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.”
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