The board and management of manufacturer of flexible, reconstituted and rigid foam products, Vitafoam Nigeria plc at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Wednesday, March 4 attributed leadership ingenuity, innovation and passion of its young managers to the company’s outstanding performance despite the inclement operating environment. At the meeting, the manufacturing company declared and got shareholders approval to pay a cumulative dividend of N525.354million an increase of 102 percent over N260.518 million in 2018, translating to 42 kobo per share. Vitafoam has posted an after-tax profit of N1.57 billion in 2019 as against N486.120 million in the preceding year, an increase of 224 percent.
“Our outstanding performance is not just because we utilized the loans we took from the Bank of Industry and other banks to create value for shareholders but the ingenuity of the company’s leadership. Vitafoam is blessed with level headed, innovative and passionate youths that form the core of our managers. The board also comprises wise elders who are always willing to assist the management”, says Bamidele Makanjuola, the Chairman.
Corroborating him, the Group Managing Director, Taiwo Adeniyi explained that the company had rebranded its products, systems, processes and technology to sustain a competitive edge.
Reviewing the company’s business performance at the AGM held in Lagos yesterday, Makanjuola said: “The remarkable improvement in performance reflected the effectiveness of improved funding efficiency gains and impact of the strategic initiatives implemented to address the protracted challenge of low margins in the business.”
“The Company leveraged the Bank of Industry’s long -term loan facility and other flexible financing windows by negotiating better trade terms with foreign suppliers of raw materials, thereby sidestepping the middlemen. The resulting reduction in the cost price of raw materials impacted positively on gross margin,” he said.
As part of renewed efforts to optimise operations, enhance earnings and deliver superior shareholder value to the shareholders in future, the frontline manufacturing company is set to upgrade its facilities and reactivate the subsidiaries.
Shareholders showered encomiums on the company’s board and management for good performance. They stressed the need to strengthen the subsidiaries in order to expand the company’s revenue base.
