May & Baker Nigeria Plc will raise additional capital to support its business expansion and position itself against competition, the Chairman of the company, Lt. Gen Theophilus Danjuma (rtd), has said.
Speaking at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the company in Lagos last Thursday, Danjuma said the company had started considering various ways of raising new capital and would soon choose the most appropriate means to bolster the capital base of the company.
According to him, it has become expedient for the company to recapitalise to muster enough liquidity to face the challenges of the business environment.
He said the huge investments in the world-class pharmaceutical manufacturing centre in Ota, Ogun State, the company’s vaccine manufacturing joint venture with the Federal Government, new products and other initiatives will provide a stable base for the company’s growth in the years ahead.
On Five Year Strategic Plans
According to him, the company has rolled out a new five-year strategic plan that would seek to harness all opportunities to increase the group’s earnings and returns to shareholders.
On Turnover Projection
Danjuma disclosed that the company has projected turnover of N9.6 billion for 2013 based on the optimism on expected increased output from its new manufacturing plant, business restructuring efforts and expected reduction in financing costs following the soft loan received from T.Y Holdings during the last quarter of 2012.
My Take
You may wish to know the company (as at Dec 2012 FY) owes about N3.6billion in external debt resulting in a 1.16 debt to equity ratio. Part of that amount (N2billion) is owed to Ty Holdings, company owned by the Chairman TY Danjuma. Could this capital raising exercise be an avenue to repay this loans? I think so. How much might they be raising? At least N2.5billion.
May & Baker to Raise Capital to Support Growth