Shareholders Approve Flour Mills’ Dividend Pay-out

Shareholders of Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc (FMN) recently approved the N2.032 billion dividend for the financial year ended March 31, 2018, that was recommended by directors of the company.

The dividend translates to N1 per every 50 kobo ordinary shares owned by shareholders.

The shareholders, who spoke at the 58th annual general meeting of the company in Lagos, noted that the firm’s performance in spite of the challenging operating environment, stood out as example for other companies to emulate.

One of the shareholders of the company, Mrs. Funke Augustine, urged the company to continue to deliver good returns to investors.

Addressing shareholders at the meeting. the Chairman, FMN, Mr. John Coumantaros, said in spite of the challenging socioeconomic and tough business environment, Flour Mills posted a strong performance which was in line with its strategy to continuously create value for stakeholders.

The company’s revenue grew by four per cent to reach N389 billion, while profit before tax was 14 billion, a 29 per cent increase from N10 billion recorded last financial year.

Profit after tax however fell by six per cent to N9.2 billion, primarily due to the effect of deferred tax adjustment following the company’s exit from pioneer status.

Also, the Group recorded revenue of N542 billion, which represented an a 3.5 per cent growth year-on-year.

This was achieved through a combination of resilience in the face of a challenging environment, volume growth and product mix from our food and agro-allied businesses.

“The results are a clear indication that our efforts to continually push for improved efficiency and synergy in the Group are yielding the expected results,” Coumantaros said.

He added: “We have continued to consolidate our position, with a firm commitment to lead in this space while aligning with the agricultural promotion policies in the federal and state level where we operate.

“We are critically looking into our investments in our backward integration initiatives and have confirmed our commitments towards future profitable growth by recapitalising various subsidiaries.

“We are also impairing at company level, part of our investment in Kaboji Farm, our first agricultural investment which has now become our center of excellence for seed and best agricultural practices in maize and soybean.

“In an effort to strengthen the company’s capital base, deleverage our balance sheet, and support our working capital needs, we embarked on, and have completed a Rights Issue program during the past months.

“With the successful completion of the Rights Issue program, we have now positioned the company to exploit valueaccretive opportunities, whilst giving greater operational and financial flexibility to ensure business growth and continuity.”

According to him, the Rights Issue was oversubscribed, which the net proceeds of approximately N39.2 billion in March 2018 would significantly impact on the company’s financials and improve the capital structure.