Rating Release

Agusto & Co. hereby assigns an “A” rating to Zeenab Foods Limited (“Zeenab Foods”, “ZFL” or “the Company”).

The rating expires on 30 June 2025.

Agusto & Co. hereby assigns an “A” rating to Zeenab Foods Limited (“Zeenab Foods”, “ZFL” or “the Company”). The rating reflects the Company’s strong financial performance, underpinned by good profitability, good operating cash flow position, as well as a low leverage. The rating is further strengthened by the committed expansion programme aimed at doubling its rice milling capacity to 240 metric tonnes per day by 2025 with prospect for revenue growth, reduction in average production cost and ultimately, improvement in the Company’s bottom line. The growth in ZFL’s export revenue also offers reasonable protection against local currency devaluation and foreign exchange exposure that result from importation of machinery for its production plant. Notwithstanding, the rating is constrained by the persistent working capital deficiency of the business owing to investment in inventory during harvest season, which weighs on the Company’s cash flow.

Zeenab Foods Limited is a food processing and agro-commodity trading company established in 2011. The Company engages in the milling of paddy rice with an installed milling capacity of 120 metric tonnes. In addition to rice milling, ZFL also processes other agro commodities such as beans, millet and cassia tora, which are sold locally or exported. The Company owns two factories located in the Federal Capital Territory (Abuja) and Kano State. Zeenab Foods also supplies grains and other agro-commodities to international donor agencies like the United Nation’s World Food Programme (UN WFP), which the agency uses to support various humanitarian aid projects. In 2022, ZFL was appointed the operator of the Nigerian Export House in China and recently commissioned a liaison office in Lagos to drive export volumes