Economy
Economic Downturn, Elections Frustrate Sale of GSK Agbara Factory
By Dipo Olowookere
The sale of the Agbara factory of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Consumer Nigeria Plc in Ogun State is yet to be concluded, Business Post has learned.
In 2019, the board of the biopharma company said its manufacturing plant in Ogun State would be shut down by the third quarter of 2021 as the firm was restructuring its business model.
According to a statement released on the development, GSK said the production of its drugs and other products would be handled by a “suitable third party local manufacturer,” saying this was the best strategy to “better serve the Nigerian patients and consumers,” as this development will “not impact GSK’s broader commitments to global health in Nigeria and across Africa.”
It explained that, “This restructuring, which would be effective in Q3 2021, involves working with local contract manufacturers for the supply of GSK’s products, where possible.
“This would support the building of local expertise, transfer of technical knowledge and improve local production capacities in the country.”
Business Post gathered that the GSK Agbara factory was to be offloaded in 2022, but it suffered a setback because buyers were sceptical about the outcome of the 2023 general elections and the macroeconomic environment in Nigeria.
This forced the management to offload some parts of the factory in bits, according to the information contained in the audited financial statements of the organisation for 2022.
GSK said at the time it shut down the factory, the plant and machinery, furniture and fittings, and motor vehicles were worth N666 million, N28 million and N21 million, respectively, with plans to have them sold “within a one-year period.”
“However, due to circumstances that arose in the course of the year, which were previously considered unlikely, some of the assets were not sold as at December 31, 2022,” a note from the results stated.
Explaining the reason for this, the company said, “In 2022, the Nigerian economy took a downturn, and the negative perception of the occurrence of the 2023 general elections in Nigeria made businesses stall on making capital investment decisions which affected the sale of these assets.
“The group took necessary action to respond to the change in these circumstances through direct engagement with potential purchasers to complement the bidding approach originally planned.
“Furthermore, the assets have been impaired and are being actively marketed at a price that is reasonable to their fair value, given the change in circumstances.
“During the year, plants and machinery and motor vehicles with carrying amounts of N29.7 million and N4.8 million, respectively, were disposed of during the year through several bidding processes. Net gains of N7.1 million, which arose from the disposals, have been reported in other gains and losses in the statement of profit or loss under the non-operating segment. There are no cumulative income or expenses included in other comprehensive income relating to the assets held for sale.
“Subsequent to 31 December 2022, additional disposals with a carrying amount of N114 million have been made as at the date of approval of these consolidated and separate financial statements. Negotiations and contracting are currently ongoing with several potential buyers for the remaining assets yet to be disposed of, and the directors expect that all assets will be sold in 2023,” it said.
The 2023 general elections were conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and Mr Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was declared the president-elect, though his mandate is being challenged by Mr Peter Obi of the Labour Party and Mr Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
On Thursday, GSK released its financial statements for last year, and the board proposed the payment of a 55 Kobo dividend to shareholders.
This was after the organisation grew its revenue for the year to N25.4 billion from the N22.5 billion achieved in the preceding year, as the profit before tax closed at N1.2 billion as of December 31, 2022, in contrast to N945.8 million as of December 31, 2021, with the post-tax profit closing at N771.2 million compared with the previous year’s N658.8 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The domestic supply of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, from the Dangote Refinery increased by 64.4 percent in December 2025, contributing to an enhancement in Nigeria’s overall petrol availability.
This is according to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) in its December 2025 Factsheet Report released on Thursday.
The downstream regulatory agency revealed that the private refinery raised its domestic petrol supply from 19.47 million litres per day in November 2025 to an average of 32.012 million litres per day in December, as it quelled any probable fuel scarcity associated with the festive month.
The report attributed the improvement to more substantial capacity utilisation at the Lagos-based oil facility, which reached a peak of 71 per cent in December.
The increased output from Dangote Refinery contributed to a rise in Nigeria’s total daily domestic PMS supply to 74.2 million litres in December, up from 71.5 million litres per day recorded in November.
The authority also reported a sharp increase in petrol consumption, rising to 63.7 million litres per day in December 2025, up from 52.9 million litres per day in the previous month.
In contrast, the domestic supply of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) known as diesel declined to 17.9 million litres per day in December from 20.4 million litres per day in November, even as daily diesel consumption increased to 16.4 million litres per day from 15.4 million litres per day.
Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) supply recorded modest growth during the period, rising to 5.2 metric tonnes per day in December from 5.0 metric tonnes per day in November.
Despite the gains recorded by Dangote Refinery and modular refineries, the NMDPRA disclosed that Nigeria’s four state-owned refineries recorded zero production in December.
It said the Port Harcourt Refinery remained shut down, though evacuation of diesel produced before May 24, 2025, averaged 0.247 million litres per day. The Warri and Kaduna refineries also remained shut down throughout the period.
On modular refineries, the report said Waltersmith Refinery (Train 2 with 5,000 barrels per day) completed pre-commissioning in December, with hydrocarbon introduction expected in January 2026. The refinery recorded an average capacity utilisation of 63.24 per cent and an average AGO supply of 0.051 million litres per day
Edo Refinery posted an average capacity utilisation of 85.43 per cent with AGO supply of 0.052 million litres per day, while Aradel recorded 53.89 per cent utilisation and supplied an average of 0.289 million litres per day of AGO.
Total AGO supply from the three modular refineries averaged 0.392 million litres per day, with other products including naphtha, heavy hydrocarbon kerosene (HHK), fuel oil, and marine diesel oil (MDO).
The report listed Nigeria’s 2025 daily consumption benchmarks as 50 million litres per day for petrol, 14 million litres per day for diesel, 3 million litres per day for aviation fuel (ATK), and 3,900 metric tonnes per day for cooking gas.
Actual daily truck-out consumption in December stood at 63.7 million litres per day for petrol, 16.4 million litres per day for diesel, 2.7 million litres per day for ATK and 4,380 metric tonnes per day for cooking gas.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has introduced a comprehensive revision of minimum capital requirements for nearly all capital market operators, marking the most significant overhaul since 2015.
The changes, outlined in a circular issued on January 16, 2026, obtained from its website on Friday, replace the previous regime. Operators have been given until June 30, 2027, to comply.
The SEC stated that the reforms aim to strengthen market resilience, enhance investor protection, discourage undercapitalised operators, and align capital adequacy with the evolving risk profile of market activities.
According to the circular, “The revised framework applies to brokers, dealers, fund managers, issuing houses, fintech firms, digital asset operators, and market infrastructure providers.”
Some of the key highlights of the new reforms include increment of minimum capital for brokers from N200 million to N600 million while for dealers, it was raised to N1 billion from N100 million.
For broker-dealers, they are to get N2 billion instead of the previous N300 million, reflecting multi-role exposure across trading, execution, and margin lending.
The agency said fund and portfolio managers with assets above N20 billion must hold N5 billion, while mid-tier managers must maintain N2 billion with private equity and venture capital firms to have N500 million and N200 million, respectively.
There was also dynamic rule as firms managing assets above N100 billion must hold at least 10 per cent of assets under management as capital.
“Digital asset firms, previously in a regulatory grey area, are now fully covered: digital exchanges and custodians must maintain N2 billion each, while tokenisation platforms and intermediaries face thresholds of N500 million to N1 billion. Robo-advisers must hold N100 million.
“Other segments are also affected: issuing houses offering full underwriting services must hold N7 billion, advisory-only firms N2 billion, registrars N2.5 billion, trustees N2 billion, underwriters N5 billion, and individual investment advisers N10 million. Market infrastructure providers carry some of the highest obligations, with composite exchanges and central counterparties required to maintain N10 billion each, and clearinghouses N5 billion,” the SEC added.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The founder and chief executive of Austin Laz and Company Plc, Mr Asimonye Austin Lazarus Azubuike, has sold off about 52.24 million shares of the organisation.
The stocks were offloaded in 11 tranches at an average price of N4.36 per unit, amounting to about N227.8 million.
The transactions occurred between December 2025 and January 2026, according to a notice filed by the company to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Friday.
Business Post reports that Austin Laz is known for producing ice block machines, aluminium roofing, thermoplastics coolers, PVC windows and doors, ice cream machines, and disposable plates.
The firm evolved from refrigeration sales to diverse manufacturing since its incorporation in 1982 in Benin City, Edo State, though facing recent operational halts.
According to the statement signed by company secretary, Ifeanyi Offor & Associates, Mr Azubuike first sold 1.5 million units of the equities at N2.42, and then offloaded 2.4 million units at N2.65, and 2.0 million units at N2.65.
In another tranche, he sold another 2.0 million units at a unit price of N2.91, and then 5.0 million units at N3.52, as well as about 4.5 million at N3.87 per share.
It was further disclosed that the owner of the company also sold 9.0 million shares at N4.25, and offloaded another 368,411 units at N4.66, then in another transaction sold about 6.9 million units at N4.67.
In the last two transactions he carried out, Mr Azubuike first traded 10.0 million units equities at N5.13, with the last being 8.5 million stocks sold at N5.64 per unit.
-
Feature/OPED6 years agoDavos was Different this year
-
Travel/Tourism9 years ago
Lagos Seals Western Lodge Hotel In Ikorodu
-
Showbiz3 years agoEstranged Lover Releases Videos of Empress Njamah Bathing
-
Banking8 years agoSort Codes of GTBank Branches in Nigeria
-
Economy3 years agoSubsidy Removal: CNG at N130 Per Litre Cheaper Than Petrol—IPMAN
-
Banking3 years agoFirst Bank Announces Planned Downtime
-
Banking3 years agoSort Codes of UBA Branches in Nigeria
-
Sports3 years agoHighest Paid Nigerian Footballer – How Much Do Nigerian Footballers Earn