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Hello everyone, welcome to @Nairametrics Corporate News Roundup. This thread is made possible by @BluechipTechNG

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@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG 1. Last week, First Bank reported that it would launch an Innovation Lab on Thursday, July 5th, 2018. It’s located in ‘Yabacon Valley’, well, Yaba area of Lagos, now regarded as a leading hub for high-tech innovation and development.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG Our guys visited the lab and reported a state of the art edifice fit for anyone looking to innovate the next big idea.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG They have drones, VRs, hoverboards and exciting techie stuff everywhere. Guests experienced the magic of a truly digital world. Also available are sleeping pods, game rooms and an ambience that should boost the imaginations of the young innovators at the lab.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG They even adapted names from our beloved tv series, Game of Thrones, as the names of different sections of the lab. They had names like Blue Keep, Dragon Pit, Dornes, and Dragon Wall.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG Spearheading the digital lab team is Lola Ekugo, regarded as "an innovative and visionary leader with world class organizational skills."

Pundits believe the bank is sure to get the best out of the lab with her in charge.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG 2. Taxify, during the week, introduced a new category called, COMFORT, for its riders in Abuja.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG COMFORT is a Taxify service for riders seeking top-end service experience. According to the company, “COMFORT will also have pre-selected upscale vehicles, combined with highly rated driver-partners to offer riders a great experience on their trips.”

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG In countries where this service already exists, drivers who qualify to offer this more lucrative service will need to have the right vehicles and may have over 300 trips with an average rating of 4.7 or above.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG 3. Reports from the media suggest that MultiChoice Nigeria is considering a downward review of its subscriptions on some bouquets on its GOtv platform. According to media sources, the company may reduce the subscription rate on GOtv MAX by about 20%.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG Subscription for this bouquet is currently N3,800. The report concludes that there will be no change for other non-premium subscription bouquets.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG GOtv MAX subscribers get to watch all La Liga matches live via SuperSport. This will probably be the first time we will ever record a reduction in prices for a cable tv subscription.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG 4. All seem to be set for MTN listing, according to information reaching Nairametrics. The long-awaited initial public offering will eventually happen sometime in August.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG According to our source, the August date follows the eventual permission granted the company by the SEC to go ahead with the listing of its shares on the Nigerian bourse.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG MTN Nigeria is proceeding with all the necessary preparations for the IPO. The company may list 20 billion shares after a 1 for 5 share split, after which it will proceed to pick the IPO price through book building.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG MTN Nigeria has a current valuation of $5.2 billion, going by its current over the counter price of $13.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG Another media outlet however debunked claims of an IPO in August, suggesting that the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) confirmed hat MTN Nigeria Limited has not filled the necessary papers for the long-awaited initial public offering (IPO).

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG 5. Teleology Holdings, winner of the bid for troubled GSM operator, 9Mobile (formerly Etisalat Nigeria), may have to fork up an additional $50 million as payment for the firm.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG The payment was requested by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as a sign of its continued commitment to the transaction. The firm triggered a 20-day extension clause in its bid agreement.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG While Teleology concludes arrangements for the payment, initiatives such as 9Pay have seemingly gone cold. Other operators have increasingly churned out strategies in the midst of limited consumer spending.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG 6. Moribund brewery company, Golden Guinea Breweries, has dragged Pabod Breweries Limited, a subsidiary of AB InBev, to a Federal High Court over an alleged infringement of Golden Guinea’s trademark for the production of Eagle Stout.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG Golden Guinea Breweries is seeking the court to award N10 billion general damages against Pabod Breweries for the alleged infringement. According to the company’s prayers,

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG Golden Guinea Breweries Plc wants the court to declare that as the rightful owner of the trademark “Eagle Stout” registered as No. 21153 in class 32 at the Nigerian Trademarks Registry, Abuja,

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG it is entitled to the exclusive use of the mark for the production, sales and distribution of the product in the Nigerian market. In addition to the N10 billion general damages sought by Golden Guinea, it is also seeking N10 million aggravated damages from Pabod Breweries.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG 7. The NNPC has announced the signing of the final contractual agreement with Oil giant, Schlumberger, for the Anyalu and Madu oil fields under Oil Mining Licences (OMLs) 83 and 85, offshore Nigeria. The signing of the agreement took place in London last weekend.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG Schlumberger financing package covers pre-Final Investment Decision (FID) funding, 100 percent of capital expenditure for three years, and pre-production operating expenses. .

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG According to reports, the new agreement with the oil giant will help the country to generate $5.60 billion in taxes and royalties, and $1.32 billion in net cash flows after Schlumberger’s cost recovery & compensation, in line with the terms of the agreement

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG 8. Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc has been granted approval by the SEC on its plan to raise N2 billion through rights issue towards its five-year strategic plan.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG According to the Chairman, Akin Ogunbiyi, the funds realised from the rights issue will be used to fund the company’s recapitalisation and growth plan, provision of additional working capital and financing the expansion of IT facilities to support its enlarged operations.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG Mutual Benefits recently announced plans to pay its shareholders dividend for the year ended 2017. The last time it paid a dividend was in 2008. Typical of Nigerian companies, they pay dividends only to raise capital months later.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG 9. In its 2018 report published last week, The Banker Magazine placed five of Nigeria’s biggest banks among the top 1000 banks in the world. The banks include FirstBank Nigeria, United Bank for Africa Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Access Bank Plc and Zenith Bank Plc.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG It is unsurprising that all these banks comprise Nigeria’s tier 1 banks otherwise known as FUGAZ. Note that tier 1 banks are banks with the biggest capitalisation.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG Zenith Bank Plc is the first Nigerian bank to be placed on the list, ranking in at number 402. The company moved up from the 430th position it occupied in 2017. GTBank Plc was next, occupying the 576th position out of 1000 in the world.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG First Bank of Nigeria is the third, ranking as number 592 in the world. Access Bank Plc came next, ranking as the 630th bank in the world and lastly, United Bank for Africa (UBA) occupying the 856th position

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG 10. Ecobank has announced plans to raise a five-year dollar-denominated bond. The bank has therefore mandated international lenders to arrange investors meetings in the United States and Britain. Proceeds from the bond offer will be used for debt refinancing, among other things.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG The bank has also appointed Deutsche Bank, Standard Bank, and Standard Chartered to arrange meetings. Stan Chart keeps picking up all the major deals. Ecobank Bank had recently announced the successful placement of a $400 million convertible debt.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG The convertible debt was structured in three tranches, the first was a convertible loan facility of $250 million arranged through Public Investment Corporation (PIC) of South Africa, an institutional holder.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG The second tranche, consisting of $140 million convertible notes, was fully subscribed to by Qatar National Bank (QNB), also an institutional shareholder.

We are in a debt binge.

This is @Nairametrics thread BTU by @BluechipTechNG

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG 11. Renaissance Capital, Rencap, last week announced the appointment of Adedapo Akinpelu as Vice President, Investment Banking in Lagos.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG Adedapo has over eight years’ combined experience, offering investment, equity capital-raising and mergers & acquisitions advisory services to businesses.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG Prior to joining Renaissance Capital, he had worked with QG Investments Africa Management and was responsible for the origination and execution of private equity (direct) investments, covering Healthcare & General Industries investments across Sub-Saharan Africa.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG He also worked at Standard Chartered Bank for over six years, where he focused on equity capital raising and mergers & acquisitions in the FMCG, Agriculture, Healthcare, Telecoms, Industrials, and Oil & Gas space in Africa. .

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG For example, they hired Ayobami Oladosu in the domestic Sales Trading Team. He joined from ARM Securities and has over six years of financial markets experience.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG Akinlolu Akinbola also joined the domestic Trading Team, from FBN Securities, with over nine years’ combined experience in the financial markets.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG 12. Investors in Eko Hospital hoping for a final resolution of the decade-long tussle between the founders of EKO hospital and Geoffrey Ohen may have to wait a while.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG In a notice sent to the NSE last week, the company disclosed that an Extra Ordinary General Meeting (EGM) scheduled for Thursday, July 5, 2018, had been postponed.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG The postponement was due to an appeal filed by Geoff Ohen Limited against the judgment of a Federal High Court, as well as a stay of execution of the same judgment. At the meeting that has now been postponed, the following resolutions were to be approved.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG The conversion of debt owed the founders and Dr. G.A. Cole into equity.

The allotment of 110,000,000 ordinary shares to Geoff Ohen Limited via a Special Placement scheme was approved at the Completion Board meeting of 17th June 2008.

Guess this story is not about to end soon.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG 13. Social media was agog last week after news broke that Procter & Gamble (P&G) is in the process of shutting down its multi-billion naira plant located in Agbara, Ogun State.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG Recall that Procter & Gamble’s Agbara Plant was officially opened in 2014, and a new production line was commissioned in 2017 by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG P&G spent a whopping sum of $300 million to construct it at the time, the largest single US investment by a company in the country. The state of the art production plant sits on some 40.2 hectares of land.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG However, the company denied reports that it closed down the factory due to stiff competition. In an email response to Nairametrics’ inquiry, P&G confirmed that it is exiting its Agbara plant as part of its restructuring exercise in its Nigerian operations.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG “P&G is restructuring its Nigeria manufacturing operations to deliver a more effective business operation for now and sustainably for the future. This will entail an exit from production in its Agbara plant.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG We will strengthen our manufacturing operations in the Ibadan plant, scale up our contract manufacturing operations, as well as continue to invest in our local talents.” Let’s pretend to believe them.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG 14. In a notice sent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Skye Bank announced that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has renewed the mandate of the Bank’s Board of Directors for an additional two-year term till 30th of June, 2020. The current board was appointed on July 4, 2016.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG This basically suggests that the CBN will continue to spend taxpayers’ funds on a bank that many believe should be allowed to follow the course of liquidation.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG The CBN, in April 2017, extended its financial support for the bank till the end of 2018. Over N100 billion has been injected into the bank.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG It last released its results for the 12 months ended December 2015, at a period when other banks are preparing to release their half-year 2018 results.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG Its most recent results for the full year ended December 2015, show that the bank made interest income of N127 billion, a loss after tax of N40.7 billion.

So, despite enjoying taxpayers’ funds, the bank has still not released its results since 2015.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG 15. The Dangote fertilizer plant, which is part of the multi-billion dollar petrochemical complex (located at Lekki Free Trade Zone, Ibeju-Lekki) will begin operations before the end of the year.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG The firm would thus, be joining other fertilizer producers in the country, including Notore (which bought over the National Fertilizer Company of Nigeria), Indorama and blending plants run by the National Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA).

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG 16. The GMD of NNPC, Dr Maikanti Baru, has revealed that the NNPC may fund NNPC/TEPNG JV’s Ikike Project, NNPC/SPDC JV Southern Swamp and Associated Gas Solution Step 2 Project, among others through the capital market.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG The corporation recently announced the signing of the final contractual agreement with Schlumberger, for the Anyalu and Madu oil fields under Oil Mining Licences (OMLs) 83 and 85, offshore Nigeria.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG Baru did not, however, disclose when the proposed capital raise would take place or the mode. The Joint Operating Agreements (JOA) is the basic, standard agreement between the NNPC and the operators. It sets the guidelines/modalities for running the operations.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG 17. Losses recorded by Lafarge Holcim’s operations in places like Nigeria, Algeria and Egypt could be responsible for the constant reshuffling of the company’s top managers.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG The company hinted at this on Wednesday (July 4th) in Zurich when its Chief Executive Officer, Jan Jenisch, announced the appointment of Miljan Gutovic as the new manager in charge of Africa and the Middle East.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG The company’s appointment of Gutovic followed a trend in recent times whereby new executives have been brought in to try and rejuvenate the company’s declining profits.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG Lafarge Holcim has faced immense challenges in recent times, including declining revenues and operating profits in Africa (Nigeria, Algeria and Egypt) as well as Iraq.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG In Nigeria for instance, Lafarge Africa ran at a loss in full year 2017, having reported a loss after tax of ₦34.3 billion.

@Nairametrics @BluechipTechNG 18. Dangote Cement Plc may carry out the much-awaited listing of its shares on the London Stock Exchange after next year’s general election.

Edwin Devakumar, Group Executive Director, Dangote Industries Ltd disclosed this during an interview in Lagos. According to him, “We are working on it and we’ll look at it in 2019.”

He further revealed that some banks have approached the company to arrange the Initial Public Offering (IPO), though none has been mandated and there’s been no decision about how much to raise.

Recently, the company announced the appointment of Cherie Blair and Mick Davies as Independent Non-Executive Directors. The appointments are seen by industry observers as preparing the way for the eventual listing of the cement group on the London Exchange.

19. Dangote Cement Plc concluded its issuance of N50 billion Series 1 and 2 Notes under its N150 billion Commercial Paper Programme, announced on 27th June 2018. The Series 1 and 2 Notes will be listed on Nigeria’s FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange on 19th July, 2018.

Funds raised in the CP Programme will be used for capital expenditure, working capital and general corporate purposes. The N50 billion CP is for 180 days with an interest rate of 12.4% (yield of 13.21%) and 217 days with interest rate at 12.65% and yield of 13.96%.

Alhaji is basically borrowing at the same terms and conditions that the Federal Republic of Nigeria enjoys.

That's it for this week. Big thanks for all who read this thread.

Special thanks to @BluechipTechNG for making this thread possible every Sunday.

@BluechipTechNG A new installment of Corporate Story is scheduled for this week. So follow @Nairametrics tweet for when exactly we will be releasing this.

@BluechipTechNG @Nairametrics Until we do this again next week, do have a profitable week ahead.

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