of utmost concern is the fact that till date, the Accident Investigation Bureau has received no notification of the incident: three (3) weeks after the date of occurrence, contrary to ICAO Annex 13 which guides the operations of aircraft accident investigation procedures. Rather, the Bureau further to the occurrence, received a submission of a ‘Mandatory Occurrence Report’(MOR) subsequently filed at NCAA, on June 7, 2019, which filing was as a direct result of the Bureau’s visit to Air Peace office on the 6th day of June 2019”.

An MOR is a Mandatory Occurrence Report that an Operator files after an occurrence to NCAA and not a Notification to the Bureau as required by its Regulations.

Similarly, and in recent times, an aircraft belonging to Air Peace Limited was also involved in a serious incident and the airline willfully failed to comply with the provisions of the Bureau’s Regulations which provides that:
“Subject to paragraph (2) below and regulation 14 where an accident or a serious incident which results in the withdrawal from service of an aircraft occurs in or over Nigeria, no person, other than an authorised person, shall have access to the aircraft involved and neither the aircraft nor its contents shall, except under the authority of the Commissioner, be removed or otherwise interfered with. Where it is necessary to move aircraft wreckage, mail or cargo, sketches, descriptive notes, and photographs shall be made if possible, of the original positions and condition of the wreckage and any significant impact marks.’”

Precisely, on December 14, 2018, AIB alleged that a Boeing 737-300 belonging to the airline, with registration marks 5N-BUO, enroute Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu from Lagos was involved in a serious incident at about 10:44hrs. The information only got to the Bureau through the social media.

It said that whist the Bureau was not notified of the occurrence until later in the evening, AIB investigators met the aircraft at the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) apron in Lagos where it was parked with the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) affected, thereby posing an undesirable difficulty in the Bureau’s bid to successfully discharge its statutory mandate of investigating accidents and serious incidents.

It further alleged, “A careful investigation of the incident by the Bureau, revealed that the aircraft was relocated from Enugu where the incident occurred, back to Lagos: and all relevant information on the CVR was over written, thereby making it impossible for the Bureau to retrieve the actual data.”

It said the Accountable Manager and Chief Pilot of Air Peace Limited at the material time, were duly warned by the Bureau for non-compliance with the Regulations.
Based on all the foregoing, the AIB concluded, “it is obvious that Air Peace Management lacks the full understanding of the statutory mandates, functions and procedures of the Bureau”.‌

It is noteworthy that Air Accidents and Serious Incidents investigations are carried out in accordance with the relevant Laws and Regulations in force, in the interest of safety and with the aim of forestalling similar occurrences in the future.
Section 29 of the Civil Aviation Act 2006, which is the Act establishing the Bureau, confers the prerogative to determine the classification of an accident or serious incidents on the Accident Investigation Bureau, Nigeria. All Airlines are therefore enjoined to report these occurrences at all times.
The relevant statutory and regulatory provisions are reproduced here under for ease of reference:
Subsection 29 (11) (a) further provides;
‘… Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (10) of this section, the regulations made there under may in particular contain provisions:
(a) requiring notice to be given of any such accident or incident as aforesaid in such manner and by such persons as may be prescribed…’

Furthermore, Section 10 of the Civil Aviation (Investigation of Air Accidents and Incidents) Regulations 2016 provides for Notification to the Bureau and Duty to furnish information relating to accidents or incidents as follows:

‘Where an accident or incident occurs in respect of which, by virtue of regulation 14(2), the Commissioner is required to carry out, or to cause an officer to carry out an investigation, the relevant person or any other person having knowledge of an accident or incident and in the case of an aerodrome accident or incident occurring on or adjacent to an aerodrome, the operator of the Airport shall forthwith give notice thereof, within twenty four hours, to the Bureau by the quickest means of communication available and in the case of an accident occurring in or over Nigeria, shall also notify forthwith a Police Officer of the area where the accident occurred …’

Section 10 (2) (a) also provides that the expression ‘Relevant Person’ means
‘in the case of an accident or serious incident occurring in or over Nigeria or occurring elsewhere, to an aircraft registered in Nigeria, the Pilot-in-Command of the aircraft involved at the time of the accident or serious incident or, if he or she is fatally injured or incapacitated, the quality assurance,/safety personnel, Owner or Operator of the aircraft…’
It is also worthy of note that the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) data are very crucial, as the data accessed from them provides relevant evidence which sustains the weight of air safety investigation.

The provisions of ICAO Annex 6 (Operation of Aircraft) to the Convention of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), Section 11.6 (Flight Recorder Records) states:

“To preserve flight recorder records, flight recorders shall be deactivated upon completion of flight time following an accident or incident. The flight recorders shall not be reactivated before their disposition as determined in accordance with annex 13.”

“The operator shall ensure, to the extent possible, in the event the aeroplane becomes involved in an accident or incident, the preservation of all related flight recorder records and, if necessary, the associated flight recorders, and their retention in safe custody pending their disposition as determined in accordance with annex 13.”

We wish to reiterate that air accidents or serious incidents investigation is not for the purpose of apportioning blame or liability rather it is to uncover the causes of occurrence and to propose safety recommendations.

The responsibilities for reporting, collection and exchange of safety data and investigating of safety occurrences are established by ICAO annex 13 and amplified in the AIB Regulations. The Bureau will do anything within its mandate and the confines of Law to investigate accidents and serious incidents and promptly issue safety recommendations to prevent reoccurrences.

Consequently, all aviation service providers have a legal responsibility to report to the Accident investigation Bureau on all accidents and or serious incidents of which they become aware; so are all Pilots, Airline Operators and the general public enjoined to do, in compliance with the Laws and Regulations as it relates to accidents and serious incidents investigation.

The SAFETY of the flying public is of primary importance and on the scale of significance, supersedes the commercial consideration of any airline.

The Bureau has simplified its reporting systems to be user friendly and any accidents or occurrence should be reported via the following 24-hour accident reporting methods;
1. Emergency Mobile Lines (+234) 807 709 0909, 807 709 0908
2. Online Reporting Form via http://www.aib.gov.ng/report-an-accident/
3. Downloadable Accident Reporting Form 001
4. Send details to info@aib.gov.ng or commissioner@aib.gov.ng
5. Through the Bureau’s Mobile App.