By Itohan Abara-Laserian
Shareholders of Nigerian Breweries (NB) PLC. at the 75th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held April 22 approved dividend of N7.52 billion for the 2020 financial year.
Mrs Sade Morgan, Corporate Affairs Director of the company, said this in a statement on Friday in Lagos.
Morgan said the company assured the shareholders of its commitment to continually improve returns on their investments.
Morgan said the shareholders noted at the AGM that the total dividend payout came as a result of the exceptional performance recorded by the company for the 2020 financial year.
They stated that the 2020 results contained in the audited report and the 100 per cent dividend payout was a strong reflection of the company’s stability as well as its resilience in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and operating challenges in the economy.
Morgan said one of the shareholders, Mr Boniface Okezie, who spoke at the meeting, hailed the board and management of Nigerian Breweries Plc for helping to maintain a strong and healthy balance sheet amidst recession and inflation that had affected businesses and the Nigerian economy in general.
According to Okezie, the fact that the company remained competitive despite the huge impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on businesses, demonstrates the uniqueness of the cost-saving measures deployed.
“Despite the impact of the recession and COVID-19 pandemic, the company still maintained stability. This goes to show the quality of leadership at the company.
“I must confess that the board and management have done well to keep to the promise of paying dividends.
“We can only hope that they keep up the tempo so that we can receive higher dividends in the next financial year,” Okezie said.
Shareholders who were in attendance expressed appreciation to the board and management of the company for exhibiting the great capacity to keep the company going and stable, amid challenges, said the statement.
It added that the shareholders hailed the company for making a total dividend payment at a time when most listed companies found it hard to pay dividends to their shareholders.
The statement said Chief Kola Jamodu, the NB Chairman, explained that each shareholder would receive a final dividend of N0.69k at an ordinary share of 50k, haven received an interim dividend of 25k.
On his part, the Company Secretary/Legal Director, Mr Uaboi Agbebaku said the 2020 financial year recorded a significant boost in sales volume, though the cost of sales rose from N191.76 billion to N218.36 billion.
Agbebaku who was optimistic about the growth of the company going forward, noted that it would continue to give utmost priority to the welfare of its shareholders in its decision making.
The statement said a breakdown of the company’s audited results showed that its profit after tax (PAT) for 2020 stood at N7.52 billion while net revenue increased sharply from N323 billion to 337.01 billion between 2019 and 2020, representing a 4.3 per cent rise.
Marketing and distribution expenses reduced from N77.70 billion in 2019 to N70.7 billion in 2020, while administrative expenses also dipped by 1.79 per cent from N19.30 billion to N18.96 billion, which was largely informed by the elimination of bad costs. (NAN)
•PHOTO: L-R; Non-Executive Director, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Mrs Adeyinka Aroyewun; Company Secretary/ Legal Director, NB Plc, Mr Uaboi Agbebaku; Chairman, NB Plc, Chief Kola Jamodu; Finance Director, NB Plc, Mr Rob Kleinjan and Corporate Affairs Director, NB Plc, Mrs Sade Morgan during the company’s 75th AGM held on April 22
