Okitipupa Oil Palm (OOP) Plc is set to commence its re-capitalisation process following approval by shareholders at the firm’s 31st Annual General Meeting held recently in Lagos.
Taiwo Adewole, chief executive officer, OOP who disclosed this in a statement said the company shareholders have approved the increase of the company’s issued share capital from N50million to N1billion.
According to him, the money is needed to finance its current expansion programme designed to take the firm to the next level as contained in its Strategic Master Plan.
He expressed his delight while noting that the process, which started in 2018 can now progress steadily to completion.
“A number of players in the oil palm industry have expressed interest in investing in the company today because of the turnaround that has occurred and the fact that OOP could return to significant profitability after almost 3 decades of losses,” he said.
He attributed the firm’s outstanding performance to the successful radical reforms carried out in the company for the last three years, which he noted had restored not only the company’s past glory but also its public confidence.
According to him, despite offers of interest which he said were merely in principle, the firm’s door is widely opened for more genuine investors who are ready to bring in huge capital through the Core Investor Sale exercise.
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Existing shareholders also have the opportunity to increase their stake in the company through the AGM approved rights issue offer in compliance with s142 of CAMA 2020.
Apart from the reforms, Adewole disclosed that OOP had complied with all mandatory requirements from regulating agencies for re-capitalisation; including the filing of annual returns, publishing of its annual report, and holding its AGM.
In addition to meeting the statutory requirements, the CEO said the company had paid dividends to shareholders and had also paid landowners their annual fees including the arrears which accrued over the years after it had upward reviewed it.
The company’s unaudited half-year management account also shows significant profitability consistent with the expectations of the directors and management.
Reflecting on the success of some of the reform measures, which in his view has catapulted the company to this enviable position making it a darling of all its stakeholders today, Adewole said, “Okitipupa Oil Palm is today on a solid footing after three years of rigorous and radical reforms involving all the critical sectors and departments in the company.”
“This is why today OOP is the darling of all stakeholders, including host communities who have indirectly taken ownership of the plantations through our novel Agric Operations Model where parts of the plantations are licensed out for the harvesting of the fresh fruits bunches on yearly basis, a policy that has helped the company resolved the seemingly intractable problem of massive theft of our fresh fruits bunches for decades as well as the very costly security implications and challenges this imposed on the company,” he said.
He stated that under the company’s expansion programme, the firm has concluded a plan to cultivate its remaining 6,000 hectares greenfield and gradual replanting of its ageing brownfield, adding that in pursuant of this, the firm has developed a 250,000 capacity nursery with the aim of raising the needed seedlings for the redevelopment of its 9,000 hectares active but aged plantations.
