Economy
Cadbury Nigeria Plans to Increase Market Share, May Consider Rights Issue for Fresh Capital
By Dipo Olowookere
Chairman of Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Mr Atedo Peterside, has expressed the company’s determination to increase its market share, which will in turn boost revenue of the firm and more dividends for shareholders.
Mr Peterside, while responding to concerns raised by shareholders at the 53rd Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Cadbury Nigeria held last Friday at the Civic Centre in Lagos, said to achieve this goal, the company will introduce new products and improve on its existing brands.
At the yearly meeting, shareholders had advised the management to introduce new products, especially those that will address health concerns in the country like diabetes and others in order to increase the firm’s market share and bottom line.
Responding to this, Mr Peterside said the point raised by the shareholders was a valid one, promising that the board and management would look into it.
The Chairman said it was important for the company to increase its market share and reposition itself as a leader in the industry.
However, he said the company was working on some new products, which would be launched at the appropriate time, adding that Cadbury Nigeria would drive growth ahead of competition to increase market share within its product categories.
According to him, the major priorities of the company in 2018 are to sustain focus on quality, drive improvements in productivity and reinforce operational efficiency to maximise its competitive advantage.
Mr Peterside said Cadbury Nigeria built its business on four key pillars, such as price competitiveness, aggressive route to market initiatives and sustained consumer-driven activations.
The Chairman informed shareholders at the AGM that last year, the company recorded a revenue of N33.08 billion compared with N29.98 billion in 2016, while the profit before tax stood at N350.32 million from a loss before tax of N562.87 million recorded in the previous year, and the profit after tax at N299.99 million against a loss of N296.40 million in 2016.
He said the company, in 2017, benefited from cost savings initiatives, which saw selling and distribution costs as well as administrative costs decline by seven percent and 23 percent respectively.
Giving an insight on how the company generated its revenue last year, Mr Peterside said 55 percent came from refreshment beverages which includes Bournvita and Cadbury 3-in-1 hot chocolate, while 31 percent was from confectioneries such as Tom-Tom peppermint and its variants, and 14 percent from Intermediate Cocoa products comprising cocoa powder, cocoa cake and cocoa butter.
At the meeting, shareholders approved the N301.51 million proposed by the board as total dividend for the financial year ended December 31, 2017, representing 16 kobo per share.
They commended the board for returning Cadbury Nigeria Plc to profitability after suffering losses as a result of the recession in Nigeria in 2016, urging the board and management to do more in 2018.
The shareholders further advised the board to consider cheaper means of financing its activities to reduce costs of operation, saying floating rights issue in the future to raise fresh capital should be looked into instead of obtaining loans from banks.
Economy
BNB Price Reflects Changing Dynamics in the Digital Asset Market
Economy
NASD Unlisted Security Index Crosses 4,000-point Benchmark Again
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange achieved a milestone on Friday, April 24, 2026, after five securities on the platform helped with a 1.85 per cent growth.
Data showed that the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) again crossed the 4,000-point benchmark yesterday.
The index chalked up 73.64 points during the trading day to close at 4,052.59 points compared with the preceding session’s 3,978.95 points, while the market capitalisation added N5.38 billion to finish at N2.424 trillion versus Thursday’s closing value of N2.380 trillion.
The price gainers were led by Okitipupa Plc, which grew by N25.00 to sell at N305.00 per share compared with the previous price of N280.00 per share. Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gained N6.92 to close at N76.26 per unit versus N69.34 per unit, Afriland Properties Plc appreciated by N1.00 to N17.00 per share from N18.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc improved by 55 Kobo to N99.55 per unit from N99.00 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc increased by 5 Kobo to N2.70 per share from N2.65 per share.
However, there was a price loser, MRS Oil, which dipped by N21.75 to N195.75 per unit from N217.50 per unit.
During the final session of the week, the value of securities jumped 75.2 per cent to N41.3 million from N23.6 million units, and the number of deals expanded by 62.9 per cent to 44 deals from 27 deals, while the volume of securities declined marginally by 0.9 per cent to 447,403 units from 451,522 units.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.
GNI was also the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.6 million units transacted for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units exchanged for N1.9 billion.
Economy
Naira Slips to N1,358/$1 as FX Reserves, Policy Uncertainty Concerns
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira in the currency market on Friday, April 24, as its value depreciated against the major foreign currencies at the close of transactions.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), it lost N4.53 or 0.33 per cent against the United States Dollar yesterday to trade at N1,358.44/$1, in contrast to the N1,353.91/$1 it was exchanged on Thursday.
Equally, the domestic currency slipped against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N8.14 to close at N1,834.02/£1, compared with the previous rate of N1,825.88/£1 and dropped N8.01 against the Euro to sell at N1,590.73/€1 versus N1,582.72/€1.
Also, the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX desk on Friday by N4 to quote at N1,370/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,366/$1, and at the parallel market, it depleted by N5 to settle at N1,380/$1 versus the preceding day’s N1,375/$1.
Data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicated that NFEM interbank turnover surged to N43.562 million across 68 deals, up from N28.117 million the previous day.
Despite the CBN’s reassurance that the recent drop in external reserves is not worrisome, the market remains unsettled by persistent concerns over liquidity constraints, policy transparency, and weakening confidence in Nigeria’s FX market as gross reserves continue to decline to $48.4 billion.
The outlook for the Dollar appears supported by broader macro risks, including elevated oil prices tied to the tanker traffic disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and a continued US-Iran standoff over ceasefire negotiations.
A look at the digital currency market showed that investors are sitting on the edge as the US Dollar rebounded amid geopolitical and inflation risks despite continued inflows into US spot bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
Solana (SOL) rose by 1.2 per cent to sell $86.45, Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $0.2517, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.9 per cent to $0.0989, Ripple (XRP) improved by 0.3 per cent to $1.43, Ethereum (ETH) soared by 0.2 per cent to $2,316.83, and Binance Coin (BNB) chalked up 0.1 per cent to sell for $637.44.
However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 1.3 per cent to $0.3235, and Bitcoin (BTC) lost 0.2 per cent to close at $77,562.27, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
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