Monthly Archives: February 2020

Nigerian Senate wades into Rites Foods, 7-Seven Up controversy

soft drinks

The Nigerian Senate last week tried to mediate between two warring soft drinks companies who are fighting for market share and economic survival.

According to the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, it said it received a petition from the management of Rites Foods Limited, an indigenous soft drinks company and makers of Bigi soft drinks over alleged threat to its security and existence by Seven-Up Bottling Company Limited, bottlers of Pepsi cola, Mountain Dew and others.

Nigerian Breweries ends year with lower profits

beer

Nigerian Breweries Plc reported yet another decline in profit for the full year 2019. The company said that profits fell by 17% to N16.1bn from N19.4bn in 2018. It would be the eight consecutive quarterly declines by the company.

Heineken reports strong growth in 2019

heineken beer

Dutch brewer Heineken NV said that profits increased by 13.2% in 2019 to €2.2bn from €1.9bn in the previous year, helped by robust pricing and focus on premiumisation.

Net revenue in the period was up 6.6% to €23.9bn, with total beer volume growth of 3.1%, driven by South Africa, Russia, Mozambique, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

PepsiCo reports higher sales for 2019

pepsico

New York-based PepsiCo, Inc said its sales grew by 4% in fiscal 2019 to $67.1bn, with the fourth quarter recording a 5.7% growth in sales to $20.6bn.

The company noted that its Frito-Lay North America snack business and PepsiCo North American business unit were partly responsible for lifting the company’s sales by 4% and 3% respectively.

PepsiCo gets South African regulatory approval to acquire Pioneer Foods

pepsico-pioneer foods

PepsiCo Inc said it has received approval from the South African Competition Commission to acquire South African-based Pioneer Foods. The Commission has recommended to the country’s Competition Tribunal the approval of the proposed transaction in which Simba (Pty) Ltd, a subsidiary of PepsiCo, intends to acquire Pioneer Foods Group Limited subject to certain conditions.

PepsiCo, through Simba, supplies several ready-to-eat products in South Africa under well-known brands which include Simba, Lays, Dorito’s, NikNaks and Fritos.

Beta Glass ends year with higher sales and profit

glass bottle manufacturing

Beta Glass Plc reported higher sales and profit for the full year ended 31 December 2019.

The glass bottle maker said that sales grew by 12% to N29.4bn from N26.3bn in the previous year. Cost of sales rose by 9% to N22bn.

Selling and administrative expenses saw a modest increase of 19% and 5% respectively.

Year ends with loss for Int’l Breweries

beer

International Breweries Plc posted yet another loss for the last quarter of the year.

The brewing company which is a subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) posted a net loss of N9.2bn in Q4 2019, bringing its total losses for the year to N27.9bn. In the same period in 2018, the company’s total loss was N4bn.

CBN grants forex waivers to five dairy companies to import milk; restrictions remain in place for others

milk

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Monday, issued a circular granting foreign exchange waiver to five dairy companies to import milk into the country.

The companies which received forex waivers include FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria; CHI Limited; TG Arla Dairy Products Limited; Promasidor Nigeria Limited; Nestle Nigeria PLC and Integrated Dairies Limited.

Cadbury’s Oreo cookie makes Guinness World Records

cadbury

Oreo cookie, one of the brands of Mondelez International, the parent company of Cadbury Nigeria Plc, has made it into the Guinness World Records.

In a statement, Cadbury Nigeria noted that the Oreo cookie brand reached a major milestone of $3.1bn in annual net revenues by the end of 2019.

Int’l Breweries lists additional shares on Stock Exchange

International Breweries Plc products

International Breweries Plc (IB Plc) has announced the listing of additional 18.266bn ordinary shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

The additional shares are from its recent rights issue of 18.266bn Ordinary Shares of 50 kobo each at N9 per share.

With the new listing, the company’s total issued and fully paid-up shares has now increased from 8.595bn to 26.862bn ordinary shares of 50 kobo each. This translates to N164.39bn in market capitalization.