International Breweries Plc has notified the investing public and the Nigerian Stock Exchange that the shareholders of the Company at the General Meeting held on October 15, 2019, approved the Rights Issue as proposed by the Board of Directors and authorised the Board to take all steps required to give effect to the resolutions as approved.
The Board of Directors discussed the forthcoming Rights Issue and the proposed terms thereof and approved a Rights Issue price of N9 per share, the brewer said in a notice at the Nigerian Stock Exchange, adding that details on the Rights Issue will be provided in due course.
The price approved for the Rights Issue for existing shareholders of the company comes at a reasonable discount when compared with N12.6 it traded on October 17.
The stock price had reached a 52-week high of N33.55 and a 52-week low of N9.75. International Breweries Plc shares outstanding are 8,595,861,936 units.
International Breweries Plc is a part of the world’s largest brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev, (AB InBev) with over 400 beer brands. Established in 1971 and listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 1995.
A rights issue is one way for a cash-strapped company to raise capital often to pay down debt.
The unaudited interim financial statements of International Breweries Plc for the first half (H1) period ended June 30, 2019, show its revenue grew to N68.63billion from N53.10billion in H1’ 2018.
Loss Before Tax (LBT) increased to N10.52billion in H1’19 as against a pre-tax loss of N5.242billion. The company closed the half-year in review with a Loss After Tax (LAT) of N6.84billion, higher than N2.846billion recorded as an after-tax loss in H1’18. Basic loss per share increased to 80kobo from 33kobo in H1’2018.
The Company AB InBev consolidated its business stakes in Pabod Breweries Limited, Intafact Beverages Limited into its majority ownership of International Breweries Plc in a merger that was concluded in December 2017. Its major national brands are Trophy lager, Hero lager, Betamalt, Grandmalt and the premium brand Budweiser.
