NewStats: 3,265,255 , 8,186,135 topics. Date: Saturday, 14 June 2025 at 05:57 AM 1g5c6v

There are indications that PZ Cussons Plc may leave Africa after sales plunged in its Nigeria operation. PZ Cussons has put its Africa business under review, potentially pivoting away from the region in which it was founded to invest in its remaining business and pay down debt, Bloomberg reports.

According to media platform, the British soap maker was set up in Sierra Leone 140 years ago and now gets almost 30 per cent of its sales from Africa, even after a 48 per cent decline over the past year. With annual sales of around £500 million ($622 million), it is spread across many geographies and product lines. It also operates in Europe, the Americas and the Asia-Pacific region.

Chief executive officer, Jonathan Myers, said: “We have to have an eye on the future as well as a respect for the past. There could be many permutations of the outcome, which could include a change in ownership. We are going to be objective and not emotional in how we make this decision.”

The company’s shares rose five per cent on April 24, 2024, but down 50 per cent over the past 12 months.
PZ Cussons also plans to sell fake tan brand, St. Tropez. It said the label has grown significantly since the company bought it in 2010, adding that significant long-term growth potential remains in the US and new markets. It could be worth £100 million, Investec analyst Matthew Webb said in a note.

Myers said that the company will focus on branded items for babies, as well as beauty and hygiene products, citing recent acquisition, Childs Farm, which makes toiletries for babies with sensitive skin as an example.

UK, Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia are Myers’ priority markets. Following a strategic review, the board has decided that on top of the difficulties in Nigeria, the company is too complicated for its size. In a financial update, it cited “financial and human resources spread too thinly to generate consistent returns.”

In Nigeria, the company sells a range of products including Morning Fresh dishwashing liquid, refrigerators and cooking oil. The devaluation of the naira means sales fell sharply in pound . It also stoked inflation which has hit consumers’ purchasing power.

In March, regulators rejected PZ Cussons’s application to buy out the 27 per cent of its Nigerian arm that it does not own, in order to delist it. The regulator said the offer price of N23 per share was unfair.

The PZ Cussons Nigeria in a release by the company secretary, Olubukola Olonade-Agaga, said: “It notifies the Nigerian Exchange Limited and the investing public that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has declined the Company’s request for its No Objection to PZ Cussons (Holdings) Limited’s (the majority shareholder) intention to acquire the shares held by all the other shareholders of PZCN at an offer price of N23 per share.”

Meanwhile, challenges faced by local and multinational manufacturers in Nigeria have been power crisis, constant devaluation of naira, forex availability and stringent government policies.

Also, Unilever announced the exit of its home care and skin cleansing from Nigeria; in July 2023, Nigeria’s second-biggest drug producer and British pharmaceutical giant, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc, announced an end to manufacturing operations in Nigeria; French pharmaceutical multinational, Sanofi, announced its decision to quit Nigeria; in November, Equinor Nigeria Energy Company (ENEC), a Norwegian energy corporation which holds a 53.85 percent ownership in oil mining lease (OML) 128, including a 20.21 percent stake in the Agbami field, operated by Chevron, announced the sale of its Nigerian operations, and Procter & Gamble (P&G) announced its decision to shut manufacturing in Nigeria.

The president of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Francis Meshioye, recently said that some international manufacturing firms had already exited Nigeria as a result of the power crisis, coupled with the unpredict- ability of the country’s foreign exchange rate before it was recently unified.

He added that the N144 billion spent on alternative energy sources by manufacturers in 2022 impacted adversely on the operations of the group’s .

https://leadership.ng/140-yr-old-pz-cussons-considers-leaving-africa-over-nigerias-sales-plunge/#google_vignette

Gagantuan gaga!

It seems the PZ has accepted to hit the ground running.

Who will come or sustain investments in a nation that has been bastardized by grossly corrupt, clueless, incompetent and inept people? Idiots who have destroyed a nation are busy obsessed with person who them.

The destructive APC government is just wasting Nigerian lean resources on a useless jamboree of going to attract foreign investors or investment. Provide the right environment and see investors pursuing you .

Racoon:
-1). Unilever announced the exit of its home care and skin cleansing from Nigeria; in July 2023.

-2). Nigeria’s second-biggest drug producer and British pharmaceutical giant, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc, announced an end to manufacturing operations in Nigeria;

-3). French pharmaceutical multinational, Sanofi, announced its decision to quit Nigeria; in November,

-4). Equinor Nigeria Energy Company (ENEC), a Norwegian energy corporation announced the sale of its Nigerian operations, and

-5). Procter & Gamble (P&G) announced its decision to shut manufacturing in Nigeria.

Nawaa o. It's a pitiable state.

This one never do one year for office multinationals don dey leave the country. Nah wa o

the thief only came to steal , destroy and perish what is left . .this is the period for all the touts and agberos nairaland branch to be useful .does it mean they don't have any advice to give their chairman to get the country back on track

The rise of numerous Nigerian companies with better or competing products contributed to the sales plunge.

Many women now produce soaps from their backyard.

This is not bad at all.

Naustine:


Have u considered the job losses and the loss of tax revenue?

Yes I did. They will go look for available local or even international companies to render their services to or setup small-scale factories to that effect, which was how PZ itself started.

Nothing is lost from the macro viewpoint.

Nawa o...

Aha!

Na statistics we go chop..

Oro buruku oun erin

Emilokan has done it again.
We are yet to see the storm of investments that his lapdog Ajuri Ngelele said will flood Nigeria. What we are witnessing is the opposite.

Reno is keeping corn crew happy on Twitter

To distract them from the economic disaster ongoing

Economy is dropping
Companies are fleeing
Fake naira stability has failed

They don't know the country needs trillions invested in production and not a phantom coastal road that will end after lagos border

Tinubu is working, another dividend of Renewed Hopelessness.

Bye

One of the irony of things getting better...

I was sturned when I saw the news

Racoon:
Who will come or sustain investments in a nation that has been bastardized by clueless, incompetent and inept people Idiots? Idiots who have destroyed a nation are busy obsessed with person who them.

Hmm see pain

Ebola thinks that running a successful drug cartel is the same as running a successful country.

There are no national agberos, no national thugs.

Jaaaa

Sapa go finish us

Imperial Leather ❌
Carex ❌
Cusson Baby ✔️
Premier soap✔️ (Premier Cool)
Robb ❌ (na 'Aboniki' kill that one that year)
Venus ❌ (Pluto ni )

Auction bonanza loading.

Profits have been eroded by massive inflation.

APC, the odogwu of economic management.

Na you do this one. Nigeria is running in the opposite direction in full speed.

Nigeria had vision 2020; to become 20th largest economy by year 2020. In 2015 we were 22nd in the world, APC took over and now we are closer to 40th. When they are done wrecking the economy, the next govt will look for another "Okonjo Iweala" to clean the mess

Propaganda does not run the economy nor put food on your table

chieveboy:
The rise of numerous Nigerian companies with better or competing products contributed to the sales plunge.

Many women now produce soaps from their backyard.

This is not bad at all.

Yea. Those backyard women are employing 1000s and producing world class products

Nawa

Some people would come and blame Senior Man Peter Obi

Since our first class ant climb seat, na different companies just dey close upadan

What is happening to the lagos magic that he promised

People establish businesses for profit sake.
So they should do what will favour their business

They can leave. Their main reason is reduced sales according to them and Nigeria is just leaving a recession, coupled with our fight against inflation. They're not the only ones who experienced a plunge in sales, a lot of Nigerians were forced to cut down on their expenditure and it affected businesses.

This is why the govt must indigenous businesses cos all these foreign businesses have no real stake in the country. Once they can't maximise profit, they jet out. Only local businesses can bear with the country through hard times, just like BUA cement & Air Peace...

Lol. Ebi mpiawa azu

We don't need his body we only need his brain.

He tamed the Atlantic ocean.

He boosted a meagre 600 million monthly IGR to 6 billion naira monthly.

He is the next best thing after sliced bread.

He will handle the economy the hausa man will handle the security.

He is our CORNmaster!

On his mandate we shall stand!

May God help nigeria. This situation is really affecting everyone I just hope this government don't put us in a deep mess