The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Shareholders

  • Oando’s N7.1b Q3 profit excites shareholders

    Oando’s N7.1b Q3 profit excites shareholders

    Leading integrated indigenous oil and gas company Oando Plc has posted a profit after tax of N7.1 billion in the third quarter of 2017, boosting shareholders’ confidence in the stock.

    A comparative review of Oando’s financials shows positive performance across all indices. Turnover increased by 16 per cent to N383.5 billion from N329.9 billion in the same quarter of 2016 and gross profit increased by 148 per cent to N71.2 billion from N28.6 billion. Profit-after-tax increased by 120 per cent to N7.1 billion from a loss of N35.8 billion in Q3 2016.

    Commenting on the results, Group Chief Executive Wale Tinubu, said: “After five consecutive quarters of contraction, Nigeria’s official exit from the recession, buoyed by improved performance in the oil, agriculture, manufacturing and trade sectors of the economy, is laudable news. The continued increase in oil prices to a 2017 high of $58 in September, coupled with ongoing peace efforts in the Niger Delta have significantly impacted our fourth successive profit declaration.”

    The management said it continues to keep to the promise it made to shareholders during its 39th annual general meeting in 2016 with the declaration of its fourth consecutive profit. The company was proactive in its approach to cushion the effect of the oil downturn by immediately implementing its strategic growth initiatives.

    Tinubu added: “Our third quarter financials are reflective of the continued implementation of our strategic initiatives of growth through our dollar earning upstream portfolio; deleverage through recapitalisation and asset divestments and the expansion of our oil export trading business. The proceeds from our business restructuring and asset sales have been successfully used to improve our balance sheet with a reduction of N18 billion in our debt position from N247 billion as at December 2016 to N229 billion today.”

    Oando’s results defy the speculation of many who watched the company and its management come under scrutiny in the past months. It also comes as a relief to aggrieved shareholders who have in the past months expressed their dissatisfaction on the damage the Security Exchange Commission probe caused to brand value and the Company’s share price, the management said.

    However, these results prove the company can look forward to an optimistic future. In 2015 Oando concluded the recapitalization of its downstream business with a consortium of Helios Investment and Vitol Group for US$210 million. The partnership reinvigorated Nigeria’s downstream sector to create one of Africa’s largest downstream operations. Oando further divested its midstream business now known as Axxela to Helios partners for US$115.8 million to increase its gas footprint, the management added.

    “Our tenacity to continuously create value despite prevailing headwinds is evident in our improved performance four quarters in a row; we remain optimistic about our future performance and focused on delivering robust returns to shareholders,” Tinubu said.

  • ‘Oando shareholders to bear cost of forensic audit’

    ‘Oando shareholders to bear cost of forensic audit’

    Shareholders of Oando Plc will bear the cost of the N160 million forensic audit the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) will carry out on the firm.

    An official of Oando said over the last six months, the company has watched the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation into Oando Plc play out in the media contrary to best practice and consequently, the investment of over 270,000 Nigerians depreciate drastically.

    “The Commission saddled with the responsibility of protecting investors and maintaining orderly and efficient markets, has been called-out on doing the contrary with regards to this investigation.

    The SEC finally publicized the acclaimed findings of its six months long investigation into Oando in the past week, with steep penalties which the company has rebutted in a press statement. Amongst other things, the company has been slammed with a 160 million naira bill to enable the SEC conduct a forensic audit on its financials. This penalty begs the question, is thisthe most effective use of shareholders money? How independent and objective is the process?

    According to Oando, the cost implication of the forensic audit which is to be borne by the Company is onerous, unnecessary and irresponsible in light of the above submissions and not the best use of shareholder funds at this time.

    SEC has already selected a five company panel of forensic auditors. However, Oando is fighting back this decision. Oando has confirmed that they weren’t carried along on the panel selection, they have not received a scope of work and timeline for the audit and accordingly a justification for the N160 million bill.

    Oando’s most recent statement states: “Having declared to the public that it has acted drastically to suspend the shares of Oando PLC due to its “weighty” findings in the course of its investigations, SEC then concludes that a forensic audit is necessary in order to investigate whether its findings are true. This is a clear contradiction.’

    Oando questions how the SEC has arrived at its findings if it cannot be sure of the veracity or otherwise of those findings and how did it ascribe the appropriate level of weight to be given to those findings, enough to warrant an immediate suspension followed by a technical suspension of the shares of the Company, if those findings are still mere allegations at this point.

  • World largest brewer gets shareholders’ approval to merge Nigerian subsidiaries

    Shareholders of three Nigerian subsidiaries of Anheuser-Busch InBev have approved the plan by the world largest brewer to merge and consolidate its Nigerian businesses under a publicly quoted entity.

    Shareholders of three indirect Nigerian subsidiaries of Anheuser-Busch InBev-International Breweries Plc, Intafact Beverages Limited and Pabod Breweries Limited voted at separate court-ordered meeting to merge the three companies through a scheme of merger.

    With provisional approval of the merger by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the shareholders’ approvals rounded off the crucial stage of the business combination. Both SEC and NSE are expected to grant final approval to the merger, while the Federal High Court will grant the final order to consummate the merger.

    With the business combination, Anheuser-Busch InBev’s majority equity stake in its Nigerian main business-International Breweries Plc, will increase to 75.1 per cent after the consolidation. The merger was seen as a major strategic move by Anheuser-Busch InBev to upend competition and consolidate its Nigerian base for further expansion into the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

    Under the arrangement, all assets, liabilities and undertakings of Intafact and Pabod including employees, real property and intellectual property rights will be transferred to International Breweries upon the completion of the proposed merger. Shareholders of the two other companies-Intafact and Pabod, will be issued ordinary shares of International Breweries in exchange for their shareholdings in the merged companies.

    Anheuser-Busch InBev currently holds 72.17 per cent majority equity stake in International Breweries Plc through its subsidiary-Brauhaase International Management GMBH. After the business combination, Anheuser-Busch InBev’s majority equity stake will increase to 75.1 per cent.

    Under the arrangements for the business combination, International Breweries will issue 5.302 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each to shareholders of Intafact and Pabod. Intafact has total issued shares of 1,400 ordinary shares of N100,000 each while Pabod has 4.0 billion ordinary shares of N1 each.

    The share exchange ratio indicates that 29.09 million ordinary shares of International Breweries will be exchanged for 10 ordinary shares of Intafact while 3,071 ordinary shares of International Breweries will be exchanged for 10,000 ordinary shares of Pabod.

    SABMiller Nigeria Holdings BV-a subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev holds 75 per cent and 82.81 per cent majority equity stake in Intafact and Pabod respectively. Ministry of Finance of Anambra State holds 10 per cent equity stake in Intafact while Ministry of Finance Incorporated of Rivers State holds 14.52 per cent equity stake in Pabod.

    After the merger of the three companies-SABMiller Nigeria Holdings BV and Brauhaase International Management GMBH-two subsidiaries of Anheuser-Busch InBev, will hold 47.4 per cent and 27.7 per cent equity stake respectively in International Breweries, giving the foreign majority core investor controlling equity stake of 75.1 per cent. Ministry of Finance of Anambra State will hold 4.7 per cent equity stake while other minority shareholders will hold the remaining 20.2 per cent equity stake.

  • Be corporate governance watch dogs, shareholders urged

    Be corporate governance watch dogs, shareholders urged

    Shareholders have been urged to exercise their ownership functions in companies  they invest to encourage corporate governance.

    The Head, Investment Research & Corporate Strategy, Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited, Mr. Charles Omoera, made the call at the 25th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN).

    The theme of the AGM, which held in Lagos, during the week, was “The Agency Dilemma: The impact of Shareholders Engagement”.

    Omoera said: “Institutional shareholders should serve as corporate governance watch dogs over the companies they invested in. Majority shareholders almost always get their way and their interests are not necessarily aligned with those of the minority shareholders.”

    He said more than ever before shareholders should be addressed as key owners of a particular business unlike now where many companies organise their AGMs without their (sharholfders’) strategic input.

    He explained that companies who align with the several provisions protecting shareholders’ rights and also allow them to contribute to the agenda of their AGMs will grow the profitability of the businesses as they have deliberately made room for alternative opinion from a dispassionate stand.

    Omoera, who was once a Portfolio Manager in the Private Equity Unit of Standard Bank, said that embracing shareholders especially the minority shareholders in the decision making process of the company, and inhibiting domination by majority shareholders has the capacity to encourage economic prosperity of a given organisation.

    He added that embracing institutional shareholders in strategic decision making and cultivating their goodwill in any organisation could lead to enhanced management credibility through improved transparency.

    For effective AGMs, Omoera recommended that voting should be reviewed and minimum qualification and standards for members of audit committee improved and further made public.

    He also suggested the improvement of market practices and institutional shareholder engagement from particular sectors such as insurance, pension, foreign portfolio investors and accounting bodies. These, he advised, should be given specific slots at AGMs to ask questions and make comments.

    Furthermore, the expert advised that the Security & Exchange Commission (SEC) should do more to ensure best practices by listed companies while institutional shareholders take some time to fully understand regulations as set out by the SEC and

    Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

    Omoera observed that AGM’s do not necessarily achieve the required objective as majority shareholders have developed the art of managing the outcomes.

    He frowned at the fact that key structures do not function as expected – audit committee, independent directors, SEC and NSE.

    The expert also observed that though quality of financial reporting and disclosures by listed companies have improved over the years, they still fall short of international standards in some cases.

    He lamented that institutional shareholders either do not realize the powers they have or are reluctant to use them.

    Underscoring the strategic importance that informed shareholders hold, he referred his listeners to a case in 2013 when GSK UK disclosed its intention to increase its foreign controlling interest in GSK Nigeria from 46.4 per cent to 75.0 per cent.

    He said: “However, minority shareholders opposed the move saying it was a ploy to alienate them and delist the company from the NSE like Coca Cola used its controlling stake in NBC to delist in 2012”.

    Earlier in his keynote address, a fellow of the Institute, Mr. Adeniyi Adebisi dwelt on the expected manners of engagement shareholders should be having and what should inform the decisions of board of directors.

    He advised that in their pursuit, rule of law, accountability and transparency should be the guiding principle that should be adopted by all.  According to him, if this is done, it will be difficult to serve any other interest outside the interest of the company and that of the shareholders.

    Adeniyi said: “The paramount function of our regulators is to ensure that this principle is upheld at all times. When the regulators are lazy, not well grounded, or not adequately knowledgeable, or misguided, they become self serving, corrupt and an albatross of a sort”.

  • Lafarge Africa to raise N131.65b from shareholders

    Lafarge Africa to raise N131.65b from shareholders

    •To merge with two subsidiaries

    The board of directors of Lafarge Africa Plc yesterday announced that the cement company would be raising N131.65 billion through a rights issue.

    After the end of its extraordinary meeting, directors of Lafarge Africa stated that they have decided that the company will float a rights issue of five new ordinary shares for every nine ordinary shares at a price of N42.50 per share.

    The qualification date for the rights issue has not been decided. However, the company has commenced regulatory approval process for the new issue.

    Also, Lafarge Africa would be undertaking a business combination with two of its wholly owned subsidiaries-United Cement Company and Atlas Cement Company Limited.

    The board of directors of Lafarge Africa has already approved the merger and business combination between Lafarge Africa and the two other companies. The board of directors authorised Lafarge Africa to enter into negotiations necessary for the consummation of the merger.

    The directors had also passed a resolution authorising Lafarge Africa to seek the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other relevant regulators for the consummation of the merger.

    LafargeHolcim, which holds the majority equity stake of 72.59 per cent in Lafarge Africa Plc, has indicated it will subscribe fully to its rights. LafargeHolcim will pick up its rights under a debt-for-equities deal that will see conversion of LafargeHolcim’s dollar-based loan to equities.

    Many Nigerian shareholders had raised objections to the debt-for-equities deal, which they said could give the majority core investor undue advantage to increase its controlling equity stake in the company.

    Chairman, Lafarge Africa Plc, Mr. Mobolaji Balogun, said the recapitalisation would help to reduce the group’s exposure to adverse foreign currency translation losses as experienced in 2016 following a 40 per cent depreciation of the Naira against the Dollar.

    He noted that the decision of LafargeHolcim to convert existing loans into equity demonstrates the core investor’s continued belief in the Nigeria story, pointing out that the rights issue is the largest so far in the Nigerian capital market and the largest investment in a listed company by an investor.

    According to him, the rights issue will help to reduce the group’s foreign currency exposure by 50 per cent while the remaining portion of the debt, with the support from LafargeHolcim, has been refinanced and hedged for 12 months.

  • Shareholders call for truce as Oando holds AGM

    shareholders of Oando Plc have called on aggrieved stakeholders and other dissenting voices to avoid undue sensation and media trial and channel their complaints through the appropriate dispute-resolution mechanisms to avoid unintended damage to the indigenous group’s corporate brand and shareholders’ investments.

    At the 40th annual general meeting yesterday in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, shareholders of Oando voted in favour of all resolutions while expressing their confidence in the management team, led by the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Wale Tinubu. The meeting also retained the company’s board of directors.

    Shareholders called for a quick resolution of the issues raised in two petitions against the management of the company in order to enable Oando’ management focuses on building the brand.

    Two petitioners-Alhaji Dahiru Mangal and Ansbury Inc, had petitioned Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), alleging gross abuse of corporate governance and financial mismanagement. They subsequently requested for a postponement of the company’s 40th annual general meeting pending the close of full investigation by SEC. However on conclusion of its initial finding, SEC stated that it saw no material evidence that would warrant a postponement of the meeting, a position that aligned with the company’s position that the petitions lacked merit.

    Speaking at the meeting, a shareholder, Mrs. Bisi Bakare, called on shareholders to resolve their disputes with the company in private to avoid unnecessary sensationalism which would in turn result in loss of money for the company and shareholders.

    Another shareholder, Mr Adeleke Oladimeji, noted that undue negative publicity which has greeted the petitions was subconsciously doing more damage than good to the investment of many Nigerians.

    Other shareholders called on the management of the company to reconcile with the aggrieved stakeholders so as not to jeopardize the future of the company.

    National Coordinator, Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria (PSAN), Mr Boniface Okezie, said the directors of the company should open up discussions with the petitioners.

    “We demand that the management reconcile with them and give them the three vacant positions on the board. This will save this company from collapse,” Okezie said, referring to the two petitioners who had laid claims to majority shareholdings in the company.

    A group under the aegis of “Oando Shareholders Solidarity Group” meanwhile staged a protest outside the venue of the meeting, with various placards calling on Tinubu to resign. Oando stated that those outside were not shareholders as all shareholders were allowed into the venue of the meeting as verified by the registrars and regulatory agencies at the meeting.

    The protesters whose aim was to stop the meeting from holding accused the company’s management of mismanagement and lack of full disclosure.

    According to the leader of the group, Mr. Francis Michael, the group was protesting in order to change the management of the company over what they described as gross mismanagement and abuse of   corporate governance.

    He said they have read several reports on the gross mismanagement of Oando by the present management of the company.

    “We are also calling on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to commence immediate investigation of the company to determine the true state of the financial position and corporate practice. We also demand the rejection of proposal concerning the remuneration of the CEO and directors of Oando Plc and rejection of 2016 annual report and accounts and the need to convene an Extra-ordinary General Meeting within the shortest possible time to address the issue of current mismanagement and abuse of corporate governance of the company,” Michael said.

    Tinubu however said that the protests were uncalled for as SEC had approved that the AGM should go ahead after examining the petition.

    He called on shareholder to have faith in the company as management is doing what it can to turn the company around.

    Key representatives of shareholders’ associations who also addressed the protesters urged them to raise their concerns through legitimate way by either writing to the company or by attending the AGM.

    “As a reputable company, our approach is not to respond to every allegation in the media; allegations need to be delivered to the company in a particular format before we can respond. The petitioners requested a postponement of our AGM, but we provided the SEC with all the information required and we were cleared to hold the AGM,’’ Tinubu noted.

    He outlined that the company had reacted to the 2014 fall in oil price by providing a detailed restructuring plan which saw it reducing its overall debt by over 40 per cent.

    “Following the completion of our strategic deleveraging initiatives, we have evolved into a leaner but more focused organization with two core dollar earning entities,” Tinubu said, assuring shareholders of returns in the near future.

    He expressed appreciation to the shareholders for their continued support for the company in the challenging times.

    He assured shareholders that Oando management team will focus on sustaining the company’s profitability and ensuring returns to shareholders.

    “As your management team, we assure you that our main focus will continue to be geared towards sustaining your company’s profitability and ensuring adequate return for you our esteemed shareholders. Our story has always been one of resilience, innovation and growth, and I assure you that we are fully committed towards positioning your company towards sustained growth moving forward,” Tinubu said.

  • Shareholders endorse CWG’s expansion into telecom services

    •Assures on sustained profit

    Shareholders of CWG Plc yesterday in Lagos amended the memorandum of association of the company to include provision of telecommunication services in its portfolio of businesses. The amendment will allow CWG to provide value-added services in the vast telecommunication and digital business.

    At the annual general meeting in Lagos, shareholders commended the rebound in the operations of the company as the bottom-line recovered from a net loss of N1.8 billion in 2015 to a net profit of N127.7 million in 2016.

    Key extracts of the audited report and accounts of CWG for the year ended December 31, 2016 showed a rebound from a pre-tax loss of N1.75 billion in 2015 to pre-tax profit of N142.0 million in 2016. Group turnover however declined from N15.6 billion to N10.17 billion.

    Speaking at the meeting, Chairman, CWG Plc, Mr. Abiodun Fawunmi, attributed the rebound in the performance of the company to new well articulated and implemented strategies that steadied the group against the operating challenges.

    According to him, the improvement was due to strategic cost optimisation initiatives adopted by the management including mitigated measures against foreign exchange losses, the absence of income reversals and non-recurrence of inventory write-offs.

    “The impressive result recorded by the company last year is attributable to our focus on profitable information technology solutions with deliberately less exposure to foreign exchange fluctuations and with predictable recurrent revenues,” Fawunmi said.

    He assured that the company has an impressive and promising outlook for investors as its strategic decision to leverage on home-grown initiatives has built-in a running resilience that allows the company to thrive in spite of the tough economic environment.

    He said the company will continue to focus on its recurrent businesses with lower cost of sales and more predictable and recurring income adding that the company will ensure improved penetration of its home-grown products in various sectors of the economy.

    Managing Director, CWG Plc, Mr James Agada said the company will in the current year convert its investments in new services in its utility, health, transport and government sectors into contributors to the top-line and bottom-line.

    He added that group would also invest in converting its previous outright sales businesses into subscription mode businesses while it will start several initiatives to sustain overall performance.

    “Our ultimate target is to become one of the largest providers of IT platform services out of Africa by 2020. We will be well on our way by meeting the target of six million transactions per month in the next year and then growing aggressively from there to a minimum of sixty million transactions per month by 2020. Meeting these targets set us on the way to reaching the $1 billion a year benchmark,” Agada said.

    “Your company is in the business of solving problems with technology and as we continue to solve them, the value of your investments will continue to grow,” Agada assured shareholders.

  • Shareholders approve Lafarge Africa’s N140b rights issue

    Shareholders approve Lafarge Africa’s N140b rights issue

    Shareholders of Lafarge Africa Plc yesterday authorised the board of directors of the cement company to raise new equity capital up to N140 billion in a major move to deleverage the cement group.

    Lafarge Africa plans to raise the new equity fund through a rights issue, implying that only existing and qualified shareholders will participate in the new issue. The shares will be pre-allotted to shareholders on the basis of their shareholdings as at a predetermined date.

    LafargeHolcim, which holds the majority equity stake of 72.59 per cent, has indicated it will subscribe fully to its rights. LafargeHolcim will pick up its rights under a debt-for-equities deal that will see conversion of LafargeHolcim’s dollar-based loan to equities.

    With the approval by shareholders, the rights issue is expected to be launched in late September and finalised by the fourth quarter.

    Chairman, Lafarge Africa Plc, Mr. Mobolaji Balogun, said the recapitalisation would help to reduce the group’s exposure to adverse foreign currency translation losses as experienced in 2016 following a 40 per cent depreciation of the Naira against the Dollar.

    He noted that the decision of LafargeHolcim to convert existing loans into equity demonstrates the core investor’s continued belief in the Nigeria story, pointing out that the rights issue is the largest so far in the Nigerian capital market and the largest investment in a listed company by an investor.

    According to him, the rights issue will help to reduce the group’s foreign currency exposure by 50 per cent while the remaining portion of the debt, with the support from LafargeHolcim, has been refinanced and hedged for 12 months.

    Balogun said the company has been positioned for better performance in the years ahead as benefits of the turnaround plan launched in the third quarter of 2016 were already counting in the fourth quarter of 2016.

    “We have increased local sourcing of critical materials to lower foreign exchange component of our operational costs. Finally, we are working on a new route to market initiative and improvements in logistics with increased vehicle turn-around and size of fleet of third party providers,” Balogun said.

    Group Managing Director, Lafarge Africa Plc, Mr. Michel Puchercos, said the acquisition of Unicem in 2016 was in line with the group’s capacity expansion plans.

    He noted that doubling of the production capacity of the Mfamosing plant in Calabar to 5.0 million metric tons per annum has contributed significantly to Lafarge Africa’s capacity and footprint in Nigeria as it provides an opportunity to increase the group’s share of the cement market in the South East and South regions.

    He added that the group plans to increase the use of alternative fuel or biomass and locally mined coal to lessen high energy cost and production disruptions due to gas supply shortages.

  • Fidelity Bank shareholders get N4.1b dividend

    Fidelity Bank shareholders get N4.1b dividend

    Shareholders of Fidelity Bank Plc have been rewarded with N4.056 billion as dividend on their investment for the financial year ended 31, December, 2016 upon approval at the bank’s 29th annual general meeting held in Lagos.
    The board of the bank proposed a dividend of N4.056 billion for 28.975 billion shares outstanding, representing 14 kobo per ordinary share which was unanimously approved by the shareholders at the meeting.
    The shareholders who embraced e-Dividend payment received direct credit of the dividend to their bank accounts immediately after the annual general meeting.
    At the meeting, the Chairman, Mr Ernest Ebi, attributed financial performance of Fidelity Bank in 2016 to the slowdown in business activities due to lower government revenues, arising from depressed oil prices, lower interest rate regime, rising inflation rate, lower consumer disposable income, tougher operating environment and the impact of the current devaluation on asset quality.
    According to him, the bank reported a 3.5 per cent increase in gross revenue to N152 billion from N147 billion in 2015. ”Despite the drop in profitability, we remain strong boasting of a capital adequacy ratio of 17.2 per cent in 2016 which stood above the regulatory minimum of 15 per cent, which implies that as the business environment opens up in 2017 financial year, Fidelity Bank will have adequate capital to latch on to the opportunities,” Ebi said.
    In his address, Managing Director of the bank, Nnamdi Okonkwo, said the success story of Fidelity Bank Plc was anchored on improved service quality, innovative products and services tailored to meet the varying needs of the bank’s customers.
    “The strides achieved in our innovative pursuits strengthened the income stream of your bank”, he said.
    He said Fidelity Bank continued to improve the earnings capacity of the different segments of its business as gross earnings increased by 3.5 per cent, net interest income increased by 1.6 per cent and fee-based income increased by 9.6 per cent while expense growth at 4.7 per cent was significantly below the average inflation rate of 15.7 per cent in 2016.
    The retail and electronic banking strategy of Fidelity Bank continued to deliver impressive results as savings deposit grew by 30.1 per cent to N155 billion while instant banking and online banking products grew by over 200 per cent leading to a 41.3 per cent growth in e-banking revenue.
    Okonkwo, however, attributed the growth in e-banking revenue to the upgrade of the bank core banking system which provided a superior architecture that enhanced operational efficiency and depend electronic banking capabilities.
    The shareholders of the bank commended the board on the performance during the year 2016 and them to improve on it.

  • Shareholders hail NB Plc’s performance in year end

    Encomiums poured in for management and board of the Nigerian Breweries Plc as shareholders lauded the company’s 2016 financial performance.

    Shareholders, who spoke at the 71st Annual General Meeting of the company held in Lagos, noted that the company’s performance in spite of the very challenging operating environment, stood out as a shining example for other manufacturers to emulate.

    According to the shareholders, the 2016 results and the dividend pay-out are strong signals of the resilience of the company in the face of the apparent challenges of the economy.

    Mr. Sola Abodunrin and Chief Shotunde Shopeju, both shareholders, expressed confidence that the company remains in good stead to weather the present storm and deliver good returns to shareholders in the future. “I congratulate the company for remaining strong even in the storm. The shareholders are happy that the company is always coming up with new initiatives to bring good harvest and returns,” Shopeju said.

    Echoing similar sentiments, Pastor Williams Adebayo from Abeokuta, Ogun state, another shareholder, congratulated the company for the 70th year anniversary and lauded it for creating jobs for thousands of Nigerians through its local sourcing initiatives.

    Theophilus Adegboye from Oshogbo, Osun State urged his fellow shareholders to commend the company for proposing a 100% dividend payout at a time many quoted companies were unable to pay dividend to their shareholders.

    The proposal for shareholders to receive their either as cash or additional shares was also approved by the shareholders. The shareholders equally approved an increase in the authorised share capital of the Company from N4billion to N5billion by the creation of additional two billion ordinary share of 50kobo each.

    In his remarks at the meeting, the chairman of the company, Chief Kola Jamodu, informed the shareholders that the company has declared a total dividend of N28, 386, 181, 179. This amounts to N3.58 per share and 100% earnings pay out. Shareholders have the option to choose between a cash payment or the conversion of their dividend to ordinary shares with the approval of the scrip issue.

    He maintained that the operating environment in 2016 was very challenging especially from an input cost, forex and purchasing power perspectives. Our volume growth was in the mid-single digit region, coupled with the price increases that we implemented positively impacted our revenue growth.

    He added that the “the positive results we achieved in 2016 were helped in no small measure by our Cost Leadership Agenda through which we focused on being better with revenue management, optimising costs and a continuous process of consumer value engineering.”