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Tag: Q1

  • Unilever Nigeria revenue drops to N19bn in Q1 2019

    Unilever Nigeria revenue drops to N19bn in Q1 2019

    A Lagos-based Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), Unilever Nigeria Plc, has announced that it recorded a sharp decline in the revenue generated in the first quarter of 2019.

    According to the financial statements of the firm released on Thursday, it was disclosed that the revenue generated in the first three months of this year went down to N19.2 billion from N24.3 billion.

    However, the company was able to reduce its cost of sales in the period under review to N15.4 billion from N17.6 billion.

    Also, the marketing and administrative expenses reduced to N1.5 billion from N2.3 billion, while the selling and distribution expenses went down to N859.5 million from N1.1 billion.

    An analysis of the results indicated that gross profit reported by the company in Q1 2019 was N3.9 billion against N6.7 billion in Q1 2018.

    Further look on the results showed that finance income improved significantly to N803.9 million from N465 million, but the finance costs increased to N94.4 million from N92.7 million.

    According to the company, the profit before tax in the period under consideration dipped to N2 billion from N3.7 billion, while the profit after tax dropped to N1.5 billion from N2.9 billion, with the earnings per share (EPS) falling to 26 kobo from 50 kobo.

  • Nigerian economy maintains strong growth amidst decline in Q1 2018 – NBS

    Nigerian economy maintains strong growth amidst decline in Q1 2018 – NBS

    The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday said the nation’s economy maintained a strong growth trend in the first quarter of 2018.

    This according to the bureau is despite a marginal decline by about -0.16 per cent from last quarter of 2017.

    The statistics agency said in the latest Nigerian Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Report released on Monday in Abuja that the Nigerian economy grew by about 1.95 per cent in real terms in the first quarter of 2018.

    Although lower than about 2.11 per cent achieved in the fourth quarter of 2017, the NBS said it was still better than about -0.91 per cent recorded in the corresponding period in 2017.

    The report read in part, “Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product grew by 1.95 per cent year-on-year in real terms in the first quarter of 2018. “This shows a stronger growth when compared with the first quarter of 2017 which recorded a growth of –0.91 per cent indicating an increase of 2.87 per cent points.

    “Compared to the preceding quarter, there was a decline of –0.16 per cent points from 2.11 per cent. Quarter on quarter, real GDP growth was –13.40 per cent.”

    According to the report, the new level, which represents an increase of about 2.87 per cent points with real GDP growth still going slow at -13.4 per cent, still aligns with the growth trajectory since the economy recovered from the worst recession in the country’s history in January 2017.

    The NBS report showed aggregate GDP at about N28.5 trillion in nominal terms, a higher performance when compared with about N26.03 trillion recorded in the first quarter of 2017.

    This represents a nominal growth rate of about 9.36 per cent, lower by about -7.7 per cent points, compared to 17.06 per cent attained in the corresponding period in the first quarter of 2017.

    Regardless, the performance is still higher than the previous quarter’s growth by 2.14 per cent at 7.22 per cent.

    Real GDP stands at about N16.11 trillion, the report said, with non-oil sector GDP accounting for about 90.4 per cent of the entire economy, against about 92.65 per cent in the corresponding period in 2017.

    Oil GDP, which stands at about 9.61 per cent for the quarter, was adjusted to reflect the revision in oil production estimates for the third and fourth quarters of 2017.

    Further details from the report showed that during the period under review, average daily oil production stood at about two million barrels per day (mbpd), which was higher than the daily average production recorded in the fourth quarter of 2017 by 50,000 bpd.

    Oil sector real growth was about 14.77 per cent in the first quarter of 2018, about 30.4 per cent points increase relative to rate recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2017.

    The sector grew by 13.24 per cent in first quarter of 2018, contributing about 9.61 per cent to the overall real GDP, up from 8.53 per cent and 7.35 per cent in the first and fourth quarters of 2017, respectively.

    In the non-oil sector, real growth was by 0.76 per cent during the quarter, higher by 0.04 per cent points, compared to the rate recorded same quarter of 2017 and 0.70 per cent point lower than the fourth quarter of 2017.

     

  • FG to impose ban on importation of 2-stroke engines in Q1 2017– NESREA

    The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) has said the Federal Government will enforce ban on importation of two-stroke engines and vehicles without emission reduction technology into the country.

    Dr Lawrence Anukam, the Director-General of the agency disclosed this on Thursday in an interview with newsmen in Abuja.

    He said that emission releases from vehicles could be about 60 per cent of air pollution in the country.

    He said that the agency had collaborated with Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs), Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIOs), Federal Road Safety Commission, (FRSC), Nigeria Police and other relevant agencies across the country.

    He said that the collaboration was to test vehicles for excessive emission and to ensure air quality in the country.

    He said that government would be launching Vehicular Emission Control Programme in the first quarter of 2017.

    Anukam said that governments with other relevant organisations were committed to ensuring that the launching of the programme would be successful.

    He explained that the programme would also involve experts from international organisations, adding that the efforts would ensure effectiveness of the programme.

    “We are still working on the launching of the programme; this is to ensure that every mechanism and plans are properly arranged.

    “A lot of work are going on and we are hoping that in the first quarter of 2017, we are going to formally launch the programme.

    “Vehicular emission is an issue that we are seriously committed to ensure for proper lasting solution, we will follow it up; to ensure that everything is put into consideration.

    “We just have to launch the programme, it has been a long time and we need to do the formal launching of the programme.

    “The importance of the programme is to ensure proper monitoring and evaluation of vehicles on the roads,’’ he said.

    Anukam said that the government was concerned about air pollution from human activities and one of such was vehicular emissions.

    He added that emission could lead to harmful gases and dust into the atmosphere.

    “Vehicular emission had caused severe environmental hazards in our environment such as acid rain, global warming, depletion of the ozone layer and has led to climate change,’’ he said.

    The DG however urged Nigerians to always maintain their vehicles and obey environmental laws and regulations to promote environmental health.

  • FG to sell N20bn of green bonds in Q1

    The Federal Government has disclosed plans to raise N20bn ($63m) by March to help fund renewable energy projects through the issuance of green bonds.

    “We are on track to sell the bond in the first quarter, a sovereign, and could have another by the end of the year,” Minister of Environment, Amina Mohammed, said in an interview with Bloomberg on Friday in Abuja.

    The sale will also help fund an electric-vehicle commuter project in the city and tree-planting in the country’s arid North, she said.

    The country needs more than N6tn, the equivalent of almost its entire annual budget, to plug its infrastructure deficit, according to information from the Budget and National Planning ministry.

    The government increased its 2016 budget by 20 per cent, allocating one-third to projects including roads, rail, ports and bridges, to stimulate an economy battered by a drop in oil production and that’s projected by the International Monetary Fund to contract by 1.7 per cent this year.

    “The exchequer can’t get all the money we need,” Mohammed said, adding that, “That’s why we must leverage these innovative ways to get funds from the international community.”