Business
Rebranding, customer-centric policy, paying off – Berger Paints MD
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Berger Paints Nigeria Plc, Mrs. Alaba Fagun, has ascribed the outstanding performance of the company for the financial year ended December 31, 2023, to the market appreciation of its rebranding, customer-centric policy, deployment of modern technology to ensure quality products and availability of strong human capital.
Despite the inclement operating environment, Berger Paints, a leading manufacturer of coated paints and allied products in Nigeria, has proposed a dividend of N231. 9 million for the 2023 financial year up from N202.9 million paid in 2022 and would be paying a dividend of N.80 kobo per share for its shareholders, subject to the ratification at its 64th Annual General Meeting (AGM), scheduled for Tuesday, May 14, in Lagos.
The dividend will bring the final dividend for the review period to N1 per share. At the AGM, the company shall seek ratification of payment of an interim dividend of 20 kobo per share, which amounts to N58.0 million.
Other performance indicators of Berger Paints include its profit for the financial year, which grew to N468,797 from N208,670 in 2022, and basic earnings per share, which jumped from 72 kobo to 162 kobo, an increase of 125 percent respectively.
“Despite the myriad challenges in our operating environment, impacting both our business operations and the daily lives of our customers and team members, we achieved a remarkable 125% growth in our bottom-line figure compared to 2022.
A review of the company’s other performance indicators shows that its revenue hit N7.91 billion, an increase of 25 %, Year-on-Year, Operating Profit, N730.18, an increase of 84 %, and total assets, N6.61 billion, an increase of 20 % amongst others
According to the Managing Director, the year 2023 underscored the enduring Nigerian love for vibrant experiences and Berger Paints rose to the occasion by exceeding customers’ expectations in the quality of products and service delivery. “With Berger Paints, you can never go wrong. Our commitment to customer satisfaction has been the bedrock of our success since 1959’, she added.
‘Throughout the year, we revitalized our corporate ethos by reshaping our brand. More than just a logo, our brand embodies a commitment to quality assurance and customer-centric values: Professionalism, Integrity, Innovation, customer focus, and Teamwork which helped us to achieve a strong position in the market’ the MD stated.
‘’Looking forward, we aspire to conquer the African market landscape with our products and services. Our dedicated team is poised to leverage resources efficiently, and innovate to deliver exceptional service to our customers,” explained Fagun.
In March last year, Berger Paints took the Nigerian manufacturing sector and the financial market by storm, when it unveiled its new brand identity. The rebranding was prompted by the need to capture the younger demography especially those aged 25-45 to ensure business continuity and success.
Nigerian billionaire investor Femi Otedola has been appointed chairman of the board of directors of FBN Holdings, owners of the First Bank of Nigeria, exactly 15 months after the news broke in October 2022 that he had become the highest shareholder in the bank, one of the oldest in the country
Reports say Otedola, who was elected Chairman of the board after a meeting of the board of directors held on January 31, 2024, took over from Ahmad Abdullahi who was appointed board chair on the 17th of December 2021.
The business mogul, who divested from his initial business of oil and gas to buy into the power sector, where he now owns the Geregu Power Plant in Kogi State, is assuming the current position just five months after becoming a non-executive director on August 14th, 2023.
In October 2022, after buying heavily int FBN, and amid the controversy of his owning the largest single shares of the nation’s premier banking concern, he had moved to douse the tension that he was about to take over its day to day running.
He had reporters then at the ExecuJet Private terminal in Lagos that his recent acquisition of shares in FBN Holdings was purely an investment decision, adding: “Being the single largest shareholder doesn’t mean I must necessarily hold a position in the bank. I believe in allowing competent people to run institutions in a professional manner and to the benefit of all the stakeholders.
“That is an institution with a world-class corporate governance structure and a strong performing management that creates value and guarantees returns in form of dividends and capital appreciation.”
Stressing that the major focus of any good investor is to see opportunities where others did not, he a argued that he was convinced that FBN Holdings had a bright future, is strong, solid, and would remain a dominant player in the Nigerian financial services sector.
Hear him: “I am simply an investor who saw an opportunity in the financial institution and decided to take advantage of it through the investment I have made. My interest, contrary to speculation, is not to become chairman of the bank or its Holdco. Moreover, I am in semi-retirement.”
Billionaire businessman, Femi Otedola, has moved do douse fears of direct running of First Bank of Nigeria (FBN), amid the controversy of his owning the largest single shares of the nation’s premier banking concern.
Apparently in an attempt to lay to rest speculations that are rife in the public over the issue, Otedola, told reporters on Wednesday at the ExecuJet Private terminal in Lagos that his recent acquisition of shares in FBN Holdings was purely an investment decision.
“Being the single largest shareholder doesn’t mean I must necessarily hold a position in the bank. I believe in allowing competent people to run institutions in a professional manner and to the benefit of all the stakeholders.
“That is an institution with a world-class corporate governance structure and a strong performing management that creates value and guarantees returns in form of dividends and capital appreciation.”
Stressing that the major focus of any good investor is to see opportunities where others did not, he a argued that he was convinced that FBN Holdings had a bright future, is strong, solid, and would remain a dominant player in the Nigerian financial services sector.
Hear him: “I am simply an investor who saw an opportunity in the financial institution and decided to take advantage of it through the investment I have made. My interest, contrary to speculation, is not to become chairman of the bank or its Holdco. Moreover, I am in semi-retirement.”
Posted by Editor | 16 December 2021, 11:51am
Premium Bread Makers Association of Nigeria (PBAN), stormed the office of the Mudashiru Obasa, Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly , Alausa, armed with a protest letter over the rising price of baking materials.
They claimed that high costs of ingredients and multiple taxes had made their business too expensive to run, leading to the astronomical increase in the price of bread and other confectionery, to almost double.
Lamenting the ugly situation that had hit their business with low sales and almost zero profit, they also bemoaned the increases in the price of flour and other ingredients, apart from hikes in the prices of other items such as electricity and cooking gas.
At Obasa’s office on Friday, PBAN, told the Speaker that one million jobs of their members may be lost unless the “unbearable intimidation and harassment by state agencies’’ is stopped.
President Emmanuel Onuorah and General Secretary Emmanuel Onyoh, who led the delegation PBAN to hand a letter to Obasa, pleaded with him to help stop multiple levies from agencies and harassment by the police, while listing other challenges threatening the survival of the bread industry in the state.
These in include: Multiple monitoring of bakeries by ministries, agencies, and parastatals
- Harassment of delivery van drivers by Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIOs), and Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA) officials
- State agencies repeat motoring done by the officials of the National Agency for Food & Drug Administration (NAFDAC), Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), and Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity, et cetera.
PBAN named the state agencies to include:
- Lagos State Ministry of Environment
- Lagos State Safety Commission
- Lagos State Ministry of Transport (State Carriage)
- Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA)
- Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA)
- Lagos State Fire Service
- Lagos State Inland Revenue Service (LIRS)
- Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA)
- Councils and Local Council Development Associations (LCDAs)
- Lagos State Signage and Advertising Agency (LASAA)
Levies include
- Daily ticket toll charged by councils and LCDAs
- Mid-year rates demanded by councils and LCDAs
- Police harassment and extortion of money from bread delivery drivers
Impact on business
PBAN said these hassles have reduced operational capacity to below 50 per cent, led to low staff retention, and a drop in employee tax to the government.
“The likely loss of job/business by over 500,000 bread distributors is imminent and this will further affect a lot of living conditions of their families,’’ it stressed.
It urged Obasa “to use your good office to save our businesses from collapse and prevent over one million people in Lagos State under our employment (inclusive of bread distributors) from becoming jobless and being pushed back into already saturated unemployment market.’’
PBAN appealed to the government to, among others,
- Use one consolidated agency to oversee bread business instead of multiple agencies
- Tell the police to stop the harassment, intimidation and seizure of the vehicles of bread distributors
- Make Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) World Bank grant and loans available to bread bakers as employers of labour.
Posted by Editor | 17 December 2021, 03:04pm
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