Stories BY PROVIDENCE OBUH
The Vice Chairman, Vital Products Plc, Mr. Sanjeeve Kapoor, penultimate week, said that 2015 is going to be tough for businesses as a result of naira devaluation, as this may result to market contraction of about 35 percent.
He stated this in a chat with news men immediately after the company’s closed door Annual General Meeting, for the financial year ended December 31, 2014, in Lagos.
Kapoor noted that the cost of doing business in Nigeria has remained high. “I bring in tomato from Russia to Nigeria at $30 per ton and from Lagos to Kano it cost me $30 per ton, cost of transportation from Lagos to kano costs me the same thing from Russia to Nigeria,” he said.
The Vice Chairman, Vital Products Plc, Mr. Sanjeeve Kapoor, penultimate week, said that 2015 is going to be tough for businesses as a result of naira devaluation, as this may result to market contraction of about 35 percent.
He stated this in a chat with news men immediately after the company’s closed door Annual General Meeting, for the financial year ended December 31, 2014, in Lagos.
Kapoor noted that the cost of doing business in Nigeria has remained high. “I bring in tomato from Russia to Nigeria at $30 per ton and from Lagos to Kano it cost me $30 per ton, cost of transportation from Lagos to kano costs me the same thing from Russia to Nigeria,” he said.
“2014 was not too alright but 2015 is going to be tough because of the devaluation of the naira. Today naira to a dollar is N210 and we have not been able to move our prices up and so we will slow down our sales because we are having a lot of problem in increasing our prices,” he added.
He said: “I don’t think government can bring down the naira dollar price, unless oil goes up to $70 or $80. I see the market contracting by at least 35 percent in 2015, so volumes will come down, nobody should think big anymore and we will go from two shifts to one shift we have to lay off a lot people,” he said.
He added that its business is established in the northern part of the country, “but we have not been so successful in Lagos. We have been improving our costing expenses and we have been cutting down cost. We run gas generated power which is cheap and even cheaper than NEPA.” Earlier in a statement, Chairman of Board, Alhaji, Bashari Aminu, said that its operating environment remained undoubtedly marked by various economic, security and political challenges in the year under review. “The upsurge of insurgence in the country and the upcoming election has impacted negatively on business.
“Going forward we will continue to build on existing competencies to enable us set the needed platform for continuous market expansion, volume growth and delivery of the desired benefits to all stakeholders.
“We will continue to attract and retain the best talents in the industry. Our competitive strengths and growth potentials will be fully maximized, with the likes of Sudan and India and we will adopt a model for the backward integration project,” he said
Meanwhile, the company’s revenue stood at N4.213 billion for the year under focus compared to N4.452 billion in 2013.
- Culled from: http://www.vanguardngr.com
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