BusinessDay, the flagship of business and finance reporting in the country will on March 24, 2016 honour the Top 25 CEOs of quoted companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
The annual award/dinner was introduced to recognise and celebrate the CEOs whose companies’ share prices outperformed the NSE’s All Share Index in a particular financial year. In addition, their latest quarterly results should show sustainable profit after tax (PAT).
Introduced in 2013, this year’s event will be the third in the series and will hold at the glamorous Wheatbaker Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos.
Corporate Nigeria led by Samsung Mobile, a global leader in the provision of telecommunications equipment and Sujimoto, a luxury real estate provider with assets such as the Medici Estate Ikoyi, have endorsed this year’s awards.
In selecting the winners for 2015, the Award Committee considered only the companies that promptly released their financials. Consequently, it was not all the companies that outperformed the all share index that were selected because the Award Committee was not able to justify appreciation in the share prices of those that were not selected.
The celebration of the 2015 Top 25 CEOs is worthwhile because they defied the odds in 2015 before ending the year as outperformers. It will be recalled that 2015 was characterised by significant economic headwinds, policy somersaults, foreign exchange volatility and lack of policy direction.
Due to the slide in crude oil prices at the international market, the NSE All Share Index closed by negative 17 percent as at December 2015, a development which caused equity investors to lose N1.63 trillion. Notwithstanding the harsh business environment, the 2015 Top 25 CEOs added N300 billion to the companies’ market capitalisation.
Notable on the list are Forte Oil, Total Nigeria, Mobil Nigeria, Law Union and Rock Insurance, Unity Bank, Okomu Oil, Red Star Express, 7-Up Bottling Company, NEM Insurance, Unilever and NPF Microfinance Bank Plc. Others are Custodian and Allied Plc, Lafarge Cement, AIICO, Continental Re, Wema Bank and United Capital.
