May & Baker Shareholders Approve N517.6 Million Dividend

By Goddy Egene

Shareholders of May &Baker Nigeria Plc have approved the dividend of 30 kobo per share recommended by the board of directors for the year ended December 31, 2020.
The dividend pay-out which amounted to N517.6 million, was approved at the 70th Annual General Meeting(AGM) of the company held in Lagos.

Speaking during the AGM, Chairman, Board of Directors, Senator Daisy Danjuma said despite the very challenging operating environment in the business year under review, she was glad that the company recorded growth in both turnover and profit.

According to her, the company made a 16 per cent growth in revenue from N8 billion in 2019 to N9.4 billion in 2020, while gross profit grew by 30 per cent from N2. 9 billion to N3.8 billion. Profit before tax grew by 39 per cent from N901 million in 2019 to N1.2 billion in 2020
Danjuma explained that the company made efforts to contain the rising cost of doing business in the country but the hyper-inflation prevalent in the economy , combined with forex scarcity increased the cost of operations.
She noted that their cost of sales rose by eight per cent from N5.2 billion in 2019 to N5.6 billion in 2020.

Also speaking, Managing Director/CEO, May & Baker Nigeria Plc, Mr. Patrick Ajah, said the year, 2020 was one of the most challenging but the company’s growth strategies showed commendable resilience and continued to gain traction.

“These were pointers to its general operating efficiency and indication that its strategies were in the right direction. We shall continue on this growth trajectory as we hope to accomplish more audacious goals in the current business year,” he said.

Responding to the impressive results, some of the shareholders commended the improvements in the operations of the company, adding that the unprecedented resilience, commitment, and hard work of the management team at ensuring the achievement of the company’s strategic objectives culminated in the success it recorded.

For instance, Sunny Nwosu of Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria hailed the board and the management of the pharmaceutical company for their performance in the recent period, noting that the company must make efforts to take advantage of openings in vaccine production, on account of its existing joint venture with the federal government for local vaccine production.

Another shareholder, Mr. Matthew Akinlade, expressed confidence in the new management, adding that the shareholders were hopeful that its efforts would translate into even better returns in terms of dividend payment going forward.