Nestle shareholders endorse N7.9bn dividend

Nestle Nigeria PLC will today, Wednesday, pay out a dividend of N7.93bn as approved by shareholders at its 48th Annual General Meeting held in Lagos on Tuesday.

The dividend translates to N10 per share and represents a 100 percent pay-out ratio on the issued share capital of 792.7 million ordinary shares of 50k each.

In his address to shareholders, Mr. David Ifezuike, Chairman of Nestle Plc, stated that in spite of the challenging operating environment, weak consumer sentiment occasioned by rising inflation and cash crunch, the company improved revenue by 20 percent.

He however explained that currency devaluation which affected material cost in the 2016 year under review, caused an increase in the cost of sales, yet operating profit rose 13 percent.

On profit after tax which closed 67 percent lower than previous year, Ifezuike noted that this was as a result of the revaluation of the foreign loans due to the devaluation of the naira.
He thus urged the government to focus on improving the ease of doing business through regulatory reforms to lower costs, eliminate bottlenecks and improve administrative processes.

He said “As stakeholders in the nation’s economy, we welcome the government’s efforts to diversify Nigeria’s oil earnings by focusing on agriculture, solid minerals and local sourcing of raw materials for manufacturing.

Therefore, the government need to put adequate measures in place to ensure foreign exchange availability for critical raw materials which cannot be sourced locally.

Ifezuike said the company is position for better growth in 2017. “We have to continue to build a profitable business, we are cautiously optimistic that with access to foreign exchange to but critical raw materials and spare parts that are not available locally, business-friendly monetary and fiscal policies, stable power supply, improvement in ease if doing business, overhaul of the ailing infrastructure and the provision of conducive business environment, our company will Courageously face the headwinds in 2017

Meanwhile, shareholders at the meeting encouraged the directors and applauded them on a good performance for the year ended 31st December, 2016.

Speaking on behalf of Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), the National Chairman, Mr. Boniface Okezie congratulated the company for notable awards garnered in 2016.