Image: Drugs manufacturing

Emzor Pharmaceutical Industries has raised a $19.8 million (N26.7 billion) Series 1 Fixed Rate Bond on the FMDQ Group Exchange.

The company is aiming to strengthen local pharmaceutical manufacturing and complete West Africa’s first full-scale anti-malarial Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) manufacturing facility.

The bond, issued through Emzor’s special purpose vehicle, Emzor Pharma Funding SPV Plc, carries a 19 percent coupon over a five-year tenor.

It forms part of the company’s broader N40 billion ($29.6 million) bond issuance programme and represents Emzor’s second domestic bond, following strong investor demand that resulted in the issue being oversubscribed.

The funds are expected to support working capital, expand manufacturing capacity and accelerate the completion of the API facility.

PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc reported a profit after tax of N45.17 billion for the year ended May 31, 2026, up 348.7 per cent from N10.07 billion in 2025.

Profit before tax rose 364.08 per cent to N77.32 billion from N16.66 billion.

The company proposed a dividend of N2.50 per share, compared with none in the previous year.

CEO Oghale Elueni attributed the performance to strong brands, disciplined execution, volume growth, pricing initiatives and efficient working capital management.

Revenue grew 22 per cent, while net assets improved from N17.3 billion negative to N70.6 billion.

The company also recorded volume growth across its electrical and consumer businesses, supporting market share gains and higher household penetration

Businesses using Meta’s WhatsApp Business Platform will begin paying for certain messages sent to customers from October 1, 2026, under a new pricing structure announced by the company.

The change applies to organisations that use the WhatsApp Business Platform, formerly known as the WhatsApp Business API, to manage customer communication on a large scale.

Regular WhatsApp users and small businesses using the standard WhatsApp Business app are not the main targets of the new charges.

Under the revised system, the amount businesses pay will depend on the type of message being sent.

Utility messages, including payment alerts, order confirmations and other service-related updates, will cost about $0.0101 per message, while marketing messages will attract a higher fee of approximately $0.062 each.

Although the individual charges appear relatively small, companies that send large volumes of messages could see their communication expenses rise significantly.

For example, a Nigerian fintech company sending 500,000 chargeable utility messages could incur about $5,050 in fees from Meta alone, excluding charges that may come from third-party providers or software platforms used to manage the messaging service.