Companies
FBNQuest Merchant Bank receives accolades for impactful deals
FBNQuest Merchant Bank, the investment banking and asset management subsidiary of FBN Holdings Plc, has received accolades from global financial and capital market awarding institutions in recognition of the impact and size of transactions delivered by the Investment Banking business in 2017.
The firm has won five awards in various categories of the EMEAFinance Achievement Awards, including ‘Best Local Currency Bond House’ and ‘Best Social Development Bond’ for its role in Mixta Real Estate’s $4.5b Senior Guaranteed Fixed Rate Bonds; Most Innovative Naira Bond for the US$300m Inaugural SEC-Registered Diaspora Bond; ‘Best Mergers and Acquisition Deal’ for the Divestment of AMCON’s 100% Shareholding in Keystone Bank; and ‘Best Naira Bond’ for its role as one of the financial advisers on the Federal Government of Nigeria’s ₦100b 7-year Inaugural Sovereign Sukuk.
The Bank was also recognized for the FGN’s Sukuk transaction by The Banker’s Deal of the Year Awards, receiving the ‘Deal of the Year – Africa’ award. The innovative transaction, which was a debut Sukuk issuance by the Federal Government, had no precedent to provide a benchmark and no explicit guidelines within the general regulatory framework. Nevertheless, through diligent structuring and positioning, the offer received a strong market reception and was oversubscribed, with PFAs, Banks and Asset/Fund Managers accounting for over 70%. Proceeds from the issue are allocated to the construction and rehabilitation of 25 roads across the country.
This supports one of the key strategic priorities of the government’s Economic Recovery & Growth Plan, which is to address transportation infrastructure challenges. The transaction has helped to deepen the Nigerian debt capital market by creating a benchmark for pricing future Sukuks, in addition to successfully attracting investors with an appetite for non-interest bearing instruments. It has also boosted capital expenditure and strengthened public financial management, given the project-targeted financing and the discipline imposed by the structure.
The Bank was also recently awarded the ‘Best Investment Bank in Nigeria’ by Global Finance Magazine. Commenting on the achievements, Managing Director, Mr. Kayode Akinkugbe said “We are proud of these accomplishments and how we have been able to deliver impact by working with our partners. We will continue to strive for excellence, as these awards encourage us to stay true to our values to be impactful and to contribute meaningfully to economic growth’.
FBNQuest Merchant Bank provides services in as Corporate Banking, Investment Banking, Wealth Management, Institutional Sales and Fixed Income, Currencies & Treasury. Since it commenced merchant banking operations in November 2015, the bank has seen unprecedented growth across all its businesses through its diversified service offerings which cater to a wide group of stakeholders.
About FBNQuest Merchant Bank
FBNQuest Merchant Bank Limited is the investment banking and asset management business of FBN Holdings Plc, one of the strongest and most dependable financial groups in Africa. We are innovative and client-focused, with strong industry and execution expertise to serve our diverse client base of high net-worth individuals, institutions, corporations and governments across a wide range of services.
From securing wealth to financing business opportunities, we are constantly searching for what comes next so we can take our clients there first. We are a trusted and inspirational partner founded on innovation, a strong heritage and a pioneering spirit that drives us to help our clients look beyond today, and redefine tomorrow.
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.
