Lagos – Guinness Nigeria has assured its investors of amicable resolution of the N1 billion fine imposed on it by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
Its chairman, Mr Babatunde Savage, gave the assurance on Monday at the company’s 65th pre-Annual General Meeting press briefing in Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that NAFDAC had recently ordered Guinness to pay N1 billion as administrative charges over alleged violation of its rules and regulations for a long period of time.
“We believe we will be able to resolve it amicably and very quickly, and our brand will continue to be an excellent one.
“We are law abiding and try to follow the rules in line with the international standards.
“It has to do with a small warehouse where we keep raw materials outside the factory. The materials were outside our factory, not inside.
“It is not about our brand, but we are taking it up with NAFDAC and we believe we will resolve it amicably.
“We have been working with NAFDAC and we will continue to respect the law and produce quality products.”
He said that the company, in its 65 years of operation in Nigeria, had maintained a strong relationship with the agency.
“NAFDAC is our regulator and we believe in the government and believe government will do the right thing.”
He said that the company was committed to production of quality brands as pride of the country.
Mr Peter Ndegwa, the company’s Chief Executive Officer, said that the company had invested N52 billion in its operation in the last five years to maintain its leadership of the industry.
Ndegwa said that the company was committed to meeting consumers’ new demands and needs through the introduction of new products to improve efficiency and market share.
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He said that the country’s operating environment would continue to be volatile in the years ahead with fall in the country’s currency and drop in revenue generation.
Ndegwa said that inflation and consumers’ disposable income would also be under severe pressure, but the company would remain aggressive to overcome the headwinds.
The chief executive officer said that the company had invested in capacity that would sustain its operations in the next five years.
He said that plans were on the way to ensure that 75 per cent of the company’s raw materials would be sourced locally in the next three years against the current figure of 43 per cent.
The company, for the financial year ended June 30, 2015, posted a turnover of N118.49 billion against N109.20 billion achieved in 2014.
The shareholders are approve a final dividend of N4.82 billion translating to N3.20 per share proposed by the board at the Nov. 26 annual general meeting. (NAN)
