This is for the business of the company in the financial year ended December 2019, which followed the approval by the shareholders of N16.1 billion as dividend for the period.
Chairman of the company,Chief Kola Jamodu in a statement on Wednesday explained that the approval was secured at the company’s 74th Annual General Meeting (AGM) by proxy held in Lagos.
According to him, the final dividend would be N12.1 billion that is at N1.51 per share as the company had earlier paid an interim dividend of N3.99 billion, that is 50k per share in December 2019.
“The company has earlier paid an interim dividend of N3.99 billion, that is, 50 kobo per share in December 2019. The final dividend will, therefore, be N12.1 billion, which comes to N1.51 per share which will become payable on June 24, 2020,” he said.
A breakdown of the company’s results for the period revealed that it recorded a net revenue of N323 billion as against N324.4 billion recorded in 2018.
Jamodu explained that some of the factors that impacted on the company’s performance in 2019 were inflation at double-digit rate, increase in input cost and further rise in the Excise Duty rate which could not be passed to the consumer due to continued pressure on purchasing power.
“The business was nevertheless able to post a positive Profit After Tax of N16 billion for the year due to series of innovations and implementation of cost efficiencies,’’ he added.
Jamodu gave shareholders the assurance that the company remained focused on delivering long term sustainable value to its shareholders in line with its philosophy of ‘Winning with Nigeria’.
He also said that shareholders at the AGM commended the Board and Management of the company for being resilient in the face of the challenging operating environment and appreciated the dividend payment which was coming at the right time in view of current economic realities.
The shareholders further commended the board for ensuring that investors continued to get returns on their investment in the company.
They, however, urged the company not to relent in looking at innovative ways to improve on its performance thereby ensuring that it remained ahead of the pack.
The AGM was held with only a few shareholders present who were representing and acting as proxies for the majority of others, in compliance with government’s restrictions on public gatherings due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was also the first time that the AGM was streamed live, enabling other shareholders to follow the event online
