Wednesday, 3rd May
2017, Lagos, Nigeria: Shareholders of Nigerian Breweries Plc have lauded its
2016 financial performance and approved the dividend proposed by the Board. The
shareholders who spoke at the 71st Annual General Meeting of the company held in
Lagos on Wednesday 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.
The shareholders
stated that 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.
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 authorized share
capital of the Company from 4billion to 5billion Naira by the creation of
additional 2 billion ordinary share of 50kobo each.
In his remarks at the
meeting, the chairman of the company, Chief Kola Jamodu, CFR informed the
shareholders that the company has declared a total dividend of N28, 386, 181, 179
(Twenty Eight Billion, Three Hundred and Eighty Six Million, One Hundred and
Eighty One Thousand, One Hundred and Seventy Nine Naira only).
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, optimizing costs and a continuous process of consumer value
engineering.”
Kufre U. Ekanem
Corporate Affairs
Adviser Nigerian Breweries Plc
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