By Nkiruka Nnorom

On the top 10 performing stocks last week were the shares of Guinness Nigeria plc, Vono Products Plc, Livestock Feeds Plc, Honeywell Flour Mill Plc, UAC of Nigeria plc and Airline Services and Logistics, ASL Plc. Others were National Aviation Handling Company, NAHCo plc, UBA Capital Plc, NPF Micro-finance Bank Plc and Beta Glass Company Plc.

Guinness Nig. Plc led the pack with 21.43 percent or N30.00 increase, closing at N170.00 from N140.00 it started the week with. Just last week, the company announced the appointment of a new managing director in the person of Mr. Soren Lauridsen as Mr. Mr. John O’Keeffe’s successor following the appointment of the later as the president, Diageo Africa.

According to the company, Lauridsen, who will assume duty in May 2015, will work alongside Mr. O’Keeffe until the end of the financial year on 30 June 2015 to ensure a smooth transition. Earlier in the year, the company disclosed that about N52 billion investments so far has been channeled to increase its production capacity.

The investment in capacity expansion which started in 2011 had seen two of the company’s plants completed in Lagos and Benin. Available financial statement of the company for the year ended 30 June 2014, showed an 11 percent decline in revenue to N109.2 billion.

The profit before tax (PBT) declined by 31 percent to N11.7 billion, compared to N17 billion posted in 2013, while its profit after tax for period came in at N9.6 billion as against N11.9 billion in 2013, a 19 percent decrease over the comparative period in 2013.

Cost of sale for the period stood at N57.9 billion, 13 percent decrease from N66.4 billion recorded in 2013.  Following the bad performance, the dividend for the year was slashed to N3.20 compared to N8.00 paid in the previous year. Vono Products Plc trailed behind with 18.82 percent or N0.16 price appreciation, closing at N1.01 from N0.85 per share.

Vono, which is owned 21.4 percent  by Vitafoam Nigeria Plc, has been recording losses in recent years, following which, it had raised  N840 million fresh capital via right issue in 2012 to strengthen and expand its activities and ensure improved returns on investment to its shareholders.

Despite the promise by the chairman, Mr. Mohammed Yinusa, that the Board of Directors would introduce new strategies that would enable the company achieve sustained growth during the last general with the shareholders, the 2014 full year financial statement for September 2014 showed that it is continuing its losing streak.

During the period, Vono posted a loss after tax of N5.159 million compared with a loss of N4.884 million recorded during the comparable period of 2013. However, the company’s profit before tax increased from N1.523 million to N2.457 million, representing an increase of 40 percent. Its revenue also rose to 5.4 percent to N889.666 million in 2014 from N841.414 million in the corresponding period of 2013.

Livestock Feeds placed third with 14.54 percent or N0.33 appreciation, closing at N2.60 from N2.27 per share. The company became a subsidiary of UAC of Nigeria Plc in 2013 through the acquisition of 51 percent equity stake in the company by later. Listed on the Livestock/Animal Specialties sub-sector of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, Livestock Feeds engages in manufacturing and marketing of animal feeds and concentrates in Nigeria.

Its half year financial statement for the period ended June 30, 2014, showed a growth of 24 percent in revenue to N3.36 billion as against N2.70 billion recorded in 2013. Its profit before tax rose by 32 percent, rising to N125.61 million from N95.21 million in the previous year.

The post tax profit also rose by the same margin, rising to N85.41 million from N64.75 million achieved in equivalent period in 2013.

Honeywell FlourMill’s shares rose by 14.05 percent or N0.43 to N3.49 from N3.06; UAC achieved 13.43 percent or N5.01 price increase, closing at N42.31 from N37.30; ASL went up by 11.91 percent or N0.73 to close at N6.86 from N6.13; UBA Capital advanced by 11.72 percent or N0.17 to close at N1.62 from N1.45; NPF MfB gained 11.43 percent or N0.12 to close at N1.17 from N1.05, while Beta Glass appreciated by 9.92 percent or N2.59 to close at N28.70 from N26.11 per share.