*Assures customers on obligations

By Babajide Komolafe

Integrated Capital Services Limited, ICSL, is poised to recapitalise its operations and diversify into energy, commodities and currency trading.

“Management is currently making efforts to recapitalize the business and diversify operations into energy, commodities, and currency trading”, said Mr. Adeniyi Elumaro, Chief Executive Officer of the company.

Meanwhile, the company has assured its customers that it would meet all its obligations, but appealed for their understanding and patience saying this is critical to on-going efforts to restructure the business.

ICSL is one of Nigeria’s long standing investment and financing institutions. The company organises investors into investment clubs/platforms and invests on their behalf into identified high yield stocks in telecoms and financial services sometimes through the instrumentality of leverage obtained from banks and other financial institutions.

But due the economic meltdown of 2008/2009, ICSL suffered significant losses from its capital market operations in excess of N2 billion.

“ICSL operations have been adversely affected by the Nigerian and global downtown and the company has sustained substantial losses of about N2billion”, Elumaro told Vanguard.

“Most losses have occurred through ICSL investments especially in the shares of Afribank, UBA, ETI, Oceanic, Access Bank and First Bank.

And as a result of these losses, ICSL secured investors such as Stanbic IBTC Bank, Kawaka Discount House and Value Card Pic sold ICSL assets to redeem their obligations. Consequently, the company lacked the liquidity to pay maturing obligations-a situation that has adversely affected many of its unsecured customers.” he explained, adding that as a result some customers reported the company to the regulators and EFCC. ‘’Some of these customers have at one time or the other received payment of the investment in full with dividend and interest as the case may be’’.

“We want them to know that we are not folding our hands doing nothing. We have commenced plans to recapitalise the business by additional N2 billion and have already gotten an investor to inject N1 billion subject to due diligence. But involvement of EFCC by customers has put initial due process in jeopardy.

“For example, management staff of the company including the chief executive have various times been arrested and detained. But we remain committed to reviving the business and meeting all obligations.

Our restructuring plan includes recovery of loan assets and sale of real estate assets. We would also sell of some of our subsidiaries and extension and roll over of all customer obligations by two years for equity investments and one year for fixed income liabilities.”

We however appeal to customers to understand that this would take time hence their patience and support is critical”.