The management of Julius Berger Plc yesterday assured Nigerians that the ongoing rehabilitation of the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway would be completed in September 2014 in line with the company’s operational schedule.
The company also reiterated its commitment towards the timely completion of the Lagos-Shagamu dual carriageway on schedule.
The Apapa-Oshodi expressway had become scarred, furrowed and hazardous to navigate, due to years of neglect.
If Julis Berger plc keeps its promise to deliver the road in September, it will lift a heavy weight off the chests of several thousands of commuters who spend interminable hours in traffic gridlocks on the route daily, suffering loss of productivity and income, as well as stress and exposure to thieves who often attack commuters in the jam.
Also, it will relieve factories across the country which have their imported input arriving from the Apapa and Tin-Can ports slowed down in the gridlocks.
Also, the completion of the Lagos-Shagamu dual carriageway will eliminate bottlenecks there and reduce the rate of accidents on the road.
Some of the ongoing projects being executed by Julius Berger include rehabilitation and reconstruction of 43.6km Lagos-Ibadan expressway; Akwa-Ibom Stadium complex; Edo Cement Plant; Nestoil Tower and Rose of Sharon building.
Wolfgang Goetsch, Managing Director of Julius Berger, who made the announcement at the end of the 44th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Abuja, reiterated the company’s resolve to invest in other sectors of the nation’s economy, including power and other developmental projects through public private partnership (PPP).
The shareholders unanimously adopted the recommendation of the Board to offer ‘a bonus per issue of one new ordinary share for every ten existing ordinary shares’, as well as N2.70 dividend per ordinary share, amounting to N3.24 billion, against the N2.50 dividend per ordinary share paid in 2012 fiscal year.
Goetsch disclosed that the company “recently commenced early work on the long awaited construction of the second River Niger Bridge. We have also won awards for projects in other areas, including Apapa-Oshodi expressway, the long overdue Lagos-Shagamu-Ibadan dual carriageway, as well as numerous other projects in Akwa-Ibom state.
“Moreover, we won our first maintenance contract in Lagos area; facility management of the Access Bank headquarters building, which is important as a stepping stone for the expansion of facility management services provided by our company.”
According to the company’s balance sheet, the group’s turnover rose by 5.5 percent from N201.6 billion to N212.7 billion and the company declared 31.4 percent increase in profit before tax (PBT) from N12.3 billion to N16.2 billion in 2013.
In his report, Nurudeen Imam, chairman of Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, noted that the “strategic targets for 2014 will focus on further diversification of our client portfolio, as a means to mitigate cluster risks and better serve all sectors of the economy.
“Business development efforts will be enhanced; due diligence will continue to be carried out in key areas of opportunity, especially in regards to alternative financing models such as public private partnership (PPP) and Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT).
“We will continue to modernise administrative, engineering and operational departments and implement cost control measures that will optimise the functioning of our company, Imam added.”
KEHINDE AKINTOLA
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