PZ Cussons proposes N397m dividend payout to shareholders
By Kayode Tokede
The Board of Directors of PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc has proposed the payment of N397.047 million to the shareholders of the company who currently hold the 3,970,477,045 fully paid ordinary shares of the company.
This disclosure was made public by the company in a notification issued and signed by the Company Secretary, Jacqueline Ezeokwelume on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday.
She explained further that if the dividend of ten (10) Kobo per share recommended by Directors is approved by members at the Annual 72nd General Meeting, the dividend payments will be made on Monday, 1 February 2021.
The Register of Members and Transfer Books of the Company will be closed from Monday, 11 January 2021 to Friday, 15 January 2021 (both dates inclusive) for the purpose of preparing an up-to-date Register of Members.
However, only shareholders whose names appear in the Register of Members and Transfer Books at the close of business on 19th October 2020 will receive the dividend on Monday, 1 February 2021.
The Chairman of PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc, Mr. Gbenga Oyebode in his address said, “Fellow shareholders, the Board of Directors is recommending to the shareholders at this AGM, a dividend pay-out of N397,047,700 representing 10 Kobo per share (2019: 15 Kobo per share). If approved, the dividend will be paid to shareholders on Monday, 1 February 2021 after deducting the appropriate withholding tax.”
The multinational company released its second quarter Q2, 2020/21 unaudited financial statements for period ended November 2020/2021 with N850.9million profit as against loss of N1.58billion reported in second quarter ended November 30, 2019/2020.
The household company had migrated from a loss of N1.58billion in Q2 2019/2020 to N1.03billion reported in Q2 2020/2021.
With the growth in profit, PZ Cussons Nigeria Basic Earnings Per Share migrated from a loss of 40kobo to 21 kobo in Q2 2020/2021.
Key drivers that contributed to profit include 10.1 per cent increase in revenue and 80.1 per cent drop in interest cost in the period under review.
The group reported N37.38billion revenue in Q2 2020/2021 as against N33.95billion reported in Q2 2019/2020 while interest cost dropped to N58.58million in Q2 2020/2021 compared to N293.7million reported in Q2 2019/2020.
Also, from the group profit & loss figures, Cost of sales dropped by 3.3 per cent to N27.22billion in Q2 2020/2021 compared to N28.15billion reported in Q2 2019/2020 while gross profit gained 75.3 per cent to N10.2illion from N5.79billion reported in Q2 2019/2020.
PZ Cussons Nigeria had reported N7.24billion loss in its audited result and accounts for full year ended March 31, 2020, attributable to slow in revenue generation caused by COVID-19 and foreign exchange challenges.
The household company in prior’s year financial statement reported a profit of N1.16billion. With losses reported, the company’s basic earnings per share also recorded a loss of N1.74 in 2020 as against N0.25 reported in 2019.
Our correspondent gathered that the company’s revenue dropped by 10 per cent to N66.99billion in 2020 as against N74.34billion reported in 2019.
The company reported Exchange loss of N945.86million in 2020 as against N444.28million reported in 2019 while interest cost moved from N204million in 2019 to N454.2million in 2020. From the company’s financial position, PZ Cussons Nigeria reported 24 per cent decline in total equity to N34.6billion in 2020 as against N45.75billion reported in 2019.
The company explained that challenging year overall- decline in half year with mixed impact of COVID-19 in the second half of the year impacted on the company’s performance.
Interim Chief financial officer, PZ Cussons, Alan Bergin had said, “Strong performance in UK partially mitigate losses in Nigeria, decline in Australia and impact of COVID-19 on beauty, mixed result across top brands. Significant steps in second half year to strengthen organization and reduce complexity.”
