Presco boosts performance despite harsh business environment

Presco plc has stated that despite the harsh economic environment experienced by businesses in Nigeria, the company maintained a stable performance ‎during the course of the year.

Felix Nwabuko, managing director, Presco, during an interview with BusinessDay, said the company had not done ‎badly compared with its projections, saying that in terms of revenue, it achieved a 97 percent increase out of its growth projections.

‎”In terms of profitability, we have done better than we projected,” he said.

According to him, in 2016, the company is already seeking ways of generating foreign exchange to finance its businesses, as next year, the company is planning to increase its fresh fruit bunches (FFB) to 200,000 metric tons.

“We have been putting our heads together to be able to do that. But in terms of our business, we are hopeful that we will continue to grow upwards. For instance, this year, in terms of that we produce from our plantations roughly 180,000 metric tons. But in 2016, we project that we will do 200,000 metric tons of FFB,” he said.

“This translates into more oil, more revenue. We do not expect a crash in market prices considering all the dynamic policies that are in place. Government has a duty to also ensure that local industries are seriously protected. That is one thing that we want from the government. Our borders must be secured against dumping, so that local businesses like us will be able to do our businesses and do it properly,” he said.

The company’s palm plantation, which is about 15,000 to 16,000 hectares, presently provides employment opportunities directly to about 3,500 people on the average, he disclosed.

He pointed out that these expansions were part of the company’s contribution to drive and support the agricultural programmes of the Federal Government with oil palm being the key sector.

The year 2015 has been quite challenging in a number of ways, he said, pointing out that it has been a year where the nation witnessed quite some significant movements within the business environment.

“We had our own fair share of the external shocks that impacted businesses. We saw movements in the exchange rates and of course the change in government was quite significant, and until recently when ministers were appointed not much was happening in there public sector and all these have impact on business.

“Thankfully, we have surmounted it successfully. It impacted on our business in some ways. We have also seen quite some policies being rolled out, particularly by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in its management of the economy as a fall out of the dwindling revenue that comes from petroleum. For instance, we have seen the 41 items that were delisted by the CBN from sourcing foreign exchange for the apex bank.

“As a result of all these, at Presco plc, we are pushing on with our expansion drive. We will be starting a new project of 10,000 hectares of land to be cultivated. We are also pursuing some acquisitions both in terms of extra land and in the acquisition of some pre-existing projects from their former owners in order to revitalise and transform them as is consistent with our extremely high standards as a company that has been here for many decades,” he said.

In his words, “Also, I am quite confident that our country has what it takes to actually develop these alternative revenue sources. There is agriculture, there is solid minerals which is still largely untapped, and there is tourism among others.”

‎He said ‎security had become a very serious issue globally, pointing out that many years back, the cost of security to business was minute and negligible, but stressed that presently, the security expense is almost as high as raw material and input expense.

“Government is primarily in charge of security and so it must review how it supports companies in this area. Government security agencies must continue to be at alert and be ready to support companies. I believe that the growth in crime has a direct relationship with the rate of unemployment,” he said.