Economy
Shareholders Okays Delisting of 7up Bottling Company From NSE
**To Get N125 Per Share Payment
By Dipo Olowookere
The delisting of Seven Up Bottling Company Plc from the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has been approved by shareholders of the firm.
As a result of the approval, shareholders of the company will now be paid N125 per share instead of the N112.70 kobo earlier proposed by the board to shareholders.
They will likely begin to get paid from next Monday.
The decision to delist 7up Bottling Company Plc from the stock exchange was reached at an Extra Ordinary Meeting (EGM) of the firm held yesterday at the Grand Ball Room of Eko Hotel & Suites, Lagos.
The meeting was ordered by a court sitting in Lagos.
On December 5, 2017, a Federal High Court in Lagos directed that a meeting of the holders of the fully paid-up ordinary shares of Seven-Up Bottling Company Plc (SBC) be convened for the purpose of considering and if thought fit, approving (with or without modification) a Scheme of Arrangement between Seven Up Bottling Company Plc and the holders of its fully paid ordinary shares (the Scheme).
It was gathered that the delisting process of the firm started when the majority shareholders of Seven Up Bottling Company Plc, Affelka S.A, proposed to acquire all the outstanding and issued shares of the soft drink company not currently owned by Affelka.
It involved the transfer of 171,542,574 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each, with a nominal value of N85,771,287 comprising of the company’s issued and paid up share capital representing the minority shares.
Through the scheme, the shares would be transferred to Sparkplexi Limited, a subsidiary of Affelka S.A the majority shareholder.
At the conclusion of the process, Affelka and Sparkplexi would be the remaining shareholders of Seven Up Bottling Company Plc, with Affelka owning 73.22 percent and Sparkplexi owning 26.78 percent.
Following the scheme, the company will be re-registered as a private limited liability company pursuant to the relevant provision of the Company and Allied Matters Acts (CAMA).
However the company noted in the scheme of arrangement to shareholders that the financial performance of the company over the last couple of years has been predominantly negative, as a result of the myriad of challenges imposed by the unfavourable macro-economic environment, such as sharp currency devaluation resulting in a massive escalation in the cost of raw materials, distribution and other operating costs including overheads, high debt servicing costs due to increases in interest rates and borrowing expenses.
The company added that this is further exacerbated by the extremely competitive environment from existing and new privately owned entrants, flooding the market with cheaper products which makes the company unable to pass on the increased costs to the end consumer.
Accordingly, the board said it believes that the operating dynamics of the company were unlikely to improve in the foreseeable future and that, in the absence of a comprehensive corporate and financial restructuring, the company’s shareholder book value of equity, which lost 47 percent year on year in full year 2017, would be further eroded by the continued losses.
Going forward, Seven Up Bottling Company board said it believes that the current arrangement should create considerable benefits and opportunities’ for the employees and other stakeholders of the company; for instance protection of minority shareholders who experienced 47 percent erosion in shareholder book value of equity in the last financial year.
The restructuring will enable Affelka to provide the support required for Seven Up Bottling Company to shore up the balance sheet and capital required for maintaining and expanding the business. Enhance product portfolio which will enable the company to better compete with its industry competitors, both existing and new entrants and be better positioned to address consumers changing needs. And reinforcement of Affelka’s long term commitment to Seven Up Bottling Company as one of the leading manufacturing companies in Nigeria.
With the final approval given yesterday, shareholders of Seven Up Bottling Company would be paid a cash consideration (as defined in the Scheme Document) by Affelka and/or Sparkplexi, a wholly owned subsidiary of Affelka for the transfer of the said Scheme Shares.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Four securities weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.95 per cent on Friday, erasing N41.17 billion from the bourse, which had its market capitalisation at N2.567 trillion compared with the previous session’s N2.618 trillion.
In the same vein, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) decreased at the close of business by 85.28 points to 4,277.07 points from 4,362.32 points.
The price decliners were led by 11 Plc, which gave up N20.50 to sell at N200.50 per share compared with the preceding day’s N221.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc dropped N16.94 to close at N155.20 per unit versus Thursday’s closing price of N172.14 per unit, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went down by N2.11 to N84.68 per share from N86.79 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc lost 11 Kobo to end at N16.74 per unit, in contrast to the N16.85 per unit it closed a day earlier.
During the trading day, the value of transactions jumped by 172.1 per cent to N29.9 million from the preceding session’s N10.9 million, and the volume of trades soared by 136.5 per cent to 955,096 units from the previous 403,901 units, while the number of deals went down by 11.4 per cent to 31 deals from 35 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 68.6 million units sold for N4.7 billion.
GNI Plc also ended the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The last trading session of this week on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended on a negative note, with a 0.66 per cent loss on Friday.
This was influenced by sustained selling pressure and cautious trading, which forced investors into profit-taking.
Data obtained by Business Post showed that the energy sector fell by 4.66 per cent, the insurance counter dipped by 2.23 per cent, the consumer goods index depreciated by 0.96 per cent, and the banking segment shed 0.28 per cent, while the industrial goods space remained unchanged.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) of Nigeria’s stock exchange went down by 1,531.81 points to 232,049.02 points from 233,580.83 points, and the market capitalisation dropped N983 billion to settle at N148.905 trillion compared with Thursday’s N149.888 trillion.
Aradel was the worst-performing equity after it lost 10.00 per cent to close at N1,417.50. International Energy Insurance slipped by 9.95 per cent to N5.79, Trans-Nationwide Express depreciated by 9.89 per cent to N3.28, eTranzact crashed by 9.79 per cent to N14.75, and UPDC slumped by 9.72 per cent to N28.12.
The best-performing equity for the day was Universal Insurance, which gained 6.32 per cent to close at N1.01, McNichols grew by 5.52 per cent to N8.60, Linkage Assurance expanded by 4.67 per cent to N1.57, NGX Group appreciated by 4.35 per cent to N120.00, and Transcorp increased by 3.62 per cent to N41.50.
As look at the activity level indicated that investors traded 388.7 million stocks worth N18.4 billion in 44,631 deals compared with the 393.7 million stocks valued at N19.2 billion executed in 45,813 deals a day earlier, representing a decline in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 1.27 per cent, 4.17 per cent, and 2.58 per cent, respectively.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira recorded a loss of 82 Kobo or 0.06 per cent against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, June 26, exchanging at N1,380.93/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s rate of N1,380.11/$1.
Equally, the domestic currency further weakened against the Pound Sterling in the official FX market yesterday by N6.06 to settle at N1,824.90/£1 versus the preceding session’s N1,818.84/£1, and lost N10.74 on the Euro to sell at N1,577 .58/€1 versus N1,566.84/€1.
At the GTBank forex counter, the Naira depreciated against the greenback during the session by N4 to close at N1,387/$1, in contrast to Thursday’s value of N1,383/$1, and at the parallel market, it was unchanged at N1,395/$1.
Interbank FX activity among financial institutions has fluctuated amid a sharp slowdown in forex market interventions by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as it allows demand and supply to move the market.
Also, a stronger greenback has generally put significant pressure on emerging-market currencies.
Nigeria has accessed the first tranche of a proposed $5 billion derivatives financing arrangement with First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC, the largest lender in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The $5 billion facility, approved by the National Assembly earlier this year, is part of the federal government’s plan to diversify external financing sources and reduce borrowing costs. Structured as a Total Return Swap with First Abu Dhabi Bank, proceeds are earmarked for refinancing debt and supporting infrastructure financing.
If the proceeds are brought into the country through the official FX market, the transaction will increase the currency reserves or Dollar liquidity.
At the cryptocurrency market, Solana (SOL) grew by 2.2 per cent to $71.92, Cardano (ADA) gained 1.1 per cent to trade at $0.1474, Ripple (XRP) also appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $1.05, Dogecoin (DOGE) expanded by 0.9 per cent to $0.0755, and Ethereum (ETH) improved by 0.4 per cent to $1,578.84.
On the flip side, TRON (TRX) slid 0.6 per cent to $0.3203, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 0.3 per cent to $564.33, and Bitcoin fell by 0.2 per cent to $60,219.37, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
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