• Friday, March 29, 2024
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At 50th AGM, Julius Berger looks to future with hope

Julius Berger-AFP unveils innovative furniture at Africa housing show

Julius Berger Nigeria plc says the outlook for the company’s business remains reasonably hopeful.

At the company’s 50th Annual General Meeting held last Thursday, Lars Richter, its managing director, said Julius Berger continues to be in a strong position to succeed.

“Strengthening Julius Berger’s core construction business, client mix and the group’s subsidiaries as well as diversification with a greater balance of private sector projects will act as a support to shore up opportunities beyond the company’s core business. In the public sector, focus will remain on successfully executing projects of national priority,” Richter said.

“Our reputation for reliability and record of success provides clients strong assurance that no matter the requirement, Julius Berger will always deliver. Through the introduction of new and efficient technologies, we continue to be unmatched in our ability to pioneer time and cost-saving construction methodologies that add value.

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“Our quality sets the bar in Nigeria and ISO Certification demonstrates that our Quality Management Systems support consistency and excellence in operations. Julius Berger’s resources, the strongest of which are its highly skilled staff, remain unmatched in the Nigerian construction sector,” he said.

Richter observed that this year marks Julius Berger’s golden jubilee, that is, 50th anniversary of its incorporation as a Nigerian company.

“This year, we celebrate five decades of achievement…and each of these five decades has been a building block to our success and growth,” he said.

The virtual meeting, which was anchored from the company’s head office in Abuja and directed by Mutiu Sunmonu, chairman, had Ernest Chukwudi Ebi and Gladys Talabi, both Board members, as well as other shareholders and stakeholders participating from the company’s facility in Lagos.

Going down memory lane, Richter recalled that Julius Berger arrived Nigeria as a Special Project Vehicle in 1965 for the construction of the Eko Bridge in Lagos, and was formally incorporated as a Nigerian company in February 1970. Since then, Julius Berger has relentlessly worked with best international quality and top-notch engineering standards to become the country’s leading domestic construction company, he said.

Some of the company’s projects, he said, include the Laminga Dam, the Tin Can Island port, the initial infrastructure for the then new federal capital Abuja, the Jos Steel Rolling Mill, the Ajaokuta Steel Plant, the Carter Bridge in Lagos, the Niger River road bridge, works for the Itakpe-Ajaokuta railway project, civil works lots for Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG) trains 1&2 on Bonny Island, the CBN head office, the Escravos Gas-To-Liquids Plant, the Tinapa Business Centre, the National Stadium and Velodrome in Abuja, among others.

Reviewing Julius Berger’s business for the reporting year, Richter said, “2019 was the last year of the decade, and we ended it on a very high note.”

Julius Berger, he said, closed the 2019 financial year with great success, achieving an increase in turnover of 37 percent and with an extraordinarily high cash flow and increase in profitability.

He hinged the success on “powerful operational performance, where Julius Berger increasingly modernised its human resource structures and systems, invested in new equipment and advanced its work while maintaining top standards for quality and record-breaking HSE performance and achievements as well as identifying and exploring opportunities for diversification of its business”.

Richter also gave kudos to the high-performing subsidiaries of the Julius Berger plc Group, including Abumet Nigeria Limited, which expanded on its product portfolio with the development of an insulated glass production line under the brand EVONIG GLASS, Julius Berger Services Nigeria Limited, its maritime subsidiary at the Warri Port, as well as Julius Berger’s furniture facility, AFP, which worked to expand its market share with the opening of its showroom in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital.

Julius Berger paid out a dividend of N2 for every share of 50 kobo held as well as a bonus share to shareholders for the business year ended December 31, 2019.

Matthew Akinlade, an investor with the company, said, “Julius Berger is the delight of investors in Nigeria any day”.