Dipo Olowookere
AG Leventis Nigeria Plc has concluded plans to inject fresh funds into its operations as part of its revival strategies.
Executive Vice Chairman of AG Leventis, Mr Michail Economakis, disclosed this recently, while speaking at the ‘Facts behind the figures’ presentation ceremony at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
According to him, with the funds, the company would be turned around and deliver better returns to shareholders, disclosing that the company was already discussing with foreign investors.
“We are discussing with foreign investors, hopefully there will be capital inflow very soon. This capital inflow will assist us in having better cash flow, there will be reduction in our cost of fund and we will be able to expand our products portfolio,” he said.
He said the new capital will assist the company to expand its product portfolio in some rich products with a potential long term technical service partnership with Pick n Pay, one of the two retailers in South Africa.
Commenting on strategic priorities of the company, Economakis said fast moving consumer goods, automobile, agriculture and real estate are major area the company will develop going forward.
He disclosed that on automobile, the company commenced production of vehicles from mid-2015 and would expand it plant to assemble for other distributors in the region.
Economakis added that AG Leventis is looking at the large scale farming in Nigeria that would lead the company to backward integration in agriculture.
Speaking on the half year financial results of the company, Head of Finance, AG Leventis, Olugbenga Kasomo said cost of materials, foreign exchange crises as major problems that affected the performance of the company.
The company ended the half year with a revenue of N6.442 billion in 2016, up from N5.936 billion in the corresponding of 2015.
Cost of sales rose by 24 per cent from N4.266 billion to N5.274 billion, while total operational expenses increased by 12 per cent from N1.269 billion to N1.425 billion in 2016. Consequently, the company ended the period with a loss of N494 million.
Meanwhile, the bearish trend persisted recently with the NSE All-Share Index, shedding 0.45 per cent to close at 27,272.14. Similarly, the market capitalisation ended lower at N9.41 trillion.
