BUA Cement Listing add N1.18trn to NSE Market Capitalization
By UDO ONYEKA
BUA Cement Plc on Thursday listed 33.86 billion ordinary shares at N35 per share on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and has emerged third largest company on the Exchange.
Speaking at the event the obviously elated NSE Chief Executive Officer, Oscar Onyema, said it was good for the exchange to record such major listing at the beginning of the year.
He said this provides another opportunity for investors to have access to a company with good track record.
He explained that the company had plans to move to the Premium Board of the NSE in a very short period of time.
The Managing Director/CEO of BUA Cement, Yusuf Binji, said it was fulfiling for the group to have its shares listed after a merger of two companies.
Binji said the listing of BUA followed the merger of Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN) and Obu Cement Company Limited that control significant markets in Southern and Northern parts of the country.
“We are bringing in about 13 billion shares from the defunct CCNN and 20 billion from Obu Cement and this gives us a total share capacity of about 33 billion shares with a total market capitalization of N1.8 trillion.
“We are coming into the market at the beginning of the year, and since trading has commenced, we expect to see a lot of value added for the shareholders during the course of the year,” he stated.
According to Binji the enlarged firm’s total installed capacity stood at eight million metric tonnes per annum (mtpa).
He said the company decided to merge to create a single entity that would leverage on all the synergies.
The Managing Director said the merger would ensure increased profitability and dividend for investors.
“The essence of the merger is to be able to tap into the potentials and unlock the opportunities that are within the two companies in terms of market size, dealership base, profitability and staff skills.
“There will be a lot of positives as we go along the way,” he said.
He assured investors of good returns as the company would be one of the top best dividend paying companies in Nigeria.
“The merger of the two companies to become BUA Cement would provide opportunities for significant cost savings and improved operational efficiencies by streamlining operations and optimizing the use of combined resources.
“It has also provided a platform where the enlarged company benefits from economies of scale in procurement, distribution and manufacturing of the products offered to our customers.
“We expect the benefits accruing from greater economies of scale to accrue to many stakeholders,” he said.
