Companies
Transcorp Hilton Abuja wins double 2017 World Luxury Hotel Awards
Nigeria’s Landmark hotel, Transcorp Hilton Abuja, has emerged the winner of two 2017 World Luxury Hotel Awards in the Best Luxury Contemporary Hotel (Nigeria) and Best Luxury City Hotel (West & Central Africa) categories. The multiple award-winning five-star hotel was honoured with the prestigious award at a spectacular Gala Ceremony hosted by the historical Kulm Hotel St. Moritz in Switzerland on Saturday 2 December 2017. Awards on the night were bestowed on luxury properties that excelled within their service delivery areas on a country, regional, continent or global level.
World Luxury Hotel Awards is the pinnacle of recognition achievable by a luxury hotel, for service excellence and earning the respect of guests, industry players, and awarding hotels, as voted for by the public, across 99 different categories.
Valentine Ozigbo, MD/CEO Transcorp Hotels Plc, who received the awards on behalf of the hotel said;
“These awards crown a year of global recognition for all we do to deliver a world class hospitality experience to our Guests. It is gratifying that our commitment to the upgrade of our guests’ experiences is appreciated and recognised by the travelling public. Thanks to the amazing Team that makes it all possible”.
Also commenting on the awards, Etienne Gailliez, General Manager, Transcorp Hilton Abuja said, “It’s a great honour to receive another international recognition for what we do. It’s a befitting reward for the commitment of our company to service excellence and all the hard work our Team Members put in to delivering unforgettable experiences to our Guests”.
The recognition from World Luxury Hotel Awards is coming on the heels of the hotel winning World Travel Awards 2017 in 5 categories including Africa’s Leading Business Hotel for the third consecutive year and the 2017 Seven Stars Luxury Hospitality and Lifestyle Awards. The 5-star hotel’s Asian specialty restaurant, The Oriental, was also recently honoured with the World Luxury Restaurant Award 2017 prize in the Asian cuisine category for African continent. In addition, the iconic hotel has recently been nominated for the global award of World’s Leading Business Hotel at 2017 World Travel Awards Grand Final which will take place on 10 December in Vietnam.
Transcorp Hilton Abuja is currently undergoing a $100million renovation project with all 670 rooms and common areas redesigned for refurbishment. This project – the first of its kind in the Hotel’s history – is a testament to its unrivalled status; not only in Abuja as the city’s iconic hub but also as a globally acclaimed brand.
About World Luxury Hotel Awards
Established in 2006, World Luxury Hotel Awards is the pinnacle of achievement in the luxury hotel industry offering international recognition as voted by guests, travelers and industry players alike. Over 300 000 international travelers vote each year, during a four-week period to select the winners.
About Hilton Hotels & Resorts
For nearly a century, Hilton Hotels & Resorts has been proudly welcoming the world’s travelers. With more than 570 hotels across six continents, Hilton Hotels & Resorts provides the foundation for memorable travel experiences and values every guest who walks through its doors. As the flagship brand of Hilton, Hilton Hotels & Resorts continues to set the standard for hospitality, providing new product innovations and services to meet guests’ evolving needs. Hilton Hotels & Resorts is a part of the award-winning Hilton Honors program. Hilton Honors members who book directly through preferred Hilton channels have access to instant benefits, including a flexible payment slider that allows members to choose nearly any combination of Points and money to book a stay, an exclusive member discount that can’t be found anywhere else, free standard Wi-Fi and digital amenities like digital check-in with room selection and Digital Key (select locations), available exclusively through the industry-leading Hilton Honors app. Begin your journey at www.hilton.com and learn more about the brand by visiting news.hilton.com or following us on Facebook, Twitterand Instagram.
About Transcorp Hotels Plc
Transcorp Hotels Plc (“Company”) is the hospitality subsidiary of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc. The Company owns and operates Transcorp Hilton Abuja, which provides luxury accommodation, world-class cuisine, conferencing and leisure facilities to business travellers and tourists from all over the world. The Company also holds 100 per cent interest in Transcorp Hotels Calabar Limited, which owns and operates the Transcorp Hotel in Calabar.For more information please visit www.transcorphotelsplc.com and/or www.abuja.hilton.com
Companies
COVID-19, VAT, FX scarcity adversely impacted our operations in 2020 – Nigerian Breweries boss says
NB Plc’s operations in 2020 were adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, VAT increase and FX devaluation.
The management of Nigeria’s leading brewer, Nigerian Breweries Plc has revealed that its operations in 2020 were adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, VAT increase, FX devaluation and scarcity of foreign exchange.
This statement was made by the Managing Director of Nigerian Breweries, Mr Jordi Borrut Bel, at the company’s pre-AGM media briefing for the financial year-end 2020, which held in Lagos this week.
He noted that the increase in the brewer’s cost in 2020 was due to the COVID-19 pandemic which disrupted the company’s operations, as well as the increase in VAT, devaluation and FX scarcity which has put pressure on input cost.
READ: Alcoholic beverage makers on NSE lose a total N27.7 billion in a single day
The Nigerian Breweries boss explained further that the increase in cost could not be fully attributed to currency devaluation and foreign exchange scarcity.
He explained that the increase in costs of goods sold, as reported in its audited financial results, could also be linked to the increase in the volume of goods sold, as the company’s sales volume in 2020 increased by almost the same percentage as the cost of goods sold.
To deal with this challenge going forward, he revealed that the company is focused on the supply chain, and will continue to seek out ways to mitigate any of the price increases coming from FX scarcity.
READ: Brewery sector: A quarter to forget
The company’s profitability in question?
An analysis of the company’s result revealed that despite the 4.3% increase in net revenue from N323.00 billion recorded in 2019, to a total of N337.01 billion in 2020, the company’s profit declined significantly by 53.3% to N7.53 billion.
Speaking on this, Jordi Borrut in his statement at the press briefing noted that the brewer’s business performance in 2020 was quite impressive especially in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and economic recession. Despite these challenges, the company maintained a strong and healthy balance sheet.
“There was a slight reduction in profitability but compared to the previous year, the business witnessed an improved growth in revenue. The significance of this is that the business became more stable and healthier,” he said.
READ: Nigeria’s triangular beer war on the rise with the arrival of Budweiser
What you should know
- Nigerian breweries, being the largest brewer in the country, maintained its stance in terms of generating profits year-on-year. The company emerged as the only brewer to record a profit of N7.37 billion from its operations in 2020, 54.3% lower than 2019 figures (N16.1 billion).
- From this, the leading brewer was able to pay shareholders a total dividend of N7.5 billion, translating to a dividend of 94 kobos per share – a dividend payout in which exceeds 100%.
- While Guinness and International Breweries made a loss of N12.6 billion and N24.9 billion respectively, this reality impacted their ability to pay their shareholders dividends in 2020.
Business News
Highest paid Nigerian bank MD/CEOs of 2020
Bank MD/CEOs in Nigeria earned a combined N1.5 billion in salaries in 2020.
The banking sector, especially commercial banks, is one of the most profitable sectors of the Nigerian Economy churning out profits of close to a trillion in 2020 alone. They are also one of the highest employers of labours in the country employing over 93,000 Nigerians.
Sitting at the helm of affairs is the Chief Executive/Managing Director, the highest-ranking executive in the organization saddled with the responsibility of making the best corporate decisions, oversight of the execution of the organisation’s corporate strategies and most importantly increasing the shareholders’ return. The buck basically stops on their table.
Thus, these enormous responsibilities also come with a considerable executive compensation for their service making them ostensibly the highest-ranking staff of the bank.
READ: Jim Ovia: From a clerk to founder of Nigeria’s most profitable bank
In typical Nairametrics fashion, we bring to you a list of the highest-ranking bank CEOs for 2020 based on their executive compensation (exec comps). The bank MD/CEOs under our review earned over N1.5 billion in salaries in 2020.
The data was sourced from the published audited accounts of the bank and verified by Nairametrics Research.
