Cadbury offers explanation…

The management of Cadbury Nigeria plc has explained reasons for capital reduction exercise recently completed by the company. The explanation was made last Thursday when the management of the firm, led by Emil Moskofian, CEO, visited the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

The company, a subsidiary of Mondelez International, recently returned excess capital of N11.9 billion to its shareholders by cancelling two out of every five ordinary shares held by shareholders. This implies each shareholder would receive N9.50 for each cancelled share.

“The decision was taken because Cadbury has surplus capital in excess of the current investment requirement. It should not be construed as lack of appetite for the Nigerian market,” said Moskofian.

“The company has continued to surpass projections and the business is in good shape in such a way that it can fund additional investments from ongoing business,’’ he added.

“We are confident that all investments we want to do between two to five years can be funded from our current business. So, there is no need for us to dip into that surplus cash that we are sitting on, hence the reason we looked at what to do with that cash,’’ he stated, adding that the company went through many options before deciding to give surplus cash to shareholders.

He also said as part of Mondelez International, the global snack power house, Cadbury had access to many global brands and innovations that Nigerian business could take advantage of for its growth.