MSME Bank of the Year Award: Customers Laud Polaris Bank
Customers have commended Polaris Bank for emerging as the ‘MSME Bank of the Year 2022’ at the BusinessDay’s Banks and Other Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards.
The award is coming on the heels of the bank’s recent strides in supporting SMEs and MSMEs across Nigeria. Polaris Bank has been renowned for its intervention and provision of instant working capital and expansion financing support for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) businesses across Nigeria. Speaking, a customer and CEO of a notable Construction Energy & Trade Company who wished to be referred to as Mr Ken, noted that, “Polaris Bank deserves recognition.”Recounting his experience securing a business loan from the Bank, Ken said, “the loan has helped him scale-up business, mainly because of the swiftness in which the loan was appraised and disbursed”.
Another customer of the bank and CEO of a major Rice distributor who secured an overdraft facility, Ms Ngozi M said Polaris Bank is worthy of the recognition acknowledging that her business has been enhanced on account of her relationship with the Bank.
She said, “I was able to stock up goods and meet my customers’ demands as and when due, which is, for me, the game changer in my area of business.” Because of her experience, she went on to refer Polaris Business loans to many companies. Polaris Bank’s Group Head of Products and Market Development, Mrs Adebimpe Ihekuna described the award as a welcome development and attributed it to the Bank’s innovative way of helping MSMEs meet their business objectives.
“We at Polaris Bank are very passionate about entrepreneurs at all levels, and we are set to provide financial support and other services that help them continue to grow.” Ihekuna noted that the Bank’s support for the growth and development of MSMEs in the country stems from recognizing this sector as a critical agent of economic transformation in Nigeria. She explained that over the years, Polaris Bank had helped MSMEs through a comprehensive business advisory system enabling small businesses to weather the storm of Nigeria’s peculiar business environment, thereby repositioning many of them for sustainability and growth. Through its SME-focused products and initiatives, Polaris Bank offers some of the following services to customers: Business Registration Support, Polaris SME Academy, SME Digital Marketing Training, Polaris Business Advisory and Polaris SME Toolkits.
Kayode Tokede
The shareholders of Nigerian Breweries Plc have unanimously approved the issuance of 2.1 billion bonus shares to qualifying shareholders following the conclusion of its Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) held in Lagos.
The value of the 2.1 billion bonus shares as at the date of the EGM was N84 billion.
Speaking during the meeting, the Chairman, Nigerian Breweries, Dr. Kola Jamodu, explained that the board took the decision to offer bonus shares to shareholders based on the Company’s robust share premium account and in response to the yearnings of shareholders over the years for bonus shares.
He added that with issuance of the 2.1 billion shares, the Company has now closed the gap between its issued and unissued shares as required by the Corporate Affairs Commission pursuant to the provision of Section 124 and 868 of CAMA 2020.
In their responses, shareholders praised the company for delivering what they called as an “early Christmas gift” to them.
The National Coordinator of Progressive Shareholders Association Boniface Okezie stated that: “We are very delighted that NB Plc is showing appreciation to shareholders even when we least expected it.
“We must commend the management for managing cost effectively as well as the board for doing the right thing via the issuance of bonus shares”.
Another shareholder, Bamisile Abiola said he was highly impressed by the company’s strides especially in its contribution to climate change by making several investments in solar and alternative energies to reduce its power generation costs.
On his part, the President of Noble Shareholders Solidarity Association, Mathew Akinlade praised the management of NB Plc for prioritizing the welfare of the shareholders and posting an impressive financial performance amidst a challenging business environment.
In his words – “No doubt, the board of Nigerian Breweries Plc has once again shown how concerned it is to the welfare of its shareholders. Despite the challenging business environment, the company has continued to show positive trends both in terms of revenue and profits earned. We are glad that you are giving us a bonus of 1 for 4 shares.”
Recall that on December 1, 2022, Nigerian Breweries plc paid an interim dividend of 40 kobo per share to its shareholders. Speaking on the bonus issue and the interim dividend payment, the Company Secretary/Legal Director, Uaboi Agbebaku explained that both actions clearly demonstrate the commitment of the Board to continue to reward Shareholders for their investment in the Company.
With this development, qualifying shareholders, that is those who were on the Register of Members at the close of business on Tuesday, December 6, 2022, are now entitled to receive a bonus of one share for every four shares held as at that date.,
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