Don’t Allow Gloomy Predictions to Dampen Your Zeal, Ettah Tells UACN Staff

The Group Managing Director/CEO of UAC Nigeria Plc, Mr. Larry Ettah, has charged the management and staff of the conglomerate not to allow widespread predictions of a gloomy end of year in Nigeria to dampen their zeal to enjoy the yuletide.

 He gave the charge in his 2016 Christmas Message to staff, wherein he enjoined them to be guided by the conduct of Jesus Christ whose life epitomised love, humility, steadfastness and grace.

 “In times past, Christmas was another barometer for gauging the economy. Whatever may be the situation in which we mirror our current situation and gauge the mood of our polity, we cannot deny the significance of the season; we cannot afford to surrender to hopelessness,” Ettah said, stressing, “Christmas will not and should not lose its essence because some of us will not be merry; the season speaks more to our spirituality than to our physicality.”

 He urged staff to reflect on their contribution to the Group’s performance in the outgoing year and resolve to do more to ensure increased customer engagement and continuing relevance of the business and its brands. He said it was only by looking at the bright side that staff can inspire and elevate one another to push UACN Nigeria Plc to achieve more at a time that other players in the economy are narrowly focused on doomsday predictions. Ettah explained that the Group’s third quarter results, which had been released much earlier for the nine months ended 30 September, 2016 demonstrated the resilience of UACN’s business and the effectiveness of its strategy in a very difficult operating environment.

 The Group Financial Highlights showed that turnover was up from N55 billion in September 2015 to N57.7 billion in September 2016, representing five per cent year on year top line growth. Other highlights of the nine-month performance in 2016 showed that the company, in comparative terms with 2015, recorded a Gross Profit of N12.5 billion, up 2% from N12.2 billion in September 2015; other Income of N1.8 billion, up 92% from N933 million September 2015 and Profit Before Tax (PBT) hit N6.3 billion, up 27% from N4.95 billion in September 2015.

 “To maintain the tempo and ensure that the progress is not unhinged in the challenging circumstances ahead, we must innovate, we must experiment and we must stamp out waste from our systems and processes,” Ettah said, adding, “UACN Nigeria Plc should be among the pioneers to explore new pockets of ‘blue oceans’ for business growth and sustainability in these hard times.”

 Whilst enjoining the management and staff of UACN Nigeria Plc to have a merry Christmas and prosperous 2017, the Group Managing Director charged them to maintain a firm grip on the plough of business.

 “If we are celebrating a man whose earthly life defines virtually all the good points of the world’s leading religions in terms of sacrifice, love, humility, grace, mercy and forgiveness, we cannot let our lives be doused by temporary economic contraction,” Ettah said.