Nestle becomes major shareholder of Nestle Nigeria after acquisition of additional shares

NIGERIA – Nestle, the world’s largest food & beverage company, has disclosed its acquisition of an additional 40,894 units of shares of the Nigerian consumer goods manufacturer, Nestle Nigeria.

According to the company, one tranche of 13,855 units was bought at N1, 034.56 per share, followed by another tranche of 3,000 units at the rate of N1,039.80; 5,061 units at N1,044.98; 3, 978 units at N1,047.88 and 15,000 units at N1,140. The entire transaction is worth N44. 01m.

The disclosure was done in an insider trading notice filed on the Nigeria Exchange Limited, indicating that the shares were bought in five tranches and at different rates ranging from N1,034.56 to N1,140.

This follows an acquisition of over N90 billion shares made by the company in the Nigerian subsidiary, which took two tranches at the beginning of the year.

In one tranche, 40,000 ordinary shares of Nestle Nigeria were sold at N1,092 per share, amounting to N48,680,000.

A second tranche saw 37, 967 shares sold at N1,096. It was worth N41,611,832, which amounted to N90,291,832 worth of shares.

The new stakes further cemented the position of Nestlé as the majority shareholder in its Nigerian subsidiary with Tolaram Group.

Nestle Nigeria, in its 2022 financial report, revealed revenue of N446.8bn, an increase of 27 percent over the N351.8 bn recorded in the previous accounting year.

The multinational also declared a profit for the year of N48.965 billion, marking an increase of 22 percent over the N40bn recorded in 2021, and a final dividend of N36.50 per 50 Kobo ordinary share was announced.

Meanwhile, the shareholders of the fast-moving consumer goods manufacturer approved the proposed final dividend of N36.50 for the 2022 financial year.

The board of directors recommended the payment of a final dividend of N36.50 (2021: N25.50) per share, having earlier declared an interim dividend of N25 for 2022, which amounted to a total dividend of N61.50.

In 2021, Nestle recorded a 27 percent growth in its revenue last year to N446.81bn from N351.82bn in 2021.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the board, David Ifezulike, announced his retirement from the company and revealed his successor, Gbenga Oyebode.

For all the latest food industry news from Africa and the World, subscribe to our NEWSLETTER, follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn, like us on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube channel.