A1634
Mondax May 21, 2012
PCMN announces strategic business expansion B1 Festus Okoromadu LS and Coating ManuCactunn of Nigeria {PCMN} PIc, is act to
~
expand i~ paint manufacturing product buc in Nigeria.. To tltia end, the company has entered into an exclusive licen.se: with a tJK based company to manuf~ ita specialised 800ring and wall coatinga m the country. This diaclfJsu J was made by the company's chairman Eng.-. s .l.e. Okoli at its Annual Cterentl Meeting. AO M, hdd In I.ago4 lust week.. According to him, the lnitiatifcl when fully executed, will enable the ~pany to provide specialized offc:rlnb in all commercial. Industrial, orgaltisalion al and FMCG fields within Nigma. He noted that the move will co30bl! the company playa dominanl role In. the decoratIVe and architectura.l sqment of the paint and coating indUltr}" and hence improve rerucn. to investun:, Presenting the company's pcrlonnanc:e (or the financial .)UU" ended 2011 to aharehokient; th~ d\ainnan said the company oootinuoo its pr:nc:tration into the oil &. gas aecaJT dunng the ymr. He etatt!d that as a ruult 01 the pc:nctmtion, the company ~ ita domin.ancr in both the dawnstreom and upstream 8CdonI which led to ~t in the ftnandala. The Company declared a dividend of tight kobo per ordinary 8h~ of SOkobo each ror the ymr under review as against six kolXJ per share distributed to shareholders during the financial year ended December 31, ~OIO. The Company recorded a tumc,ver or N1.789billion in 20 1 1 compared with N1.2S8billion in 20 10 , rq1rcsentirg 42.24 percent growth. Net profit stood aJ NI23million compared to NI07million OJ 15.28 pcn:enL Speaking on the prospect of the paint industry in Nigeria, Michad Thompson, Vice Chairman and Chid
1: Executive omca-,
PCMN Pic, said the enactment of the Petrokwn Industry Bill will unIcash the backlog of bu siness eYCI)'One is waiting for from the oil and gas aector. He noted that but for lack of infrastructure which has led to increasing cost o f operation; the Nigerian market is very viable, Thompson stated that the company offers a holistic a pproach t o ita C\Jstomen' n eeds in Nigeria by o ffering complimentary prod ucts and services to its locally manufacrured materials. 'Ibis, according to him, includ es the s u pply of Abrasive Blasting Media, all fonn. of tlurface preparation and painting equip menL 10 addition, the company also o ffers specialised 1:r8inlng. technical ~ces and con tracting support..
PCMN PIc WIl5 listed on the fl oor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, on November- 2, 2010 at N3 .90 per share. The share price hmJ,.~ dropped to SOk obo in the first week of February 2012 but made a consistent appreciation in the last re"W weeks, moving from 88kobo on Monday, May 2,2012 to NUS at the close last week's trading. The in~ represents 27kobo or 30.68 peroenL 0
UTC embarks on Cassava Bread production By Fe.tld Okorom adu
u:
Nigeia PIc, last w=k, announced that It bas made a swilCh to using Cassava 80ur instead or wheat for ita bread production. The announcemC"1t Yo-as made during the launch of the company'a Cassava bread In logos. Speaking at the event, Folusho OJaniyan, Manegmg Director. t1TC Nigeria, aakl her company had successfully substituted wheat flour with cassava in nolJu.st bread, but doughnuts, cakes and other j:llBtries. Meanwhile, Paul Orhili, Director Gcnenll of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAq has q-tcO\lraged Bakerielll in Nigeria to emulate UTe by subatituting wheat HOW" with caasava Dour in the pnxluction 0( bread and pastries Speaking at the lawx:iung of the UTe's ca$88VB bread, Orlilli decried the: astronomical le\.-d 0( food importation in Nigeria. He: IJaId Nigc:riB will save N300billion if she stana manufactunng cassava bread. Backing his dnims with figurea, 0rhiLi said, in 2010, "~Igcria imported wheat worth more than N636bil1ion, rice ",'Orth ~orc:. than N356billion and refined s ugar worth more than .N217billion. He: advi3ed that the natiml munt m::Iucc her niliance on raw matc:ri.als from abroad, especially if they are available in Nigeria.
say that the .eventh National As-
ac:mbly has been qwte \"\brant , at
H 09o"c:Vc:r", the capital II1llf'kft appc:an not to have responded to the latest development as the share price of the equity remains Rat at SOkobo per Ordinary Share of SOkDbo each. The axnpany had in April presc:ntcd its audited rc:portII for the year ended 2011 to the Nigerian Stock EJtchangc:, NSE. The n:sult maws that ~ for the: year dropped to N2.798billion from N2, 823billion in the comparable period of 2010. But net profit rose by over 1,653 percent to Ni',399billion a.s against N8Omillion posted III 2010. Market ana1yst.s have attributed the fiat share price: to the company's refusal to
compensate shareholdc:nll in recent time..O
leut when measured by the sheer quantum or media headlines Ita pronounccmenUi and activities hB\'e altJ1'1(:ted, is an undcrstalemmL Burnmg 19\.u:. web as the banking xctor reforms. fild subsidy 1iallCO, the public pension and capital marimt probe and the growing inset:urily in the land have all ~'ed con.mcm.b1e attention r1'Oft1 the legialt.torII. The latest apPt'8n to be the legialatol'S glaring Blttmpt to ·clip the wmp"' of the Central Bank of NIgCria, by rc:movmg the autonomy c:njO)'l:d in the pet 13 yean Qr 80 by amending certain aectioDlI or the CBN Act. The draft amendment bill. wtuch h.u jlUt acaIed the Sec:ond RJeading at the House of RqJrnentatives provides (OT the appointment or a penon. other than the CBN Oov'Cmor as the ChaI.rman of the Board and sec:ka the acluSlon Qf the Deputy ~ and Director. as members of the BoanI. In addition, it also IICIeks to dn-est the BoanI of the. power to conaider and approve !.he BDDuaJ budget of the bank. Another bill now bef~ the Senate also seeks to compel the CBN to submit 11.5 annual budgets ror approval by National Assc:mbly Both bills an: aimed at cun.ailing the .a;ceast~ powalI of the CBN" IS subjeu it the ovc:rarching oversight or the National MlIembIV. What i.s cuneus about the entire debate about the CBN.. perceved unoontroUability IS that that bank ha6 not bren faulted in the performance of its rorc functlona of mawtaining pnce stability and ensuring non.inflationary growth, Indeed, !.he CBN In the laatfour)-ears baa been unequivocal In championing fiscal diSClpIme and pJuggmg 1eakBge:s in go~ment spending while applying monetary policy instruments In curtailing the inllationary pressure brvugbt about mostly by n:ckJess spendln! by guvemment , while keeping the mum. eu:bRn!,,= rate relati\'dv atable The SICtiOua mismatch between fiscal and m onetary polit::y hi'll becIl the apex bank most serious headache and Its present Oovernor. Mallnm Lanndo Sanusi. bas been llruIp8ring in hlS critidllm 0( the pnlfi.lgate spmding habits of the pohtical class which has been ideutificd as the major Illbatroas to effona at making the nation's economy work All It should to drive entrepreneurship and pruYidejobs. The ape:K b8nk under Sanusl.'s 1eudc:rship had undertaking a dill\cu!t ~fonn in the banking aectOT that bas seen the weeding OUt of bad ~ and badlyrun banks and rOlltt!~ better accountabilIty and risk mansgemt"Dt practices in the financial sector Ttus hal!; been ac· knowledged globally, The point the lqjslators seem to be missing is that political supervision of cenual banks (" a dymg trend WOf'ld over and IICVCnlI srudles have provut Ulat
centnll bunks lhaI. operatt'd outside gmernment control haw performed beneT in achieving their mandate! as indepen-
dence allows for prompt and n~e responses to situation. as they anae. Experts ~ that (Of' monrtal)' policy to be effective, it mU3t ba\'C a long-lime baruon,:yet we aU know that me boruI:n or poIiLician. a.s kmg as their tcn~ in of· fice hence the tendency to loculi on 811an term cooaic\erabons that may be incon· mtcnt with _efl'ort.6 _ aimed at sustainable ~omlc
This
a~t
conflict
l5
why mon-
etaly policy .18 usuaU.y delegated to an independent body whith has a looget' tetm IIPproach to price and uclJ.Imge rate stability Confronted by the prospect o( bgbter pobticaJ cootrol or central banks follow· mg the global econmmc cnais. Chairman of the United State. Federal Rt:aerve, Mr. Ben Bc:manke pointed out that policymakerII in a ccntnll bank iNbJect to ahart·tetm political lnftue:nce may £ace ~ to over 5tirnula.te lhe eeonomy to acbJeve ahort·term output and employment gains tbal c:ueed the ecooomy's underlying potential However, the Fed boas concedes that c:cnual bankll independence should not be unconditional and needs to be accountable to the public with guvemm.ent aetting the guab of monetary policy and the central t.nJc dc:monlltrating thai it is punruing such goals. He also nolell that (OT the centmJ banks O\!ersigbt function of banks to be e8Ccb~, the pubIk must be confident that the regulstor'sdecitJi.OJl8 and acuoos a devoid or politiQU lnftueooe that could ultimately undomine Its poweT as II. regulatDr and ita auenment of the .IIOUIldnCR or othc:rwiae 0( the bank·
'"" "''''''''
Oth~ experts point out that economic theory- galc:rally embraces the idea that a nation'. money .upply ought not to be dtrectIy controDed by ill govttnment because such an arrangcnent would c:n:ate a perverse incentiye structure that would lead to economIe disaster The case or Zimbabwe where goyemment d ecided to print money jutl! to pay ror its acesIICS led to hyperinftation of close to 30,000 per c:cn t leaving the CIXIlamy in tatters Is a classic eEaIlIple of the potenoal n:.wt of politk:aI conttol of a:nu.lbanks It Is nOl hard to imagine wbat would happen ifsome political bfgwtg is appoint· ed to c:bair the CBN WIth other memben of the rulib.g party running the shaw Wbat makes the caac: (or control of the CBN by the National Assembly weak in my c:stimaoon 1.11 the perception by memben that Lamido Saouet embodies that apex bank. Yes, the man bas been unusually v0cal and courted controvefllY with his po&tunng as a IIBlDt in the mltbt of sinnc:n but thl. i9 no CJ[C\lge to drag a whole msUtution back to the dark ages UDder the guise 0( regulation. If the long term I>o't!ll being oithe econ-
omy was uppenn06t. in tbe m:ind8 of our Javnnnkers, It is the Petroleum Indullb)' Bill, aimed at IIIlWtising the nation's oil and gas sector that 3bould be gettIng the .art 0( attention being devoted to the CBN
Act.
at