Tiger Brands reaches agreement with Dangote to exit troubled Nigerian unit

TIGER Brands has reached an agreement with Dangote on the future of its loss-making Nigerian unit.

 

Tiger Brands will sell its 65.7% shareholding in Tiger Branded Consumer Goods (TBCG) of Nigeria to Dangote Industries for $1 and write off its shareholder loans to TBCG with an approximate value of R700m, it said on Monday.

Banknote Printer De La Rue to cut Production

The company said it planned to reduce its capacity from eight billion notes a year to six billion.

Some work from the company's printing plant in Gateshead is to be transferred to Malta.

 

But the Tyneside operation will become one of three global "centres of excellence" for printing currency, and there will be no job losses.

Companies shy away from Long-Term Debt as Economy Sags

South Africa companies are becoming reluctant to raise long-term funding as the country’s economic outlook deteriorates, according to Standard Bank Group, Africa’s biggest arranger of corporate bonds.

 

About 74% of corporate bonds issued in South Africa had maturities of three years or less, compared with 42% in 2014, Standard Bank data showed. Debt with maturities of five and seven years dropped to 26% of total sales excluding issuance by banks, from 54% last year.

Guinness Nigeria Assures on Future Outlook, targets 75% local content

By 2018, three-quarters of materials and products from Guinness Nigeria Plc would be developed from Nigerian sources as the Nigerian subsidiary of Diageo Plc moves to deepen its Nigerian root and drive growths with Nigeria-based innovations and resources.

Guinness Nigeria was established in 1962 with Nigeria being the first country to have a Guinness brewery built outside of the British Isles. It remains one of the earliest listed companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

 

At a pre-annual general meeting media briefing in Lagos, managing director, Guinness Nigeria Plc, Mr. Peter Ndegwa, said one of the priorities of the company is to increase its local content from the current 43 per cent to 75 per cent in the next three years. This will have multiplier effect of increased jobs and opportunities for Nigerian small and medium enterprises and suppliers.

NCC Slammed N1.4trn, fine too heavy to bear – MTN

Three days after Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC slammed a N1.4 trillion penalty on MTN Nigeria for failure to disconnect customers with unregistered SIM cards, Parent company MTN group has cried out that the fine was too extreme, even as it continues to engage the regulator on how to resolve the issue.

MTN Group noted with dismay that Nigerian Communications Commission refused to listen to its plea to reconsider its stand on the penalty slammed on its Nigerian arm last week.

According to a report, MTN Nigeria spokeswoman, Chineze Gbenga-Oluwatoye, had said in an e-mailed response, that “recommendations were put forward with respect to the non-commensurable nature of the fine but the Nigerian Communications Commission did not accept recommendations that the fine of 200,000 Naira ($1,005) per SIM was too heavy.”

NNPC, Shell to promote clean operations in Nigeria

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, and Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, SPDC, have reiterated their commitment to promoting sustainable development in the area of their operations across the country.

Speaking at the 2015 SPDC Joint Venture External Relations Road show and Exhibition in Abuja, the Group Executive Director, Exploration & Production, NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, emphasised the need for organisations to operate and deliver services in a manner that is efficient and effective, with minimal impact on the environment.

 

Baru, who was represented by the General Managing, Planning, Nigeria Petroleum Investment Management Services, NAPIMS, Mr. Dung Gwom-Bot, maintained that while businesses should strive to be socially equitable and economically viable, they should also focus on meeting the basic needs of the population and future generation.

Alphabet company reports profit gain

Net income was $3.98bn, up from $2.74bn for the same quarter last year.

 

Google's revenue was $18.7 (£12.1bn) compared with $16.5bn.

Growth came mainly from mobile searches and YouTube users. 

In August, the company created Alphabet as the new parent company of Google and its other diverse businesses.

Ghanaian Debts of Government Institutions affect operations of Water Company

The piled up debts of Government institutions across the country of water bills is affecting the operations of the Ghana Water Company Limited. 

The Acting  Regional Chief  Manager, Ms Janet Atebiya, disclosed this to the GNA during the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Company in Bolgatanga,  in the Upper East Region, on the theme, “Portable Water Provision in Ghana: Prospects for the Future”.

GWCL

Ms Atebiya explained that the Company spends huge sums of money importing water treatment items to be able to treat water for the general public and the state institutions.

She also mentioned the failure of customers to settle their bills promptly, coupled with the illegal connection by some recalcitrant people as some of the factors hampering the smooth

Final stake sale raises £591m - Royal Mail.

The money was raised from selling a 13% stake in the business, while a 1% stake was awarded to Royal Mail workers.

The sale means the government has received a total of £3.3bn from the Royal Mail privatisation.

The privatisation of Royal Mail began in December 2013, but it was criticised after the shares almost doubled from their initial price of 330p. 

 

Last year, a report commissioned by the then Business Secretary, Vince Cable, found that the government made £180m less from the initial sale than it could have.

NSIA moves to revive Nigeria’s Commodity Exchange

The Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), managers of the nation’s Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) has expressed interest in reviving the country’s Commodity Exchange,  a process which government  authorities estimate could cost as much as $20 million.

The government has scheduled the comatose Abuja Securities and Commodity Exchange (ASCE) for privatisation, but the NSIA and industry experts fear that selling the company at its present state would come at a loss, since the assets are almost worthless.

NSIA Manager

The NSIA’s interest is therefore in pre-privatisation investments which would mean fixing the software to drive an efficient trading platform and putting  proper processes and procedures in place, till a point that the Exchange can start trading.

The Abuja Securities Commodity Exchange (ASCE) is no longer functional, having stopped trading several years back, but it has up to 60 staff who do nothing but collect salaries at the end of each month, BusinessDay discovered.

NSIA authorities are already in early talks with the government to allow them make that very important pre-privatisation investment and bring the Commodity Exchange to an operational level, in exchange for shares in the company before it is finally privatised.

Logistics Company, Red Star Express posts N6.7bn turnover

red star express

Red Star Express Plc, leading logistics Company, today posted N6.7Billion turnover  for the financial year ended March 31, 2015 and a profit after tax of N611million representing one percent increase in profit over 603.9 million profit for last year.

Jon Astor, sued Empire for $771m over Plagiarism Claim

The creators of Empire are being sued for $500 million (NZ$771m) over claims it rips off ideas from other shows.

 

Jon Astor-White is suing the musical drama's executive producers Lee Daniels and Danny Strong, as well as Imagine Entertainment and 21st Century Fox, claiming they borrowed the idea from a programme called King Solomon, which he shopped around in 2007.

Nigerians Coca-Cola Consumption goes high as Sales surge offset Russia woes---

Shares in Coca-Cola HBC AG to surged yesterday ,after the second-largest bottler of Coke products said strong sales in Nigeria, Romania and Ukraine were more than making up for its struggles in Russia, the company’s biggest market reports Bloomberg.

While revenue at the Switzerland-based distributor fell 1 percent in the first half of 2015 because of currency effects, net income increased 31.7 percent to 125 million euros ($139 million), the company said in a statement Thursday. Sales volume rose 3.8 percent.

 

US Ford Planed to build Ranger Pickup in Nigeria

Ford, one of the major auto makers  in the United States of America has said it will assemble its Ranger brand of pickup in Nigeria, starting in the fourth quarter of 2015 as part of its expansion in the Middle East and Africa where the small truck is popular.

 

Etisalat, Africa’s IHS in Nigeria tower sale/leaseback deal

The Nigerian affiliate of Etisalat has completed the transfer of 555 telecom towers to Africa’s IHS, the second tranche of a sale and leaseback deal announced last year, the Gulf’s biggest telecommunications operator said on Monday. 

 

etisalat

The deal, for which no financial value was given, is part of Etisalat’s strategy to improve the quality of its network and to accelerate the roll-out of 2G, 3G and 4G coverage in Nigeria, Etisalat said in a statement.

Takata Centre Huge Profit Despite Global Airbag Recall

The company has been at the centre of a huge global recall over faulty airbags it supplied to numerous car companies.

The airbags have been linked to six deaths in the US. 

Despite the recalls, the company saw higher sales in the US, India and South East Asia and maintains its profit forecast for the full year at 20bn yen.

The fault has led to 34 million cars being recalled in the US, the biggest vehicle safety recall in US history.

Transocean Deepwater drilling company recovers $735m

Transocean Deepwater Horizon oil well disaster, has recovered $735m (£471m) in legal settlements and insurance related to the incident.

 

The fees, booked in the second quarter of the year, offset a charge of $653m.

Goodyear Dunlop closure Tyre Factory

All 330 workers at the Wolverhampton site are expected to lose their jobs.

 

Trevor White, who has worked at the factory for 40 years, said the closure would be "another nail in the coffin for the manufacturing industry in Wolverhampton".

Nestle to take off noodles off worth $50m

India's food safety regulator says tests have found the instant noodles "unsafe and hazardous" and has accused Nestle of failing to comply with food safety laws.

The company insists that the noodles are safe and is challenging the ban.

Nestle has 80% of India's instant noodles market.

The company said in a statement that value of withdrawn noodles include stocks taken off the shelves and stocks stored in factories and with distributors. 

New Standard Chartered boss Bill Winters says bank must bolster finances

Bill Winters says bank has made mistakes in the past and will 'review all aspects of capital strength'

Standard Chartered's new chief executive has said the bank must bolster its finances after years of disappointing performance in which the company "made mistakes".

Bill Winters, on his first day in charge of the bank, said the bank would be "reviewing all aspects of our capital strength" in the coming months.