Shareholders of May & Baker Nigeria Plc have approved N517.6 million dividends translating to 30 kobo for every 50 kobo shares due to every investor of the company held for the 2020 financial year.
At the 70th yearly general meeting held in Lagos, the company’s Chairman, Senator Daisy Danjuma said despite the challenging operating environment, the firm achieved improved performance in both turnover and profit.
According to her, the company achieved 16 per cent growth in revenue from N8 billion in 2019 to N9.4 billion in 2020 while gross profit rose by 30 per cent from N2. 9 billion to N3.8 billion.
Danjuma also disclosed that the company’s Profit Before Tax (PBT) grew by 39 per cent from N901 million in 2019 to N1.2 billion in 2020
However, she explained that a 54 per cent jump in taxation from N184 million to N283 million cut down drastically on Profit After Tax (PAT) with net profit growth of 35 per cent from N716 million in 2019 to N965 million in 2020.
She said the company’s earnings per share increased by 35 per cent from 41.5 kobo in 2019 to 55.9 kobo in 2020. Cost of sales also grew by eight per cent from N5.2 billion to N5.6 billion.
Managing Director/CEO, Patrick Ajahi said although the year under review was one of the most challenging for the company, he noted that the company’s growth strategies showed commendable resilience during the year.
“These were pointers to our general operating efficiency and indication that our strategies were in the right direction. We shall continue on this growth trajectory as we hope to accomplish more audacious goals in the current business year”, he said. Shareholders at the meeting commended the company for the steady growth in dividend payout and 2020 performance.
Founder, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Sunny Nwosu commended the board and the management of the pharmaceutical company for their performance.
He urged them to take advantage of the joint venture with the federal government on local vaccine production and boost its business operations.
Another shareholder, Matthew Akinlade expressed confidence in the management, adding that the shareholders were hopeful that its efforts would translate into even better returns in terms of dividend payment.
