NIGERIA – Unilever Overseas Holdings B.V, the parent firm of Unilever Nigeria Plc, has increased its stake in the food and personal care products company, with the purchase of 17,023,490 ordinary shares at N12 per share.

This was revealed by the company in an Insider disclosure notification sent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

Insider disclosures are reported on the NSE as a regulatory requirement, especially when a major shareholder or director of a publicly quoted company purchases its shares.

The purchase consideration for this transaction, is put at approximately N204.3 million (US$529,000), reports Nairametrics.

The holdings company further consolidated its position with a fresh purchase of 67,094,382 shares at N12.5 per share, which amounted to N838.6m (US$2.17m).

According to the company disclosure signed by General Counsel and Company Secretary, Abidemi Ademola, the latest transaction occurred on Friday, August 14, 2020.

The acquisition of the additional shares adds substantially to Unilever Overseas’ investment in its Nigerian subsidiary, which had over 70% shareholding in the company prior to this.

Insider purchases are usually an indication of how shareholders perceive the company’s valuation. It could also mean possible capital raise towards the strengthening of their existing holdings and some other things.

Unilever Nigeria Plc, which specializes in the manufacturing and marketing of food and care products, has been experiencing some turbulent times as it has been faced with the harsh business environment in recent times.

In its recently released half-year unaudited financial result for 2020, its revenue dropped to N14 billion (US$36.2m) as against the N23.4 billion (US$60.5m) that was recorded for the corresponding period in 2019.

The firm made a loss of N1.63 billion (US$4.2m) for the half-year 2020 as against a profit of N1.9 billion (US$4.9m) for the corresponding period in 2019.

In other related news, Heineken, the majority shareholder in Nigerian Breweries has increased its shareholding by 274, 542 shares despite the brewer experiencing challenges in growth due to low patronage of alcohol in Nigeria.

Heineken bought the shares at an average price of N35.67.

Also, Nigerian Breweries chairman Chief Kolawole Babalola Jamodu has purchased 10,000 units at N37 per unit in insider disclosure.