By Nkiru Nnorom

Portland Paints and Products Nigeria Plc (PPPNP) has said it will be embarking on rights issue to raise additional capital in pursuit of its plan to improve returns and address the high leverage position of the company and other business expansion plans. The company further noted it will focus on innovation and seek opportunities to introduce new products into its array of brands as it pursues increased profitability for its stakeholders.

The Chairman, Mr. Larry Ettah, who spoke at the company’s Annual General Meeting, AGM, in Lagos, said the management will consequently realign its portfolio and make strategic shifts where necessary, as well as concentrate on capacity building for its people.

Laying the company’s result for the year ended December 31, 2014 before the shareholders, Ettah noted that Portland Paints recorded another year of impressive business performance as bottom-line growth hit 159 percent, from a profit after tax of N57.3 million in 2013 to N148.6 million in 2014.

During the period under review, operational profit also grew from N174.3 million to N304.5 million, he said. He, however, explained that “for strategic reasons, the board is not recommending the payment of dividend for the year, but hoped that with the company’s improved performance, this may not be a challenge any more.

Ettah noted that the outlook for the Nigerian economy in 2015 is expected to be significantly affected by low crude oil prices, increase in exchange rates of Naira against major currencies, national security issues and the political risk associated with the elections.

According to him, the International Monetary Funds (IMF) has projected 4.8 percent GDP growth for Nigeria, while both the Nigerian government and the World Bank assume a 5.5 percent growth rate; a decline from the range of 6.5 percent-7.0 percent that the Nigerian economy had been growing at for some years now. He stated further: “Oil prices that closed below $60 in December 2014 fell as low as $46.00 in January 2015, leading to the review of the Federal Government’s 2015 Budget benchmark from an initial $65 to $53 per barrel.