Economy
Shareholders Laud BUA Foods for Almost 400% Rise in Stock Price
By Dipo Olowookere
The board and management of BUA Foods Plc have been praised for delivering value for shareholders, especially with its stock price appreciation since the company joined the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.
The organisation received the commendation at its second Annual General Meeting (AGM) last week at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja.
At the event, shareholders approved the N4.50 dividend proposed by the board for the 2022 financial year, amounting to N81 billion.
One of the shareholders who spoke at the yearly gathering, Mr Umar Farouk, said the payment of the cash reward was commendable, applauding the board and management for upholding the vision, mission and values of the business as evidenced by the share price growth which has appreciated by almost 400 per cent since listing.
BUA Foods listed its shares by introduction on Wednesday, January 5, 2022, at N40 per share, and at the close of business on Friday, September 15, 2023, it traded at N185 per unit, representing a 362.5 per cent increase.
The Chairman of the firm, Mr Abdul Samad Rabiu, expressed his gratitude to the shareholders for their unwavering support, saying this has been instrumental in the company’s outstanding performance since its inception.
“Building on the successful merger of our different businesses in 2021, we achieved greater synergies and efficiency within the year, which resulted in a 30.9 per cent growth in our profit after tax.
“Despite the effects of global supply chain disruptions caused by the Russian-Ukraine conflict, we continued to intensify our effort in creating value and expanding our capabilities across all operating divisions; of particular mention is the commencement of commercial production of our Rice operations,” he noted.
“In respect of our expansion/growth strategy, we are commercializing our second flour & pasta plant with respective additional capacities of 800,000MTpa and 500,000MTpa, completing expansion work on our sugar refinery intended further to enhance our regional and global market expansion drive and looking forward to the contribution of our 200,000MTpa rice mill in Kano to the overall performance of the entity within the next fiscal year.
“We will continue to support the overall economic strategy of eat what we grow and grow what we eat through sustained investment in the expansion of our domestic cultivation of the raw material inputs through our 20,000-hectare sugar plantation in Lafiagi and our Paddy rice project to lessen dependence on imported raw materials,” the billionaire businessman added.
On his part, the Managing Director BUA Foods, Mr Ayodele Abioye, said, “We had a great financial year post-listing on the NGX, with our wealth creation journey remarkably boosted by the investing public and institutions’ participation. Year-end market capitalisation was N1.17 trillion from N720 billion.
“Despite the unending economic headwinds, our business delivered strong financial results characterized by revenue growth of 25.5 per cent to N418 billion from all operating divisions.
“Gross Profit grew by 29.0 per cent to N132.7 billion, while net profit grew to N91.3 billion from N69.8 billion in 2021. Earnings per share went up to N5.07, compared to N4.24 in the full year 2021.
“We will continue to drive our business growth, leveraging the commercialisation of additional capacities in our flour & pasta division as well as activating additional revenue generation from our rice division with a sustained focus on deepening our local and export market.
“We target to deliver double-digit growth across our core financial and operational performance metrics.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has defended its decision to allow Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) to invest in the parent companies of their custodians, insisting that adequate safeguards are in place to protect contributors’ funds.
The director-general of the pension regulator, Ms Omolola Oloworaran, speaking on Tuesday during the Meet the Press Briefing at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said the commission’s decision to relax the investment restriction followed a comprehensive risk assessment that found minimal conflict of interest.
She explained that under PenCom’s investment regulations, PFAs are only permitted to invest pension assets in carefully selected instruments that meet stringent criteria, including profitability, strong credit ratings and proven track records.
According to her, the commission regularly reviews its investment regulations, conducts routine examinations and spot checks on PFAs to ensure strict compliance with established risk management guidelines.
“PFAs cannot just go into the stock market and buy any kind of stock. There are strict guidelines. Companies must demonstrate profitability, have a proven track record and satisfy other criteria before pension funds can invest,” she said.
Ms Oloworaran noted that each PFA also operates under the oversight of a board, an investment committee and a risk management committee, providing additional layers of governance to safeguard contributors’ funds.
She said PenCom recently issued a circular allowing PFAs to invest in the parent companies of their custodians after determining that the potential conflict of interest was negligible.
The PenCom boss explained that the parent companies involved are largely Tier-1 banks, including First Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Zenith Bank, which she described as A-rated institutions with strong financial foundations.
She said the policy was intended to widen investment opportunities for pension funds without compromising safety.
Using Stanbic IBTC as an example, Ms Oloworaran explained that if its custodian is Zenith Bank, the previous restriction prevented the pension administrator from investing in Zenith Bank shares despite the bank’s strong performance.
“We reviewed the risks and any potential conflict of interest and found the risks to be very low. That is why we opened that investment window,” she said.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Analysts at Meristem Research have predicted that the inflation rate for June 2026 in Nigeria should marginally rise to 15.95 per cent on a year-on-year basis from the 15.93 per cent reported in May 2026.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) is expected to release inflation numbers for last month later today, Wednesday, July 15, 2026.
In its report sighted by Business Post, Meristem Research said it expects inflationary pressures to re-emerge across key economies in the near term, as the re-escalation of the US-Iran conflict has reignited upward pressure on global oil prices.
It disclosed that this marks a sharp reversal from most of June, when the ceasefire between the two countries helped drive oil prices lower, raising expectations of some relief on the inflation front.
With conflicts now flaring up again, oil prices are likely to increase again, and the anticipated easing in energy-driven inflation may not materialise as broadly as earlier envisaged.
“Nonetheless, some relief is likely from the food segment, where robust supply conditions across major producing regions and softening demand should continue to ease food price pressures,” it stated.
The team also explained that it projected a 15.95 per cent inflation rate because of the lingering effects of persistent food price pressures.
“However, we expect core inflation to moderate as the sharp reversal in energy prices begins to filter through to transportation, distribution, and other energy-related costs, easing underlying price pressures.
“On a month-on-month basis, the combined effect of lower petrol prices, a relatively stable Naira, and the gradual pass-through of reduced energy costs across the supply chain should exert further downward pressure on inflation.
“Based on our assessment, food inflation is expected to remain the key swing factor, as seasonal pre-harvest supply constraints are likely to offset some of the gains from lower logistics costs,” it said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and Afriland Properties Plc weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.61 per cent on Tuesday, July 14.
CSCS Plc saw its stock value drop N9.08 to close at N82.40 per share compared with the preceding session’s N91.48 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc slid by 17 Kobo to sell at N15.00 per unit versus N15.70 per unit.
The losses recorded by the two securities pulled back the market capitalisation by N41.64 billion to N2.546 trillion from N2.587 trillion, and cracked the NASD Security Index (NSI) by 69.36 points to 4,242.31 points from 4,311.67 points.
It was observed that the exchange witnessed two price advancers during the session, led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which gained N1.37 to end at N151.37 per share compared with the previous day’s N150.00 per share, and Food Concepts Plc chalked up 5 Kobo to settle at N2.50 per unit versus N2.45 per unit.
The volume of securities traded by market participants surged by 50.7 per cent to 13.7 million units from the previous 9.1 million units, while the value of securities went down by 79.7 per cent to N65.2 million from N320.4 million, and the number of deals crashed by 3.6 per cent to 27 deals from the previous session’s 28 deals.
At the close of transactions, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with the sale of 3.4 billion units for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc, which exchanged 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units transacted for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the trading day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million.
