Johnvents Industries Limited, an indigenous agribusiness and manufacturing company and the owner of the largest cocoa processing factories in Nigeria, proudly announces a significant achievement in its financial standing with a notable upgrade in credit ratings by GCR Ratings (GCR).
The national scale long-term and short-term issuer ratings for Johnvents Industries have been elevated to BBB+ and A2, respectively, up from the previous ratings of BBB and A3.
The upgraded ratings, now at BBB+ for the long-term and A2 for the short-term, signify Johnvents’ strengthened creditworthiness and heightened capacity to meet financial obligations. GCR Ratings, a globally recognised credit rating agency, announced this following the recent evaluation of the company’s financial performance, risk management, overall market positioning, and evolution into an agribusiness and manufacturing group.
- “The upgrade of Johnvents’ ratings reflects its enhanced competitive position within the Nigerian cocoa processing industry following its organic growth and recent acquisitions and wider operations across the agricultural value chain. Johnvents has evolved into one of the leading processors and exporters of cocoa in Nigeria.
- “This is bolstered by an increase in its plant capacity to 45,000 metric tons (MT) per year from 15,000MT/year previously following the acquisition of one of the largest cocoa processing companies, Premium Cocoa, Ile-Oluji. The group has also diversified into fast-moving consumer goods, producing cocoa-based confectionery products and carrying out much of the distribution of goods locally and for export through its logistics subsidiary,” says the report.
Commenting on the announcement, John Alamu, the Group Managing Director of Johnvents Group, confirmed that this is the third rating announcement this year alone and the sixth in 3 years.
He said, “This year marks the third instance since 2021 where we’ve secured investment grade ratings from three esteemed agencies: Augusto & Co, Data Pro, and GCR. The recent upgrade from BBB flat to BBB+ holds significant value for us, affirming Johnvents’ robust leverage and commitment to meeting obligations. While underscoring our substantial growth and diversified business offerings across the African agricultural value chain.”
“As we bolster our presence in the cocoa value addition sector, commodities trading, production, manufacturing, and logistics across our diverse businesses, Johnvents remains steadfast in its commitment to emerge as a global leader in agribusiness, driving agricultural transformation and fostering economic development across Africa,” John stated.
ABOUT JOHNVENTS
Johnvents Group is an indigenous agribusiness and manufacturing group committed to driving sustainable growth across the entire agricultural value chain from production, processing, manufacturing and distribution. The Company is at the intersection of everything agriculture, unlocking immense values and ensuring food supply and premium export value for Africa.
Johnvents operates a group structure, with six businesses committed to driving sustainable growth across the agricultural value chain, including production, processing, manufacturing and trade of commodity and food products in Nigeria and the rest of the world.
The subsidiaries include:
- Johnvents Cocoa Factory, Akure – a 15,000 MT plant with Cocoa Liquor, Butter, Cake or Powder output. Since the start of operations in 2021, 20,000 MT of cocoa butter and cake has been exported to European countries, the USA and other parts of the world.
- Premium Cocoa Products (Ile-Oluji) is Nigeria’s pioneer cocoa processing plant. It is a 30,000 MT Cocoa processing plant with a global legacy producing globally acceptable cocoa products. Johnvents acquired it in February 2023.
- Johnvents Foods launched Johnvents Pure Cocoa Powder, an everyday beverage that provides 100% cocoa nourishment. It acquired a cocoa product factory in Idanre to produce Oluji Pure Cocoa Powder, Johnvents Chocolate drink, Cocoa Pops, Cocoa Cube, and other cocoa-based products.
- Johnvents Trading is a vital commodity value chain player with a combined warehouse capacity of 15,000 metric tonnes in Kano and other locations across Nigeria, with the capacity to store up to 75,000 bags at any time. The Company has strong capabilities in procuring, storing and trading multiple commodities, including paddy and processed rice, soybeans, sesame seed and cocoa.
- Haven Hauling is a logistics and export business. It combines a state-of-the-art transport fleet (with over 50 trucks) and vastly experienced freight and export personnel to ensure our products’ timely and safe delivery to their intended destinations.
- Johnvents Farms is a combined 800 hectares of land in Oda and Ile-Oluji, Ondo State. The land in Ile-Oluji contains 50 hectares of palm oil plantations, while the massive 750 hectares of farmland at Oda are primarily used for the production of sustainable cocoa.
