Economy

UAC Nigeria Posts Decline in Q1 Revenue on MDS Re-Classification

Published

5 years ago

04/05/2020

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The financial results of UAC of Nigeria Plc for the period ended March 31, 2020 have been released by the board of the company.

Details of the financial status of the firm indicated that revenue depreciated by 2.9 percent year-on-year to N19.5 billion on the back of the re-classification of MDS as an associate.

In the results, adjusting for MDS in Q1 2019, revenue increased by 4.7 percent as a result of growth in the Packaged Food & Beverages (+9.8 percent YoY) from improved product availability, and Animal Feeds & Other Edibles segment (+2.4% YoY) from volume growth in poultry feeds.

In addition, EBIT declined by 34.5 percent to N1.1 billion in Q1 2020 with EBIT margin falling 2.78 percent YoY to 5.8 percent.

EBIT declined 22.9 percent and margins compressed 2.07 percent after adjusting for MDS in Q1 2019. EBIT was mainly impacted by investments made in marketing and distribution in the Animal Feeds & Other Edibles and Packaged Food & Beverages and Paints. Increased investments were also made to strengthen management teams across portfolio companies.

The finance income decreased in the period by 25.1 percent on account of lower investment income yields compared to prior year, while finance costs declined by 10.8 percent due to lower average interest rates.

Share of profit of associate stood at N71 million following reclassification of the logistics business (MDS) as an associate.

The company’s gross profit declined by 4.4 percent to N4.2 billion in Q1 2020, with gross margin declining marginally by 0.33 percent to 21.7 percent.

However, gross profit increased by 5.5 percent after adjusting for MDS in Q1 2019 with margins down 0.15 percent.

It was observed that Packaged Food & Beverages (+312 bps) and Paints (+269 bps) reported margin improvements on account of raw material cost savings and reduced material losses.

The decline in operating profit, coupled with a 30.7 percent decline in net finance income, resulted in a Profit Before Tax decline of 30.5 percent to N1.7 billion in Q1 2020, with Profit Before Tax margin declining by 3.38 percent to 8.5 percent.

Profit after tax from continuing operations declined by 41.6 percent to N1.1 billion, while earnings per share from continuing operations was 27 kobo, down 38.7 percent from 44 kobo inQ1 2019.

In addition, profit from discontinued operations was N0.72 billion due to a N3.1 billion fair value gain on recognition of MDS as an investment in associate which offset a N2.6 billion loss from UPDC.

Loss from UPDC was on account of impairment of its investment in the UPDC REIT, leaving the total profit for the period at N1.9 billion in Q1 2020, an 87.1 percent improvement from N996 million reported in Q1 2019.

Earnings per share for the period was 85 kobo, up 268.7 percent from 23 kobo in Q1 2019.

UAC Nigeria said its Free Cash Flow for the period was a negative -N5.6 billion in Q1 2020, compared with negative -B5.2 billion in FY 2019.

It explained that this was impacted by CAPEX of N2.0 billion from the Packaged Food & Beverages segment and inventory purchases in the Animal Feeds & Other Edibles segment.

Gearing increased 0.54 percent from FY 2019 to 10.2 percent at the end of the quarter on account of increased short-term debt funding in the Animal Feeds & Other Edibles segment.

Economy

NGX All-Share Index Jumps 0.17%

Published

1 day ago

18/01/2025

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

A 0.17 per cent growth was recorded by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Friday, extending the stay of the local bourse in the positive territory.

This uptrend was maintained despite profit-taking in the banking sector, which left its index down by 0.23 per cent at the close of trading activities.

Business Post reports that the insurance industry expanded by 4.04 per cent during the session, the energy counter improved by 1.05 per cent, and the consumer goods space gained 0.58 per cent, while the industrial goods sector closed flat.

Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 170.62 points to 102,353.68 points from 102,183.06 points and the market capitalisation grew by N541 billion to N62.851 trillion from N62.310 trillion.

There were 34 price gainers and 22 price losers yesterday, indicating a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.

The trio of Caverton, Livestock Feeds and Sovereign Trust Insurance appreciated by 10.00 per cent each during the session to quote at N2.20, N5.94, and N1.10, respectively, as Neimeth jumped by 994 per cent to N3.43, and Royal Exchange increased by 9.88 per cent to 89 Kobo.

On its part, Academy Press lost 9.74 per cent to close at N3.15, PZ Cussons declined by 9.09 per cent to N25.00, DAAR Communications weakened by 8.64 per cent to 74 Kobo, Transcorp Power shed 5.91 per cent to settle at N46.95, and Dangote Sugar fell by 4.94 per cent to N38.50.

A total of 327.8 million shares valued at N11.8 billion were traded in 11,905 deals on Friday versus the 472.2 million shares worth N16.7 billion transacted in 12,336 deals on Thursday, representing a decline in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 30.58 per cent, 29.34 per cent and 3.49 per cent apiece.

Access Holdings recorded the highest sales with 49.1 million stocks sold for N1.2 billion, Fidelity Bank exchanged 20.4 million shares valued at N359.0 million, UBA traded 20.1 million equities worth N681.0 million, Oando transacted 14.8 million shares for N998.1 million, and Universal Insurance traded 13.8 million stocks worth N8.7 million.

Economy

NASD OTC Exchange Gains 0.26%

Published

1 day ago

18/01/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange extended its upward movement with a 0.26 per cent gain on Friday, January 17 amid renewed interest in unlisted stocks.

This raised the market capitalisation of the trading platform by N2.79 billion at the close of business to N1.075 trillion from the N1.072 trillion it closed in the preceding session.

In the same vein, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) went up by 8.08 points at the close of transactions to 3,111.91 points from the 3,103.83 points recorded at the previous session.

Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors went down by 606 per cent to 486,215 units from 1.2 million units, the value of shares shrank by 84.7 per cent to N2.8 million from N18.0 million, and the number of deals decreased by 65 per cent to 14 deals from the 33 deals carried out a day earlier.

In the final trading day of the week, there were three price gainers and one price loser, Geo-Fluids Plc, which lost 9 Kobo to finish at N4.70 per unit versus the preceding session’s price of N4.79 per unit.

On the flip side, Okitipupa Plc gained N3.60 to settle at N39.59 per share compared with the previous day’s N35.99 per share, Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc added 3 Kobo to wrap at 36 Kobo per unit compared with the preceding session’s 33 Kobo per share, as FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc improved its value by 49 Kobo to N39.65 per unit from N39.16 per unit.

At the close of business, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 3.4 million units worth N134.9 million, trailed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 8.9 million units valued at N43.0 million, and Afriland Properties Plc with 690,825 sold for N11.1 million.

The most active stock by volume (year-to-date) remained IGI Plc with 23.5 million units worth N5.3 million, followed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 8.9 million units valued at N43.0 million, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 3.4 million units sold for N134.9 million.

Economy

Naira Rallies by 0.06% to N,1547/$1 at NAFEM

Published

1 day ago

18/01/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira extended its appreciation against the US Dollar by 0.06 per cent or N89 Kobo on the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, January 17, trading at N1,547.58/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,548.47/$1.

Market analysts expect that the Naira will appreciate in the first quarter of the year, backed by continued policy support by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Vestance Nigeria, an agribusiness advisory firm, projects that the exchange rate will trade between N1,650/$1 and N1,750/$1 this year in its Resilience and Recovery for Agribusiness in 2025 outlook report.

“The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will continue implementing reforms to enhance exchange rate market transparency while maintaining higher interest rates to curb inflationary pressures and attract foreign portfolio management,” it said.

Also, the Nigerian currency improved its value against the Pound Sterling by N20.84 to wrap the session at N1,883.59/£1 versus the preceding day’s N1,904.43/£1 and against the Euro, the Nigerian currency gained N10.45 to settle at N1,590.34/€1, in contrast to Thursday’s closing price of N1,600.79/€1.

In the parallel market, the domestic currency appreciated against the greenback by N5 yesterday to sell for N1,675/$1 compared with the N1,675/$1 it was traded a day earlier.

As for the cryptocurrency market, there was profit-taking amid excitement for a new era of crypto-friendly US government mounts ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration next week.

Crypto investors expect a change from Mr Trump who promised on the campaign trail to position the US as a leader in the crypto space including creating a national stockpile of Bitcoin, in stark contrast to past years’ regulatory crackdowns and enforcements.

Litecoin (LTC) fell by 9.9 per cent to trade at $124.56, Ripple (XRP) slumped by 6.2 per cent to $3.10, Cardano (ADA) dipped by 4.9 per cent to $1.06, Ethereum (ETH) dropped 3.1 per cent to finish at $3,270.61, Binance Coin (BNB) went down by 2.3 per cent to $698.57 and Dogecoin (DOGE) depreciated by 2.2 per cent to $0.3927.

However, Solana (SOL) rose by 8.8 per cent to end at $235.12, Bitcoin (BTC) expanded by 0.8 per cent to $102,494.03, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) sold flat at $1.00 each.