There are more than a hundred companies that are currently listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). But while some of them are quite popular, the same cannot be said for the others. A good example would be Tripple Gee & Company Plc, a company that operates in the Nigerian ICT ecosystem.
For our corporate overview this Monday, we are focusing on the company. We shall be looking at what they do, who their customers are, competition, business prospects, opportunities for investors, and more.
About Tripple Gee & Company Plc
Tripple Gee & Company Plc has existed for more than 37 years. Established in 1980, it has continued to be one of Nigeria’s leading printing companies. Interestingly, TrippleG is not just a regular printing press. Instead, it has a specialised focus; printing sensitive financial instruments and other security documents for financial institutions and government agencies. For example, the company prints share certificates, MICR encoded and personalised cheques/dividend warrants, and share documents. They also print licenses and permits, utility bills, PVC, ballot papers and other electioneering stationeries for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), customs revenue collection, and receipts etc.
Asides the very sensitive documents they print for banks and the likes, TrippleG also designs and prints packaging materials for brands in the pharmaceutical, oil and gas and FMCG sectors. Specifically, they design and print tea bags for some of the biggest tea brands in Nigeria, including Lipton, Top Tea, Hilltop Tea, to mention just a few. They also manufacture anti-counterfeit labels with retrievable data and packaging for pharmaceuticals as well as larger packaging labels for engine oil and such related products.
In a nutshell, Tripple Gee and Company Plc is a leader in the manufacturing of “computer stationery, business forms, self-adhesive labels and office equipment.”
The Founder and other top executives of the company
Tripple Gee & Company Plc was founded by Chief Gbade G. Giwa, an experienced administrator with many years of professional experience. He is also reputed as an accomplished entrepreneur who was responsible for building TrippleG from a limited liability company to a publicly-traded firm. Today, he occupies an unspecified management position at the company.
Another top management executive on the company’s board is a former Nigerian Senator, Felix Kolawole Bajomo, the current Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer.
Senator Bajomo is a Chartered Accountant and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators. He held different management positions at some of Nigeria’s top companies prior to joining TrippleG.
Mr Samuel Idowu Ayininuola is the company’s Chairman. Also a Chartered Accountant with many years of experience as a banker, he became a member of the board of TrippleG in 1990.
TrippleG’s target market
Tripple Gee & Company Plc has target markets in the banking, oil and gas, manufacturing, transportation, education and government agencies. Some of their clients include the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Conoil Plc, Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, and INEC etc.
The company’s success over the years
For nearly forty years now, TrippleG has been fully involved in the printing business. They have worked for many clients and established an undeniably strong reputation for themselves through the delivery of value to their clients.
But while information available on their website claim that they have realised profits and ensured returns for their shareholders, said claim cannot exactly be verified.
Their financial records in recent years show fluctuating revenues and profits. Take for instance, while revenue increased from ₦619 million to ₦1 billion between 2012 and 2013, it quickly dipped to ₦850 million in 2014, and then further down to ₦777 million in 2015. Their most recent financial report (i.e., 2016) show a revenue of ₦806 million. Similarly, the company’s profit after tax has fluctuated between 2012 and 2016. PAT had increased from ₦6.2 million in 2012 to ₦18.8 million in 2013. But it reduced the following year to ₦15.4 million and then rose again to ₦40.7 million in 2015. By 2016, the company’s PAT had declined yet again to ₦27.6 million.
The company has also not been very consistent with their dividend payment. It paid no dividend between 2012 and 2013, and even its payments 2 Kobo, 4 Kobo and 3 Kobo for 2014, 2015 and 2016 [respectively] were poor.
Facing the competition
Apparently, TrippleG is not the only printing company in Nigeria. What this means, therefore, is that the company has its own competitors. One of these competitors is Superflux International Limited. Incorporated in 1995, Superflux is also into security printing solutions, printing such documents as dividend warrants, certificates, tickets, ballot paper, cheques for Nigerian banks etc.
The company (Superflux) reportedly has about 80% market share and is accredited by the CBN, the Central Bank of Zambia, as well as the apex banks of a number of other West African countries. They also offer printing services for companies in the manufacturing, entertainment, and even government agencies.
Competitors also include other well-established printing companies such as Digital Reality which has prominent clients such as Cadbury, FCMB, Sterling Bank, Zenith Bank and Unilever, to mention a few. In the same vein, Tetra Pak qualifies as a competitor, in that it designs and brands packaging materials for quite a number of brands in the country. Other competitors include the not-so-well established printing presses such as online-based Printivo and Print Magic.
An outlook for the company
The company’s stocks have not performed well in recent times. Over the past months, the stocks fell and remained flat, trading at 85 Kobo per share as at Monday, June 4th, 2018.
Also, a PE ratio of 42.51 times earnings indicates that the company is over-priced. The company’s one year return of 27.02% is also below the ASI average return of 42.3% in 2017. Worst still, the company has poor earnings per share at N0.02. All these indicate poor performance. There is an urgent need for improvement.
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