Economy
Red Star Express Seeks Funds for New Warehouses, Trucks, Others
By Adedapo Adesanya
Top courier and logistic service provider, Red Star Express Plc, has revealed that it intends to use proceeds from the sale of 336,855,291 units of the company’s shares through rights issue for expansion of its operations.
Addressing the investing public, including Business Post on Thursday at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Red Star Express said the four major things funds from the exercise would be used for include provision of trucks; development of warehouse facilities at Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos; deployment of more improved technology; working capital of the company.
The Group Managing Director of Red Star Express Plc, Mr Sola Obabori, while speaking yesterday at the company’s Facts Behind the Figures at the stock exchange, noted that the company has seen a lot of growth in the past five years, adding that measures have been put in place to ensure further development so as to create more value to shareholders.
He said, with the expected net issue proceeds of N1.3 billion from the rights issue, the company will within 18 months develop its warehouse facilities to create a better storage of its customers’ cargos and goods, purchase more trucks to improve logistics, and put in place ICT resources among others.
“We are going to develop warehouse facilities at Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and Murtala Muhammed International Airport Cargo terminal. Spaces are already jampacked and we need to expand.
“Approval has been given by the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and this will cover 54 percent of the total money and this is about N704 million and is expected to be completed in 18 months,” the GMD said.
Mr Obabori further said, “We are also developing a 9000 square kilometer space for warehouse development along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.”
“We will be buying additional trucks to drive the logistics part of our business,” the GMD stated, noting that capital to be raise for this purpose would be N201.6 million (15 percent of the rights issue) and should be purchased under three months.
He stressed that 12 percent of the proceeds, amounting to N154.3 million, would be used for Information and Communication Technology solutions and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), which he said would support the firm for better decision-making methods. He said this should be within 18 months.
According to him, the remaining 19 percent (250 million of the proceeds) would then be deployed for the working capital of across board with immediate effect.
Speaking on the company’s financial performance, Mr Obabori noted that the company’s revenue has grown by 20 percent from N8.4 billion recorded in 2018 to over N10 billion in 2019.
“This occurred as a result of our consistent increase in revenue drive, through increase in customer base, innovation, and investments in assets,” he explained.
He added that the 5-year revenue overview would do well to attract investor confidence, noting that the group, “has constantly increased revenue for the 5-year period by 51 percent from N6.6 billion in 2015 to N10.0 billion in 2019.”
He further said that subsidiaries of the company, which include Red Star Logistics and Red Star Support Services Limited, have contributed between 42 percent and 48 percent in the last five years and expressed optimism that with the rights issues, the numbers will only increase.
Seeking to further boost investors’ confidence, Mr Obabori said, “The group has always maintained an upward trend in our dividend payment over the last 5 years, with the highest record of 43 Kobo in full year 2019.”
Mr Obabori added that, “When we are done with this rights issues, it will be N3.7 billion, assuming all provisionally allotted ordinary shares are fully taken up on completion of the right issues.”
The company’s market capitalization pre-issue stood at N2.36 billion. It was stated that shareholders who do not accept their allotment in full may have their shareholding in the company diluted.
Looking ahead, Red Star Express Plc has projected a revenue increase of N12.6 billion and N1.4 billion increase in Profit Before Tax and constant increases in the company that will see its revenue reach N18.9 billion in 2025.
Business Post reports that the company’s share price, as at the time of this report on Friday, was trading at N4.45 per share on the floor of the Nigerian stock exchange.
Red Star Express Plc provides a portfolio of logistics solutions which include, but not limited to International and Domestic delivery, Freight Forwarding, Information and Document Management, Mail Management, Warehousing, and E-Commerce Solutions.
By Dipo Olowookere
The local stock market firmed up by 1.13 per cent on Friday as appetite for Nigerian stocks remained strong.
Investors reacted well to the 2026 budget presentation of President Bola Tinubu to the National Assembly yesterday, especially because of the more realistic crude oil benchmark of $64 per barrel compared with the ambitious $75 per barrel for 2025. This year, prices have been between $60 and $65 per barrel.
Business Post observed profit-taking in the commodity and energy sectors as they respectively shed 0.14 per cent and 0.03 per cent.
But, bargain-hunting in the others sustained the positive run, with the consumer goods index up by 3.82 per cent.
Further, the industrial goods space appreciated by 1.46 per cent, the banking counter improved by 0.08 per cent, and the insurance industry gained 0.04 per cent.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 1,694.33 points to 152,057.38 points from 150,363.05 points and the market capitalisation chalked up N1.080 trillion to finish at N96.937 trillion compared with Thursday’s closing value of N95.857 trillion.
A total of 34 shares ended on the advancers’ chart, while 24 were on the laggards’ log, representing a positive market breadth index and bullish investor sentiment.
Austin Laz gained 10.00 per cent to close at N2.42, Union Dicon also jumped 10.00 per cent to N6.60, Tantalizers increased by 9.80 per cent to N2.69, Aluminium Extrusion improved by 9.78 per cent to N12.35, and Champion Breweries grew by 9.71 per cent to N16.95.
Conversely, Sovereign Trust Insurance dipped by 7.42 per cent to N3.87, Royal Exchange lost 6.84 per cent to trade at N1.77, Omatek slipped by 6.84 per cent to N1.09, Eunisell depreciated by 5.88 per cent to N80.00, and Eterna dropped 5.63 per cent to close at N28.50.
Yesterday, traders transacted 1.5 billion units worth N21.8 billion in 25,667 deals compared with the 839.8 million units sold for N32.8 billion in 23,211 deals in the preceding session, showing a surge in the trading volume by 76.61 per cent, an uptick in the number of deals by 10.58 per cent, and a shrink in the trading value by 33.54 per cent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Three stocks stretched the bearish run of the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.21 per cent on Friday, December 19, with the market capitalisation giving up N26.01 billion to close at N2.121 billion compared with the N2.147 trillion it ended a day earlier, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropping 43.47 points to 3,546.41 points from 3,589.88 points.
The trio of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, and NASD Plc overpowered the gains printed by four other securities.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost N6.00 to sell at N54.00 per unit versus N60.00 per unit, NASD Plc shrank by N3.50 to N58.50 per share from N55.00 per share, and CSCS Plc depleted by N2.91 to N33.87 per unit from N36.78 per unit.
On the flip side, Air Liquide Plc gained N1.01 to close at N13.00 per share versus N11.99 per share, Golden Capital Plc appreciated by 70 Kobo to N7.68 per unit from N6.98 per unit, Geo-Fluids Plc added 39 Kobo to sell at N5.50 per share versus N5.11 per share, and IPWA Plc rose by 8 Kobo to 85 Kobo per unit from 77 Kobo per unit.
During the trading day, market participants traded 1.9 million securities versus the previous day’s 30.5 million securities showing a decline of 49.3 per cent. The value of trades went down by 64.3 per cent to N80.3 million from N225.1 million, but the number of deals jumped by 32.1 per cent to 37 deals from 28 deals.
Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc finished the session as the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units valued at N16.4 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 178.9 million units transacted for N9.5 billion, and MRS Oil Plc with 36.1 million units traded for N4.9 billion.
The most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was still InfraCredit Plc with 5.8 billion units worth N16.4 billion, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.7 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units traded for N524.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira at the two major foreign exchange (FX) market on Friday as it suffered a heavy loss against the United States Dollar at the close of transactions.
In the black market segment, the Naira weakened against its American counterpart yesterday by N10 to quote at N1,485/$1, in contrast to the N1,475/$1 it was traded a day earlier, and at the GTBank forex counter, it depreciated by N2 to settle at N1,467/$1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,465/$1.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) window, which is also the official market, the nation’s legal tender crashed against the greenback by N6.65 or 0.46 per cent to close at N1,464.49/$1 compared with the preceding session’s rate of N1,457.84/$1.
In the same vein, the local currency tumbled against the Euro in the spot market by N2.25 to sell for N1,714.63/€1 compared with the previous day’s N1,712.38/€1, but appreciated against the Pound Sterling by 73 Kobo to finish at N1,957.30/£1 compared with the N1,958.03/£1 it was traded in the preceding session.
The market continues to face seasonal pressure even as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is still conducting FX intervention sales, which have significantly reduced but not remove pressure from the Naira. Also, there seems to be reduced supply from exporters, foreign portfolio investors and non-bank corporate inflows.
President Bola Tinubu on Friday presented the government’s N58.47 trillion budget plan aimed at consolidating economic reforms and boosting growth.
The budget is based on a projected crude oil price of $64.85 a barrel and includes a target oil output of 1.84 million barrels a day. It also projects an exchange rate of N1,400 to the Dollar.
President Tinubu said inflation had plunged to an annual rate of 14.45 per cent in November from 24.23 per cent in March, while foreign reserves had surged to a seven-year high of $47 billion.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was dominated by the bulls but it continues to face increased pressure after million in liquidations in previous session over accelerating declines, with Dogecoin (DOGE) recovering 4.2 per cent to trade at $0.1309.
Further, Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 3.9 per cent to $1.90, Cardano (ADA) rose by 3.5 per cent to $0.3728, Solana (SOL) jumped by 3.4 per cent to $126.23, Ethereum (ETH) climbed by 2.9 per cent to $2,982.42, Binance Coin (BNB) gained 2.0 per cent to sell for $853.06, Bitcoin (BTC) improved by 1.7 per cent to $88,281.21, and Litecoin (LTC) soared by 1.2 per cent to $76.50, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
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