Johnvents Industries Limited, indigenous agribusiness and manufacturing group committed to driving sustainable growth across the entire agricultural value chain, has been upgraded to national scale long-term and short-term Issuer ratings to BBB+(NG).
John Alamu, group managing director of the company, who disclosed this on Monday while speaking with journalists in Akure, stated that the national scale long-term and short-term issuer ratings for the company have been elevated to BBB+ and A2, respectively, up from the previous ratings of BBB and A3.
Alamu said with this development, the company has recorded another significant achievement in its financial standing with a notable upgrade in credit ratings by GCR Ratings (GCR).
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According to him, the upgraded ratings at BBB+ for the long-term and A2 for the short-term, signified that Johnvents’ strengthened credit worthiness and heightened capacity to meet its financial obligations.
Speaking on the feat, Alamu said this is the third rating announcement in the year 2023 and the sixth in three years.
He said, “This year marks the third instance since 2021 where we’ve secured investment grade ratings from three esteemed agencies: Augusto & Co, Data Pro, and GCR.
“The recent upgrade from BBB flat to BBB+ holds significant value for us, affirming Johnvents’ robust leverage and commitment to meeting obligations.
“As we bolster our presence in the cocoa value addition sector, commodities trading, production, manufacturing, and logistics across our diverse businesses, Johnvents remains steadfast in its commitment to emerge as a global leader in agribusiness, driving agricultural transformation and fostering economic development across Africa.”
GCR, a globally recognised credit rating agency, announced the recent evaluation of the company’s financial performance, risk management, overall market positioning, and evolution into an agribusiness and manufacturing group.
The upgrade of Johnvents’ ratings reflects its enhanced competitive position within the Nigerian cocoa processing industry following its organic growth, recent acquisitions, and wider operations across the agricultural value chain.
Johnvents has evolved into a leading processor and exporter of cocoa in Nigeria. This is bolstered by an increase in its plant capacity to 45,000 metric tons (MT) per year from 15,000MT/year previously following the acquisition of one of the largest cocoa processing companies, Premium Cocoa, Ile-Oluji.
The group has also diversified into fast-moving consumer goods, producing cocoa-based confectionery products and carrying out much of the distribution of goods locally and for export through its logistics subsidiary.
At the intersection of everything agriculture, Johnvents Group is an indigenous agribusiness and manufacturing group committed to driving sustainable growth across the entire agricultural value chain from production, processing, manufacturing, distribution, while ensuring food supply and premium export value for Africa.
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The company operates a group structure, with six businesses committed to driving sustainable growth across the agricultural value chain, including production, processing, manufacturing and trade of commodity and food products in Nigeria and the rest of the world.
