Economy
Guinness Nigeria Board Confident of Strategy Despite Poor Q3 2020 Results
By Dipo Olowookere
The board of Guinness Nigeria Plc said it is very confident of the strategies put in place to turn the fortunes of the company around in the midst of the overwhelming operating challenges.
Since the Mr Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government introduced an excise duty for the alcohol sector in the Nigeria few years ago, operators have been struggling to remain profitable.
Also, the low purchasing power of consumers in the country has compounded the woes of beer makers, recording low turnover and profit.
In the third quarter of the 2020 financial year of Guinness Nigeria, things went bad as the revenue generated by the company in the first nine months of the year depreciated by 5 percent to N96.0 billion from N101.4 billion.
According to the brewery giant, this decline was driven by the impact of drop in volume as a result of impacts from the increase of excise duty, price increases and the early-stage impacts of COVID-19 in March.
The impact of beer excise increases represents a loss of about 2 percent revenue growth year on year, and flows through gross and operating margins to net profit, the firm said.
It added that despite this impact, Guinness, Dubic and mainstream spirits delivered growth year to date, while Malta remained impacted by lower export opportunities relative to last year.
It further said absolute cost of sales was lower than the previous year partly due to top line volume decline,
while cost per unit also reduced as it continues to see the benefit of strong focus on productivity to mitigate inflationary pressures.
During the period under review, gross margin increased to 32 percent mainly as a result of cost of sales productivity that mitigated excise duty increases.
Guinness Nigeria said it has since taken price to cover the excise duty increase on spirits and the VAT increase across the portfolio.
The more focus on its brands like Guinness, spirits and Malta in line with its strategy resulted in the higher market and distribution expenses, which stood at N18.2 billion in the first nine months of the year in contrast to N17.5 billion in the same period of 2019.
It was disclosed that distribution and administrative costs marginally increased within the year compared to same period last year on the back of inflation.
Operating profit declined by N2.1 billion to N5.2 billion from N7.3 billion, with the Operating Margin declining 2 percent due the this increased spend.
It was observed that the devaluation of the local currency has impacted financing costs which increased significantly in the period to N3.6 billion from N1.8 billion.
As a result, the profit before tax decreased to N2.0 billion from N6.3 billion, while the profit after tax dropped to N1.4 billion from N4.3 billion.
But despite this disappointment performance, the board said it was “confident that our strategy is sound and we are making the right investments in the company to ensure our long-term competitiveness.”
“It will continue to support the management in its efforts to build a business that aims to consistently deliver growth for stakeholders,” it added.
The board noted that the COVID-19 pandemic that led to nationwide restrictions for five weeks will continue to have an impact on the operations of the business in the current financial year.
“Management is closely monitoring the evolving situation and continues to be agile and take actions to protect our business and brands. We will provide guidance when necessary on the likely impact on the business,” it assured.
By Adedapo Adesanya
TotalEnergies EP Nigeria has signed a Sale and Purchase Agreement with Vaaris for the divestment of its 10 per cent non-operated interest in the Renaissance JV licences in Nigeria.
The Renaissance JV, formerly known as the SPDC JV, is an unincorporated joint venture between Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (55 per cent), Renaissance Africa Energy Company Ltd (30 per cent, operator), TotalEnergies EP Nigeria (10 per cent) and Agip Energy and Natural Resources Nigeria (5 per cent), which holds 18 licences in the Niger Delta.
In a statement by TotalEnergies on Wednesday, it was stated that under the agreement signed with Vaaris, TotalEnergies EP Nigeria will sell its 10 per cent participating interest and all its rights and obligations in 15 licences of Renaissance JV, which are producing mainly oil.
Production from these licences, it was said, represented approximately 16,000 barrels equivalent per day in company’s share in 2025.
The agreement also stated that TotalEnergies EP Nigeria will also transfer to Vaaris its 10 per cent participating interest in the three other licences of Renaissance JV which are producing mainly gas, namely OML 23, OML 28 and OML 77, while TotalEnergies will retain full economic interest in these licences, which currently account for 50 per cent of Nigeria LNG gas supply.
Business Post reports that the conclusion of the deal is subject to customary conditions, including regulatory approvals.
“TotalEnergies EP Nigeria has signed a Sale and Purchase Agreement with Vaaris for the sale of its 10 per cent non-operated interest in the Renaissance JV licences in Nigeria.
“Under the agreement signed with Vaaris, TotalEnergies EP Nigeria will sell to Vaaris its 10 per cent participating interest and all its rights and obligations in 15 licences of Renaissance JV, which are producing mainly oil. Production from these licences represented approximately 16,000 barrels equivalent per day in the company’s share in 2025.
“TotalEnergies EP Nigeria will also transfer to Vaaris its 10 per cent participating interest in the 3 other licenses of Renaissance JV, which are producing mainly gas (OML 23, OML 28 and OML 77), while TotalEnergies will retain full economic interest in these licenses, which currently account for 50 per cent of Nigeria LNG gas supply. Closing is subject to customary conditions, including regulatory approvals,” the statement reads in part.
The development is part of TotalEnergies’ strategies to dump more assets to lighten its books and debt.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The trading licence of Monument Securities and Finance Limited has been revoked by the regulatory arm of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Group Plc.
Known as NGX Regulations Limited (NGX Regco), the regulator said it took back the operating licence of the organisation after it shut down its operations.
The revocation of the licence was approved by Regulation and New Business Committee (RNBC) at its meeting held on September 24, 2025, a notice from the signed by the Head of Market Regulations at the agency, Chinedu Akamaka, said.
“This is to formally notify all trading license holders that the board of NGX Regulation Limited (NGX RegCo) has approved the decision of the Regulation and New Business Committee (RNBC)” in respect of Monument Securities and Finance Limited, a part of the disclosure stated.
Monument Securities and Finance Limited was earlier licensed to assist clients with the trading of stocks in the Nigerian capital market.
However, with the latest development, the firm is no longer authorised to perform this function.
Economy
NEITI Advocates Fiscal Discipline, Transparency as FG, States, LGs Get N6trn in Three Months
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has called for fiscal discipline and transparency as data showed that federal government, states, and local governments shared a whopping N6 trillion Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursements in the third quarter of last year.
In its analysis of the FAAC Q3 2025 allocation, the body revealed that the federal government received N2.19 trillion, states received N1.97 trillion, and local governments received N1.45 trillion.
According to a statement by the Director of Communication and Stakeholders Management at NEITI, Mrs Obiageli Onuorah, the allocation indicated a historic rise in federation account receipts and distributions, explaining that year-on-year quarterly FAAC allocations in 2025 grew by 55.6 per cent compared with Q3 of 2024 while it more than doubling allocations over two years.
The report contained in the agency’s Quarterly Review noted that the N6 trillion included 13 per cent payments to derivative states. It also showed that statutory revenues accounted for 62 per cent of shared receipts, while Value Added Tax (VAT) was 34 per cent, and Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) and augmentation from non-oil excess revenue each accounted for 2 per cent, respectively.
The distribution to the 36 states comprised revenues from statutory sources, VAT, EMTL, and ecological funds. States also received additional N100 billion as augmentation from the non-oil excess revenue account.
The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Mr Sarkin Adar, called on the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) FAAC, the National Economic Council (NEC), the National Assembly, and state governments to act on the recommendations to strengthen transparency, accountability, and long-term fiscal sustainability.
“Though the Quarter 3 2025 FAAC results are encouraging, NEITI reiterates that the data presents an opportunity to the government to institutionalise prudent fiscal practices that will protect the gains that have been recorded so far in growing revenue and reduce vulnerability to commodity shocks.
“The Q3 2025 FAAC results are encouraging, but windfalls must be managed with discipline. Greater transparency, realistic budgeting, and stronger stabilisation mechanisms will ensure these resources deliver durable benefits for all Nigerians,” Mr Adar said.
NEITI urged the government at all levels to ensure the growth of Nigeria’s sovereign wealth and stabilisation capacity, by committing to regular transfers to the Nigeria Sovereign Wealth Fund and other related stabilisation mechanisms in line with the fiscal responsibility frameworks.
It further advised governments at all levels to adopt realistic budget benchmarks by setting more conservative and achievable crude oil production and price assumptions in the budget to reduce implementation gaps, deficit, and debt metrics.
This, it said, is in addition to accelerating revenue diversification by prioritising reforms that would attract investments into the mining sector, expedite legislation to modernise the Mineral and Mining Act, support reforms in the downstream petroleum sector, as well as the full implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to expand domestic refining and value addition.
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