The Chairman, UAC of Nigeria Plc, Dan Agbor, has said the company is being repositioned to meet current challenges and take advantage of opportunities in the economy to drive profitable growth.
Agbor, who spoke at the company’s Annual General Meeting in Lagos, told shareholders, “The 2018 financial year is a transitional year, in which your board will begin to tackle the root causes of your company’s historical declining performance, and implement initiatives to drive future profitable growth.
“Specific areas of focus will be on capital allocation and portfolio composition, human capital, operating company strategy, and most importantly, reinforcing a group-wide culture of accountability and responsibility.”
The chairman, according to a statement, announced the approval of a dividend of N1.87bn in respect of the 2017 financial year, translating into a dividend of 65 kobo per share. While profit after tax declined sharply from N5.6billion in 2016 to N96.5 million in 2017, reflecting the compression in the margins of our operating subsidiaries.
He disclosed the group’s revenues grew from to N89.1bn in 2017 N82.6bn in 2016 showed an increase of 8 percent while describing the rights issue by the company as a success.
Agbor said, “You will recall that a total of 960,432,193 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each were issued in this process, at a price of N16 per share, and I am pleased to report that as a result of your strong support, the rights issue was 104.5 per cent subscribed.
“The success in right issue is a reflection of the confidence that shareholders and stakeholders still have in our company. You have my assurance that the proceeds of the rights issue are already being applied for the intended purposes, and will, ultimately, improve shareholder value. I am also pleased to mention that some of our subsidiary companies undertook successful rights issues during the financial year.”
