PZ Cussons says it has started cash repatriation to its holding company

Soap maker PZ Cussons says it has started to repatriate cash back to her holding company in the United Kingdom in recent weeks.

The FMCG giant stated this in a trading statement preluding its Annual General Meeting (AGM) billed to be held today.

It stated,

It further stated that its current naira cash balance is valued at around £80-100 million and expects to return around £30-50 million before the end of the 2024 financial year if current economic conditions remain unchanged.

In its words,

Although the firm noted the challenges posed by the unavailability of US dollars on its daily operations. It further explained that the lack of USD has forced it to devise operational and corporate strategies to assuage the effects on its day-to-day operations.

Foreign companies in Nigeria have not been able to repatriate their profits or even capital in recent times due to the shortage of USD in the Central Bank of Nigeria resulting in a backlog amounting to billions of USD.

ThePressNG reported the amount of trapped funds for international airline operators in Nigeria at $812.2 million, the highest in the world.

The Governor of the apex bank during his senate screening stated that the immediate priority of the new team will be to clear the backlog of FX owed to businesses. He estimates the figure to be around $7 billion.

Earlier in November, ThePressNG reported the commencement of the clearance of FX backlog by the country’s lender of last resort.