Odu’a Investment Company Limited has secured an AA-(NG) national scale long-term issuer rating and A1+(NG) short-term issuer rating from GCR Ratings, with a Stable outlook, as the company unveiled plans to deploy up to $200 million into strategic sectors over the next three to five years.

 

The rating, according to the company, reflects the strength of its investment portfolio, conservative financial profile, strong liquidity and disciplined capital management.

 

The Group Chairman, Dr Tola Kasali, described the rating as an endorsement of Odu’a Investment’s five-decade legacy of prudent stewardship and value creation.

 

Kasali said the rating affirmed the resilience of the company’s investment model, which combines strategic holdings in listed equities with growing contributions from its operating subsidiaries.

 

He said the AA-(NG) rating reflected the group’s conservative leverage, strong liquidity and quality of its underlying assets, despite the complexities associated with operating in frontier markets.

 

The chairman also noted that Odu’a Investment was encouraged by GCR’s recognition of its governance standards, particularly the company’s independence from undue shareholder influence despite its ownership structure by state governments.

 

The Group Managing Director, Mr Abdulrahman Yinusa, said the rating followed a rigorous assessment and confirmed the company’s strong liquidity position.

 

According to him, the group has approximately two times liquidity coverage over the next 24 months, supported by a liquid listed portfolio valued at more than N80 billion and unencumbered cash of N4.8 billion.

 

He added that the group’s balance sheet remained largely ungeared, while the N3 billion bond at its subsidiary, Wemabod Limited, remained within its servicing capacity.

 

Yinusa disclosed that the company would deploy up to $200 million over the next three to five years into hospitality, real estate, logistics and power as part of efforts to diversify its portfolio and strengthen long-term earnings.

 

He said the Stable outlook provided a solid platform for the group to pursue its expansion plans while maintaining its conservative financial discipline.

 

GCR, in its assessment, identified the quality of Odu’a Investment’s portfolio as a positive factor, citing the liquidity of its listed investments and stable cash flows from operating subsidiaries.

 

It noted that most of the group’s equity investments were publicly listed, benefiting from transparent valuations and active secondary markets.

 

The rating agency said the Stable outlook reflected its expectation that Odu’a Investment would continue to maintain significant investments in financially strong and liquid securities, alongside growing earnings contributions from its operating subsidiaries.

 

GCR also identified the company’s low leverage as a strength, noting that the balance sheet remained ungeared across most of the review period and that the group had robust debt-servicing capacity.

 

It said the group’s liquidity sources exceeded its uses by approximately two times over the 24-month horizon, even after applying a 25 per cent stress test to listed holdings to account for frontier market risks.

 

On governance, GCR assessed Odu’a Investment as neutral to the ratings, citing its well-defined corporate structure, appropriately constituted boards, transparent financial reporting and consistent history of clean audit opinions and dividend payments.