By Kayode Tokede
The Board of Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc (FMN), has announced the payment of N6.8 billion to its shareholders as the final dividend for the period ended March 1, 2021.
According to a notice filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), Flour Mills of Nigeria is expected to pay a final dividend of N1.65 per share on all the outstanding 4,100,379,605 ordinary shares of the company. This brings the total dividend payout to qualified shareholders to N6.8 billion.
In addition, the notice also revealed that the dividend will be paid electronically to shareholders on the 9th of September, 2021, subject to appropriate withholding tax and approval at the Company’s Annual General Meeting scheduled to hold on 8th of September, 2021 in Lagos.
The flour processing company had announced 12 per cent increase in profit before tax to N7.3 per cent in first quarter (Q1) ended June 30, 2021 results compared to N6.5billion reported in first quarter results of 2020.
According to the company, its group’s profit after tax was N5.4billion in Q1 2021, 10 per cent increase when compared to N5billion in Q1 2020.
The group’s revenue was N233.7billion, compared to N154.5billion in Q1 2020 ( a 51 per cent increase).
The Company Secretary/Director, legal services, Flour Mills of Nigeria, Joseph Umolu in a signed statement said: The growth in revenue was driven by an impressive performance across all business segments underpinned by sustained demand in Agro-allied, particularly in the company’s Edible Oils and Fertilizer business, and continued improvements in the food segment.”
According to him, the group maintained an impressive performance with robust revenue growth and profit improvements across all segments despite the current challenges in the operational climate.
He added that, “Our food business continues to develop as a result of strategic decisions and investments in route to consumer redistribution, including further investments in vans, automation of redistribution performance tracking, and improve dealer inventory management.”
However, the group Managing Director, FMN, Mr. Omoboyede Olusanya in a statement said: “The first-quarter result shows a strong start to the year and a promising indication of the business’s future as we pursue our strategy of operational efficiency and long-term growth. I’m particularly pleased that we achieved an amazing topline growth and remained profitable, with profit before tax increasing by 12 per cent and profit after tax increase by 10 per cent.
“I envision even more organic growth across the group, fuelled by our expanding ethos of putting consumers at the heart of our business.
“As we continue to execute our long-term strategy of excellence-driven growth, I am optimistic that we will meet our year-end growth targets while improving operating efficiency, lowering finance costs and ultimately increasing shareholder wealth.”