Investing in Livestock feeds #Nigeria

The agricultural transformation agenda of the federal
government is taking shape with many investors looking for
ways of keying into it and benefit.
Government commitment's towards making the agriculture
sector the mainstay of the economy is not in doubt given
pronouncements of President Goodluck Jonathan and the
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr.
Akinwumi Adesina.
While some investors with the financial power are investing
directly in the agricultural sector of the economy, others are
investing through portfolio investment by buying the shares
of companies in that sector.
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) is currently providing
the platform for portfolio investors to participate in the
various subsectors of the agriculture sector, from crop
production and fishing to livestock.
Although only five companies are quoted in the in
agriculture sector of the NSE, they provide a good
investment opportunity for investors. A look at the
performance of the stocks listed in the sector in recent past
showed that investors have reaped significantly from their
investments either in form of dividends or capital
appreciation.
One of such companies that has rewarded its shareholders
significantly is Livestock Feeds Plc. While the company has
not declared dividend for some time due to a rough patch it
went through, investors who staked their funds on the
equity in the past one and have years ago have are counting
a capital gain of about 170 per cent.
The stock closed at N3.06 per share. That price is 28 per
cent below its opening price of N4.30. However, given its
performance last year, the price is an opportunity for
investors to buy into the company given its future
prospects.
Corporate profile Livestock Feeds was established in 1963
by Pfizer as a subsidiary to the pharmaceutical business
which had been introduced to Nigeria few years earlier.
Following importation of exotic milking cows and hybrid
chickens into the country by Germans, Dutch and later
Americans, the need to provide health and nutritional
products led to creating animal health division and then the
feed division.
The first mill of five metric tonnes per hour( MT/hr) was
installed at Ikeja, Lagos in 1963. Another was installed in
Aba 1964 and in Kaduna in 1965. They have 4MT and
3.5MT per hour capacity respectively.