This is Nairametrics roundup of all the major company news from Nigeria as reported by Nigerian Newspapers and other electronic news sources. This roundup is for the week ended May 27 2017.
We start off with Energy sector related news.
- Electricity distribution companies in Nigeria claim Nigerians owe them a total of about N504 billion in unpaid bills. They, demanded that Nigerians pay them this balance to improve power supply as well as to avoid incessant power cuts. Discos also argued that for there to be cost reflective tariff, then electricity tariffs will need to rise to about N68 per kilowatt-hour as against the N25/KWh which is the average cost currently being paid by most Nigerians.
- Staying with Discos, they also announced that they are considering adopting a whistle-blowing policy as part of efforts to address energy theft in the country. They claim that electricity theft is a major concern for them. In fact, the Executive Director, ANED, Mr. Sunday Oduntan, disclosed Benin city was where the most energy is stolen. In his words, “People steal energy in Edo State more than any other state. That, to me, is not a good thing for Edo State. So, even when people talk about meters, we give you meters and you bypass it and those things cost a lot of money. We have pictures and videos of premises and even people who are leaders, civil rights activists, stealing energy and saying that it was a form of protest. To me, that is not a form of protest; it is criminality.” Q: Is your neighbour stealing energy.
- The NNPC on Tuesday received 34 bids from different companies for the digitisation of its legacy documents. The NNPC however extended the bid for another 12 weeks claiming that they wanted the “best yield in terms of value addition and best services” whatever that means.
- The Bonga oil field, which is operated by Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo), has produced about 702 million barrels of oil since inauguration in 2005, according to its Managing Director, Bayo Ojulari. Ojulari claimed Bonga operated at more than 92% availability last year. Bonga has capacity for 65,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
- The NNPC on Wednesday announced its desire to invest in the telecommunications and shipping sectors. The state oil company has also stepped up plans to spin-off its hospital services into a separate company. NNPC claims it has about 52 clinics across the country. Should NNPC just stick to oil and sell its other businesses? What’s your say?
- In apparent challenge to Lagos, Abuja and maybe Rivers state, The Kano State government last week revealed that it had signed an MoU with 10 local and foreign companies for various contracts valued at over $3.98 billion in the state. The companies include Brains and Harmers (N165 billion), Multivision Nigeria Limited (N2billion), Milestone International ($630 million). Blackrihino and Dangote Consulting ($150 million), Broadbased Nigeria Limited ($200 million), Eighteenth Engineering Company ($1.8 billion), Arewa Solar PV Synergy ($150 million), SharaDukiya Nigeria Limited ($100 million), Dangote Rice ($830 million), and Qingdao St Meer Solar Energy International ($120 million). Did you see any familiar name(s) in the list?
- In one of the biggest oil and gas news last week, the Nigerian Senate passed The Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) 2017. The PIGB, which is the stripped-down version of the PIB is expected to take care of the governance aspect of the industry. The highlight of the passed PIGB is the restructuring of state oil company NNPC and industry regulators DPR and PPPRA. to replace the NNPC are the National Petroleum Company (NPC) and Nigerian Petroleum Assets Management Company (NPAMC). According to the bill, the NPC and the NPAMC will be under the supervision of a newly created Petroleum Regulatory Commission (PRC). The PRC replaces DPR and PPPRA. The Bill has now been sent to the House of reps for passage, following which it heads to the Presidency. We understand that the committee that hammered out the bill including the trio of the Senate, House of Reps and Presidency, so we expect quick passage.
- Justice Kezziah Ogbonnaya of FCT High Court, Kubwa last Monday ordered the British American Tobacco Company to pay N25,000 cost to the FCT Minister for seeking unnecessary adjournment. Though the amount is small, we believe it’s quite significant. The Judge said he gave the order because of the constant adjournments at the instance of Mr Ayokunle Adesomoju, the plaintiff’s counsel which has stalled the proceedings. According to her, asking the court to adjourn a matter that was ripe for hearing since Jan to Sep would not be tolerated in any country. The plaintiff, BAT filed the suit against the FCT Minister, FCDA and Abuja Development Control over a land dispute.
- Some good news for residents of Kwara State. Philip Morris Limited (PML), a subsidiary of Philip Morris International (PMI) in Nigeria, has partnered with International Tobacco Company Limited (ITC) to manufacture one of PMI’s leading brands in Nigeria. The event was held recently at ITC’s factory at Ilorin, Kwara State. The MD, (PML) Coskun Kagan Dicle, noted that PML will be investing in technology and capacity building at ITC’s factory, creating additional employment opportunities. Are you from Kwara? Is this a “big F…..ing” deal?
- TVS Motor Company of India last week unveiled a new tricycle, King Delux, in Nigeria. Why is this a big deal? The company claims it owns about 58% share of Nigeria’s Keke Marwa market and hopes to raise it to 70%. Wandel International Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of the Simba Group, is the sole distributor of the TVS brand in Nigeria described the tricycle as a trailblazer as it came with a built-in music system (MP3 player) and FM radio. Kai…noise pollution ohhh. The company also said it had trained over 20,000 mechanics of the tricycle brand. Tight business model?
- Home care product maker, Hayat Kimya Group, said it had opened a $100m diaper and tissue paper factory in Agbara, Ogun State. The factory is expected to create 30,000 jobs. The Managing Director, Hayat Kimya, Hakan Misri, said that the factory was built on a 200,000sqm plot of land, with the capacity to produce 1.3 billion units of diaper and 13,000 tonnes of tissue per annum. The factory is also generating 14.2 megawatt of electricity for its operations. Ogun State is really buzzing and will someday overtake Lagos in Manufacturing jobs. Yay or Nay
- In an apparent move to target a larger market, Binatone Nigeria last week introduced a new 2-in 1 music fan with a built-in digital audio system that can play music from the phone or any other Bluetooth-enabled smart device. Yikes!! The company said in designing the product, they targeted African consumer because they “were very stylish.” We don suffer
- Captain John Okakpu , a pilot who is the MD and CEO of ABX World Nig Ltd, believes the govt could generate over N12 billion from the commercial cultivation and export of yellow pepper in the next five years. He said the government should give attention to producers of the crop to get motivation in terms of credit funding and infrastructure. Btw, the pilot facilitates air freight for agro-allied products at Lagos Airport, so I’m guessing that’s his connect with all of this.
- South African Tiger Brands revealed last week that it’s almost done with its strategic review and will return its focus to middle-income consumers in South Africa. The company in 2013 acquired Dangote Flour Mills, spending about $200m. The acquisition ended up being a disaster. It ended up losing all its money and selling the company back to Dangote Flour Mills for $1. It also sold its other Nigerian business to Dangote, including its stake in Deli Foods.
- Shareholders of FBN Holdings Plc had a message for the board of directors during the 5th annual general meeting of the company. They asked the board to recover bad loans incurred by the bank which has led to a credit loss of about N226 billion in 2016 alone.
- The FG announced that it is to receive $296,143 as dividend from the profit earned by the Islamic Development Bank for the 2016 FY. Nigeria is the 4th largest shareholder in the 57-nation Islamic Development Bank Group, with its overall shareholding currently at 1.68%. The other shareholders with more holding than Nigeria are Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Libya and the Islamic Republic of Iran. Nigeria plans to reinvest the dividends in the bank. Duh
- Staco Insurance Plc has completed the sale of about 34.2% of the company to three strategic investors. The three investors are Imperial Assets Managers Limited, Electron Energy and Ventry Development Limited. They in total invested about N1.6 billion in the company.
- The United Bank for Africa Plc, has announced the launch of a brand new mobile banking application with many user-friendly features. The new mobile app which comes with the biometric log-in feature for secure, personalized access is now available for download on Apple and Google Play App Stores. Other features of the app, include: “a more interactive, user-friendly interface, ATM/branch locator for easy access to d bank’s touch-points, easier airtime top up via direct selection of contacts from the phone book etc. I personally love Diamond Bank’s mobile app. Which banking app is your favourite
- AMCON last week announced that it was close to selling Peugeot Automobile Nigeria (PAN) Ltd to… you guessed it…. Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, well and Kaduna and Kebbi States. The deal is expected to yield to a production of about 90,000 cars yearly and will create thousands of jobs. PAN is thought to be worth about N15 billion.
- Data from Nairametrics reveal about 10 of the biggest banks in Nigeria raked in about N132.4 billion from E-business income alone. Guessed which bank earned the most? The N132 billion earned is up 41% from the N94 billion earned in 2015. 41 freaking per cent!!! And for which Bank made this most money…here it is UBA topped with about N34 billion in 2016 alone!! Up 77% from 2015. FBNH was next with N21.8b (+42%). Access Bank made N21.2 billion up 441%. GTB actually made N12.2 billion down 26% from the N16.5 billion made in 2015. Zenith made N10.6 billion up 7%. Did you guess right?
- As part of its plans to challenge the dominance of MTN, Airtel Ltd.’s has announced a partnership with China’s ZTE Corp. to provide 4G high-speed broadband will see it add subscribers and narrow the gap with market leader MTN Group Ltd. Airtel said it has invested more than $1.5 billion in its Nigerian network in the past five years, seeking to tap rising demand for mobile and data services in a country with 180 million people. Just make data cheap and unlimited and you will win market Right or wrong?
- 4th generation ntel, is also not sitting back despite being a new entrant. The company announced that it has begun a third round of fundraising to meet its projected $1bn investment in 4G mobile broadband by 2020. The company plans to raise about $300 million to help it execute its investment and operating plans. The company had initially raised about $252 million which was used to pay for acquisition of the asset. Analysts believe there could be some appetite for banks to finance this funding considering that Smile Telecoms Holdings raised $365m in August to expand its wireless Internet network in Nigeria, Uganda and Tanzania, while MainOne Cable also said it planned to raise $300m in July. I hear ntel data is cheap and unlimited. Have you used it before? Share your experience. Do you rate them good, bad or fair
- Data from the NCC reveals Globacom in Q1 was the network with the largest percentage of data subscribers in relation to the total number of customers on any network in the country. Globacom, at the end of the first quarter, recorded a total of 27,021,200 data customers, representing 72 per cent of the total number of subscribers on its network which stood at 37,328,827. With 72 per cent data penetration rate, Glo thus surpassed the industry’s average which stood at 59 per cent. At the end of Q1, a total of 90,003,101 internet users were recorded against a total of 152,216,763 subscribers in the industry. The second position was occupied by Etisalat with 13,008,481 data users out of a total subscriber base of 19,621,806, giving a data penetration rate of 68 per cent while the third position went to Airtel with 56 per cent internet penetration achieved with 19,423,760 data customers out of the total 34,656,605 subscribers on its network. MTN, with 30,519,351 data customers or 51 per cent of its 60,391,959 subscribers, recorded the least penetration of data users on its network. Something about the way these guys report news. In absolute terms, MTN actually has the most internet subscribers with 30.5 million users.
That’s it for the week. Remember, you can get this compilation direct to your email box by subscribing to our Newsletters. You can also follow our tweet thread every Sunday at 10pm when we tweet this compilation.