Nigeria’s leading integrated Food and Agro-allied giant, Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, has concluded plans to issue a bond within the next 2 months as part of a N70 billion ($184 million) programme to refinance existing debt.
This was disclosed by Flour Mill’s Group Chief Finance Officer, Anders Kristiansson on Monday, August 17, 2020, during an analyst call.
Kristiansson said the move was aimed at taking advantage of low money market rates, adding that Flour Mills had taken proactive measures to conserve cash in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
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It can be recalled that the flour and pasta maker sold N30 billion in a commercial paper earlier this year in April as part of measures to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on its business activities.
During an analyst call, Kristiansson said, ‘’We have a N70 billion bond programme. We are looking to tap into the market again given the low-interest-rate environment. We anticipate coming to the market to refinance some of our existing debt by bringing a bond to the market. We anticipate doing that in the next two months.”
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The multinational firm which just released its first-quarter financial statement revealed that it recorded some steady growth in its food and agro-businesses as its revenue grew by 15% to N154.6 billion from N134.7 billion.
The profit after tax grew by 17% to N4.9 billion from N4.2 billion. The company has a net debt profile of around N75.8 billion in the first quarter.
The yields on short-term bills and bonds have fallen below 6% from the double digits due to excess liquidity in the money market as foreign investors are pulling out their funds and dumping assets to repatriate funds.
Flour Mills shares traded at N18.30 on Monday, August 17, 2020.