Caverton’s Assets Hits N67.5bn as Makanjuola Re-emerges Chairman

Caverton Offshore Support Group Plc, in a consensus decision by shareholders of the company, has reappointed Mr. Aderemi Makanjuola as its chairman at its 12th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Lagos yesterday.

Besides Makanjuola, two other directors, Bashiru Bakare and Mallam Bello Gwandu, were brought back to serve on the board of the company for another tenure.

Also, PriceWaterHouseCoopers was appointed as new external auditor for the company. The new auditor will replace Ernst and Young (EY), which retired as the company’s Auditor at the AGM.

Meanwhile, shareholders of the company, who were represented by leaders of five shareholders’ groups, praised the board and management of Caverton for offering them 10kobo per share dividend for the financial year, which ended on December 31, 2020. According to them, the robust dividend policy of the company had made that possible.

A shareholder, Chief Sunny Nwosu, said the company has a future going by the magnitude of investment it is doing at the airports, adding that: “Shareholders appreciate what you are doing, meanwhile we need more dividends.”

The National Chairman, Progressives Shareholders Association, Mr. Boniface Okezie, also commended the company for the dividend, noting that: “This is not too bad a result and dividend considering the impact of COVID-19 on the industry in 2020.”

The Chairman, Dynamics Shareholders Association, Mr. Alex Adio, also commended the company for its robust dividend policy.

Responding to accolades from shareholders, Makanjuola explained that the board offered to pay 10kobo per 50k ordinary share against the advice of the internal auditors for it to pay 5kobo and retain the remaining cash to grow the company.

“In view of our policy to grow shareholders’ value and returns despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the group’s overall performance, the board of directors of your company is pleased to recommend for your approval of a dividend of 10k per 50k ordinary share in respect of the 2020 financial year,” he said.

Makanjuola, however, acknowledged the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the aviation industry and particularly on the financial performance of Caverton Plc.

According to him, “Like other business operations in Nigeria, our company had to battle with the lockdowns and travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic which resulted in exceptionally low business activities during the year, thus, affected our operating bottom-line.”

During the period under review, the total assets of the company increased from N65.8billion in 2019 to N67.5billion, representing an increase of 2.6 percent.

Caverton Group revenue decreased by 8 percent from N34.98billion in 2019 to N32.2billion in 2020 while gross profit also dropped to N13.58billion in the review period by 8 percent from N14.7billion in 2019. Profit before tax dropped by 83 percent from N7.24billion in 2019 to N1.26billion while after tax profit dropped by 73 percent to N1.18billion from N4.38billion in 2019.

Earnings per share (EPS) decreased from 129kobo in 2019 to 36kobo in 2020 out of which the company paid out 10kobo representing about 28 percent.