Elated shareholders of Berger Paints Nigeria Plc, a leading manufacturer of coated paints have unanimously endorsed the 40 kobo dividend per ordinary share proposed by the Company’s Board for 2021 financial year as they expressed optimism in the company’s future performance.

The company’s revenue was up by 29 percent from N3.83 billion in 2020 to N4.96 billion in 2021. The Gross Profit inched up by 12 percent fromN1.41 billion in 2020 to N1.58 billion last year. The after tax profit of N135, 635 million as against N146,028 posted in 2020 was moderated by the high cost of doing business. Despite this, the company declared a gross dividend of N115,929,379, which translates into 40 kobo per share to reward its shareholders.

Also at the 62nd Annual General Meeting of Berger Paints on Thursday, shareholders generally commended the company’s Board and Management for declaration of dividend despite the high cost of doing business in Nigeria under acute insecurity, forex scarcity, energy crisis, stagflation, low purchasing power of consumers and other macroeconomic vagaries.

A shareholder and the Immediate Past President (IPP), Nigerian Shareholders Association, Timothy Adesiyan, said the company’s ability to pay dividend this year indicated its passion for shareholder value. Adesiyan explained that the company’s performance was excellent against the background of the harsh operating environment. He commended the Board and Management for upholding the tenets of corporate governance.

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Corroborating him, another shareholder, and National Coordinator, Pragmatic Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Bisi Bakare, expressed confidence in the Board and Management that the company had strong capacity to move to generate more shareholder value, regardless of the nature of the operating environment.

The Chairman, Abi Ayida thanked the shareholders for appreciating the Company’s efforts and assured them that measures had been put in place to enhance the Company’s competitive edge. Abi noted that the current performance indicated resilience , signalling a brighter and future.

“ These numbers achieved in one of the most difficult years in the company and the country’s recent history is a demonstration of the resilience of your company. We have straightened our business continuity measures, diversified our supply chain options, reinforced our succession planning process whilst focusing on eliminating wastages. Indeed, we have focused on transforming the business for more resilience, durability and flexibility which will prove vital to the sustainability of the business in a harsh business environment,” said Ayida.

Iheanyi Nwachukwu, is a creative content writer with almost two decades journalism experience writing on banking, finance, capital markets, and tax. The multiple awards winning journalist is Assistant Editor, BusinessDay. Iheanyi holds BSc Degree in Economics from Imo State University; Master of Science (MSc) Degree in Management from University of Lagos. Iheanyi has attended several work-related trainings including (i) Advanced Writing and Reporting Skills (Pan African University, Lagos); (ii) News Agency Journalism (Indian Institute of Mass Communication {IIMC}, New Delhi, India); and (iii) Capital Markets Development and Regulations (International Law Institute {ILI} of Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA). Other trainings Iheanyi attended include: Economic/Political Risk Analysis (By Thomson Reuters Foundation); International Financial Journalism (IFJ) (By PMA Media Training, UK); Effective Business Writing Skills (By Phillips Consulting); Reporting on Corporate Governance (By International Finance Corporation (IFC) & Thomson Reuters Foundation UK); etc. In addition, he has participated in high-level economy & markets events in Dubai, South Africa, Morocco, and other African countries like Zambia, Ghana and Gambia.

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