Companies
COVID-19: Companies issue stay away order from some of Nigeria’s biggest hospitals
At least two of Nigeria’s biggest companies have advised their staff members to avoid certain private hospitals in Lagos which are believed to have been contaminated by the Coronavirus.
At least two of Nigeria’s biggest companies have advised their staff members to avoid certain private hospitals in Lagos, which are believed to have been contaminated by the Coronavirus. This comes as some private hospitals in the city have temporarily suspended their operations due to fear of contaminations.
What we know: In an internal memo that was sent out to all staff by the head of human capital of a tier-1 bank, staff members were advised to immediately contact the hotlines of the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) if they have recently visited any of the hospitals or been in contact with people who have.
In a similar internal memo that was seen by Nairametrics, the head of human capital of a top oil company advised staff members to use alternative hospitals available under their HMO plan, in order to avoid the “contaminated” hospitals.
A health scare: On Monday, April 20th, 2020, Vevic Lifecare Hospital in Lekki, Lagos, informed the public that its management has decided to suspend operations for approximately ten days. According to a statement that was made available by the hospital, the decision became necessary after a Covid-19 patient was inadvertently admitted at the facility, even as two hospital staff members ended up contracting the deadly virus.
In view of this, the hospital was closed so it can undergo a full decontamination exercise. In the meantime, the infected hospital staff members were handed over to the NCDC for proper monitoring and treatment.
Saint Nicholas Hospital also released a statement, yesterday, informing the general public that it has decided to temporarily suspend operations for two weeks. Again, the move became necessary after it was discovered that the hospital had been exposed to the contagious virus.
At least, six other hospitals in Lagos are believed to have made a similar decision to suspend operations in the meantime. There are strong indications that more hospitals might do so in the coming days.
The backstory: Recall that the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control had strongly advised against the treatment of Coronavirus in private hospitals. Hospitals are required to refer any patient displaying symptoms of the virus to the NCDC.
In the meantime, the NCDC and other affiliate agencies have been battling to contain the spread of the deadly virus. As you may well know, the Presidency also recently extended its lockdown directives for Abuja, Lagos, and Ogun states by two more weeks. But the Coronavirus cases in Nigeria keep rising. So far, a total of 665 cases have been confirmed, with 188 recoveries and 22 fatalities.
One of those who have died of the virus is Abba Kyari, the former Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari. As Nairametrics reported, Kyari died over the weekend at a Lagos private hospital called First Cardiology Consultants. His death happened weeks after he contracted the highly-contagious virus, following official visits to some parts of Europe.
Meanwhile, the government is ramping up efforts at wide-spread testing and contact-tracing. Thanks to the generous donations by the country’s private through the Private sector-led Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID), more testing kits are now expected in the country soon. A statement by CACOVID, as reported by Nairametrics, noted that a total of 400,000 COVID-19 test kits have been ordered.
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.
