Paint maker Chemical and Allied Products plc CAP’s full-year revenue surged 10percent from N7.6bn to N8.41bn in 2019. Profit for the year however dropped to N1.78bn from N2.02bn, as selling and distribution expenses ballooned to N584.23m from N262.51 million, while administrative increased to N1.35bn from N1.14 billion.
The cost of sales during the year also increased slightly to N4.43bn fromN4.03bn. Revenue from the sale of paints stood at N8.51bn from N7.75bn in 2018.
Marketing, communication & entertainment ballooned to N393.87m from N137.22m, while Tour and traveling expenses stood at N51.57m from N48.15m.
While the Nigerian paint industry is faced with a myriad of challenges and harsh operating environment, the paint-making subsidiary of United Africa Company (UAC) of Nigeria plans to create a solid base for its business by investing massively in information technology (IT), not only to overcome the challenges but also to deepen its footprint in the African marketplace.
David Wright, managing director CAP plc in a recent interview with BusinessDay said following the restructuring exercise, the company will be investing heavily in the coming year which would probably begin to yield some significant gains towards the end of 2020.
The managing director mentioned some specific investment plans such as an upgrade of CAP’S IT systems to SAP HANA in the cloud. “This gives us access to our business systems and from any location, which means we can then implement Point of Sale data capture,” he said.
The investment in IT structures will also be supported by some investments at the distribution end. CAP will be increasing the number of its Dulux colour sensors from 25 to 27 just before the end of this year. But that’s not all, its target is to add at least 12 more Dulux colour sensors in the year 2020.
While CAP aims to lead the Nigerian paint market, there are plans to also tap into the African market by exporting its Dulux and Caplux brands into its export territories in sub-Saharan Africa before the end of 2020, and perhaps expand into other regions in Africa over the coming years.
CAP plc is the technological licensee of Akzonobel for Nigeria. It was established originally as Imperial Chemical Industries ( ICI) investments limited in 1957, but became ICI Nigeria Limited in 1965.
