Omolara Elemide was recently appointed as the Acting Chief Executive Officer of CAP Plc, the paint manufacturing subsidiary of Nigerian conglomerate, UAC of Nigeria Plc. She took over from Oluwakemi Ogunnubi, another woman who previously held the important position until early this year. It’s been six months since she took up this job and people are longing to see her scorecard. This is why Nairametrics has decided to profile her as our corporate personality of the week. Get to know her.
Elemide’s age, education, and early career days
Born in 1959, Mrs Omolara Elemide is a Nigerian business executive who has over 35 years of professional experience. She has held many high-profile positions in some of the biggest companies in Nigeria. She is a graduate of the Kwara State Polytechnic where she obtained a Higher National Diploma in Accountancy. Shortly after graduation, Mrs Elemide joined UAC of Nigeria Plc in 1983. She has been working in the firm ever since, rotating within the Group’s subsidiaries.
Her career took off fully following the divestment of Unilever International from UAC of Nigeria in 1994. This is because she was promoted to the position of the Group Audit Manager. Her six months attachment to Unilever International’s audit departments in Europe and America in 1991 had prepared her for this role.
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Her rise through the corporate ladder
As mentioned earlier, Omolara Elemide’s career has revolved mostly around the UACN Group. In 1997, she served as the Divisional Commercial Director of G B Ollivant/MDS Division and as the Finance Director of UACN Property Development Company Plc; both subsidiaries of UAC of Nigeria Plc. Records show that she held these positions between 1997 and 2005.
Interestingly, she also previously served as the Managing Director of CAP Plc. This followed her 4-year stint as the Finance Director of the same company between February 2005 and May 2009. She also served as UACN Plc’s Executive Director in charge of Corporate Services starting from January 2018. This was right before her appointment to her current position. Note that she is also the Acting Chairman of Livestock Feeds Plc, another subsidiary of the UACN Conglomerate.
A private executive
Not much is known about Mrs Omolara Elemide’s personal life. She doesn’t have any known social media account, even a LinkedIn account bearing her name has just two connections. However, we do know that she is a wife and a mother. She is also a Christian. In August 2018, she was quoted to have advised some young school leavers to make the right choices in life as well as embrace a culture of excellence in order to succeed in life. She also reportedly admonished her fellow female business executives to continually sharpen their competence and never be found wanting.
Her poise to win the paint war
There are quite a handful of paint manufacturing companies operating in Nigeria today. Five of these companies are listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, including CAP Plc of course. Over the years, there has been an understandably stiff competition between these companies, as they continually struggle to win over market share. How well is Elemide prepared to win in this field which, by the way, is dominated mostly by men? Well, let’s judge based on her performance so far this year.
Elemide’s Half-Year 2019 scorecard
For the half-year period ended June 30, 2019, CAP Plc recorded a relatively good result, even though profit after tax had declined slightly by 5.3% to N868 million compared to N917 million in H1 2018. The company did, however, report an increase in revenue to the tune of N3.9 billion, compared to N3.7 billion for the comparable period in 2018.
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Despite the decline in profit, CAP Plc’s result is, by far, better than what its competitors reported. Berger Paint Plc, for instance, reported revenue of N1.5 billion and a profit after tax of N145.6 million. Portland Paints Plc realised total revenue of N1.3 billion compared to N1.4 billion in 2019. Profit after tax stood at N64.2 million compared to N89 million in H1 2018.
Meanwhile, Premier Paint Plc ran at a loss of N14.3 million, after reporting a 2.4% decline in revenue to the tune of N74.7 million compared to N97.9 million in 2018. In the same vein, Meyer Plc also reported a loss of N29.5 million.
Based on the foregoing, it is clear that Mrs Omolara Elemide is winning the paint war in Nigeria. However, she can do better. Her aim should be to surpass the target set by her predecessor. And judging by the company’s H1 2019 profit performance, she hasn’t exactly done that.
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