Dike Onwuamaeze with agency report
Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, the country’s biggest miller by market value, has revived plans to sell bonds to refinance debt and bolster working capital as borrowing costs decline in the country.
According to Bloomberg, the company is looking to raise as much as N50 billion ($138 million) via the securities, of which N20 billion is planned in the first quarter.
The company’s Chief Financial Officer, Anders Kristiansson said this.
Yields on Nigerian debt have dropped since the central bank in October restricted the purchase of its highest-yielding, short-term OMO securities to banks only, barring individuals and other institutions. The yield on the government’s benchmark 30-year bond due in 2049, last week dropped to the lowest since its issue in July. Flour Mills may issue the debt at about 11% with a tenor of as long as five years, Kristiansson said.
The Lagos-based firm announced a N70 billion capital-raising program in 2017 and a year later issued N20 billion of three- and five-year securities with coupons of 15.5 per cent and 16 per cent, respectively. It also raised N40 billion via a rights issue.
