The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has advised the investing community of its listing of additional 586,360,250 ordinary shares of Fidson which was allotted by way of a Rights Issue.
The additional shares were listed on the daily official list of the NSE on July 1, 2019.
According to a statement issued by the exchange on Monday July 8, the additional shares were from Fidson’s Rights Issue which took place in the first quarter.
Around May, Fidson opened for subscription a Rights Issue involving the issuance of 750,000,000 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at N4.00 per share on the basis of 1 new ordinary share for every 2 ordinary shares held as at 28 December 2018.
The Rights Issue was in a bid to raise N3 billion for the company, of which the company said about 60 percent of the issue proceeds would be used to clear expensive short term debts and reduce finance cost. The Right Issue was 78.18 percent successful.
A Right Issues is a process by which a company raises capital by offering additional new shares in the company to existing shareholders. The additional shares are offered at a discount to the market price on a stated future date and in proportion to their existing holdings.
While the shareholders are not obligated to subscribe, an eventual increase in the total number of share units would dilute holdings of owners that waive their right.
According to the exchange, with this listing of the additional 586,360,250 ordinary shares, the total issued and fully paid up shares of Fidson Healthcare has now increased from 1,500,000,000 to 2,086,360,250 ordinary shares.
In Q1 2019, Fidson recorded a decline in revenue of about 2 percent from N3.61 billion in the corresponding period of 2018. The company pared profit to N144.9 million in the same period.
However, Imokha Ayebae, Head of Finance and Accounts, Fidson Pharmaceutical, said the company’s revenue is expected to reach N20 billion in 2019 and N23 billion in 2020.
Ayebae who made the disclosure during Fidson’s Fact-Behind-the-figures at the NSE in April said profit before tax to hit N3.4 billion by the end of 2019.
Increase in volume owing to expanded production at Fidson’s WHO compliant factory helped the company grow its revenue by 15 percent to N16 billion in 2018.
On the heels of a rise in cost of sales and finance cost owing to company specific and industry wide challenges, Fidson was unable to translate revenue gains to improve its bottom-line as the company noted a loss of N97 million last year.
Ayebae at the presentation said Fidson would also use the capital raised to inject fresh working capital into the business in order to take advantage of market opportunities to grow the business.
Fidson is a Lagos-based pharmaceutical manufacturing company that develops and manufactures a wide range of pharmaceutical products such as anti-infective, anti-arthritis, endocrinology, gastro-intestine, anti-retroviral, cardiovascular, pain relievers and consumer goods.
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