Companies
Ebenezer Onyeagwu succeeds Peter Amangbo as Zenith Bank’s new MD/CEO
Zenith Bank Plc has appointed Ebenezer Onyeagwu as its Group Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), with effectect from Saturday, June 1.
Zenith Bank Plc has appointed Ebenezer Onyeagwu as its Group Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
According to a public disclosure issued to the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Onyeagwu’s appointment will take effect from Saturday, June 1, 2019.
The newly-appointed MD/CEO will be succeeding Peter Amangbo, whose tenure expires on Friday, May 31, 2019.
Ebenezer Onyeagwu’s professional career
Onyeagwu is a vastly experienced banker and financial expert, trained in reputable institutions of learning in Nigeria, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.
He is an alumnus of the prestigious University of Oxford, England, where he obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Strategy, and a certificate in Macroeconomics. He also undertook extensive executive level business education in Wharton Business School of the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia Business School of Columbia University, the Harvard Business School of Harvard University (all in the United States) and Lagos Business School of the Pan African University, Nigeria.
Onyeagwu is a Chartered Accountant and was named a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (FCA), in 2003.
With nearly 30 years experience in the banking industry in Nigeria, Onyeagwu, who is a graduate of accounting from Auchi Polytechnic, began his career at the defunct Financial Merchant Bank in 1991 and later held several management positions in the erstwhile Citizens International Bank Limited until 2002.
He joined Zenith Bank Plc in 2002 as a Senior Manager, in the Internal Control and Audit Group of the bank. His professionalism, competence, integrity and commitment to the set objectives of the bank saw him rise swiftly between 2003 and 2005, first, as Assistant General Manager, then Deputy General Manager, and eventually as General Manager of the bank.
In these capacities, he handled strategies for new business and branch development, management of risk assets portfolios, treasury functions, strategic top-level corporate, multinationals and public institutional relationships, among others.
He was named Executive Director of the bank in 2013 and put in charge of Lagos and South-South Zones as well as strategic groups/business units of the bank including Financial Control & Strategic Planning, Treasury and Correspondent Groups, Human Resources Group, Oil and Gas Group, and Credit Risk Management Group, etc. He was named Deputy Managing Director of the bank in 2016.
Onyeagwu is on the board of Zenith Bank Ghana, Zenith Pensions Custodian Limited, Zenith Nominees Limited and African Finance Corporation. He brings to his job strategic thinking, inspirational leadership, energetic and entrepreneurial skills. He is married with children.
Companies
Mr. Price plans to exit Nigeria, closes stores in the country
The company said it is going to be focusing on South Africa in a more concentrated way.
Mr. Price Group is making plans to close its Nigerian business to focus on its home market business in South Africa.
The popular affordable clothing, sport, and home wear brand has closed four out of its five Nigerian stores and expects to close the last one in the coming months.
This was disclosed by its Chief Executive Officer, Mark Blair.
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Nigeria is the third country where the company has exited, as it had left Australia and Poland just last year. The Durban-based company cited challenges like supply-chain disruptions and challenges in getting funds out of the country as reasons it has struggled to operate in Nigeria.
Mark Stirton, Chief Financial Officer of Mr. Price explained that, “We are really going to focus on South Africa in a more concentrated way.”
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The company is just one out of the few companies that have left Nigeria over the past few years. Companies like Woolworths Holdings Ltd. left the country in 2013. Shoprite Holdings Ltd. had also noted just last year that it may close some stores in the country as well.
The company predicts that it might face a few challenges among other retail companies in South Africa particularly owing to the lockdown it is only gradually emerging from.
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Consequently, Mr. Price had been seeking out ways to conserve cash; it froze head-office salaries and did not declare a final dividend. It also announced plans to sell shares so as to expand its operations through growth, last year.
Companies
FrieslandCampina WAMCO announced PBT of N18.75 billion, 15% up from 2018
Langat stated that the company pushed through the challenging business environment during the year.
FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria, has announced a profit before tax of N18.75 billion for the financial year ended Dec. 31, 2019.
This represents a 15 per cent increase from the N16.31 billion posted in 2018.
The producers of Peak and Three Crowns Milk also announced a turnover of N161.83 billion for the year, 8.5% up from the N149.16 billion declared in 2018.
Mr Ben Langat, Managing Director, FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria, announced this on Thursday at the 47th Annual General Meeting of the company held virtually.
NAN reports that the shareholders unanimously approved a total dividend payout of N9.49 per 50k share. This sums up the interim dividend of N2.68 per 50k share in November 2019; with a final dividend payout of N6.81 per share.
Langat stated that the company pushed through the challenging business environment during the year, coming up with several innovations to stay profitable.
“In the year under review, the business environment remained challenging. In spite of the headwinds, FrieslandCampina WAMCO played a leading role in Nigeria’s backward integration initiative led by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the dairy sector,” Langat said.
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He stated further that the company has activated it Dairy Development Programme (DDP) in Bobi Grazing Reserve, modeling 10 years success of the programme on a 10,000-hectare grazing reserve in Mariga Local Government Area of Niger, and also inaugurated a state-of-the-art factory for the production of Yoghurt and introduced the new Peak Yoghurt Drink in three distinct flavours (Plain Sweetened, Strawberry and Orange) into the market, in line with its business plan.
He promised that the company would continue to focus on providing better nutrition and advocating healthy living, as well as pursuing its backward integration for business sustainability.
On the company’s business outlook for 2020, Langat said that the Board of Directors and management of FrieslandCampina WAMCO remained positive and confident about the future of the company, in spite of the challenges caused by COVID-19 pandemic.
Companies
Veritas Kapital Assurance Plc declares closed period, as directors meet July 23rd
The company reported a -78.9 decline in its Q1 profit after tax to N53.3 million.
Veritas Kapital Assurance Plc announced earlier today that it will observe a closed period starting from Wednesday, July 8th, 2020. The closed period will last until 24 hours after the firm’s unaudited Q2 2020 financial statement is made public.
A press statement made available by Veritas Kapital also noted that its board of directors would meet virtually on the 2nd of July, to consider and approve the Q2 financial statement. The statement, which was signed by the Company Secretary Saratu Umar Garba, and sent to the NSE, said:
“Notice is hereby given that a virtual meeting of the Board of Directors of Veritas Kapital Assurance Plc (the Company) will be held on Thursday, July 23, 2020 by 11:00 a.m. to consider and approve the Second Quarter, 2020 unaudited Financial Statements.
“Consequently, in compliance with the Rulebook of The Nigerian Stock Exchange (The Exchange), there will be a closed period commencing from Wednesday, July 8, 2020 until 24 hours after the Second Quarter, 2020 unaudited Financial Statements have been filed with The Exchange.
“During the closed period, no director, person discharging managerial responsibility and adviser of the Issuer and their connected persons shall deal in the securities of the Issuer when the trading window is closed.”
Note that in December 2019, Veritas Kapital Assurance announced that shareholders approved plans by the company’s management to raise an additional N5 billion in a bid to increase its paid-up capital to N12 billion. This was ahead of NAICOM’s initial deadline for insurance companies to recapitalise latest by June 30th, 2020. After the deadline was initially extended by NAICOM, Verita’s CEO, Kenneth Egbaran, disclosed during an interview that the extended timeframe would help boost fund-raising opportunities. NAICOM has since extended the deadline yet again, and it remains unclear whether the company has been able to meet the recapitalisation requirement.
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Recall that Veritas Kapital last announced a closed period in April this year ahead of the release of its Q1 2020 financial statement. The unaudited financial statement, which was eventually released on May 4th, showed a gross premium written of N1 billion. Profit after tax for the Q1 period declined by -78.9 to N53.3 million, compared to N252.5 million in Q1 2019.
The company’s stock is trading at N0.20 on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Year-to-date, there has been no recorded price movement.
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Dr Chigbo Okonkwo
April 8, 2019 at 2:46 pm
Ebenezer Onyeagwu is an excellent choice to replace Amamgbo who has doom an excellent job at Zenith Congrats Ebeni and good luck in your new post