Cadbury Nigeria Plc on Tuesday recommended a gross dividend of N1.221 billion for the year ended December 31, 2015. The dividend, which translates to 65 kobo per share was recommended despite a fall of 46 per cent in the bottom-line.
The details of the audited results made available yesterday showed that Cadbury recorded a revenue of N27.825 billion, which is nine per cent lower than the N30.519 billion. Cost of sales fell from N22.135 billion, from N18.894 billion. Gross profit stood at N8.930 billion, up from N8.384 billion.
Selling expenses grew from N4.878 billion to N5.621 billion, while administrative expenses jumped from N1.489 billion to N1.909 billion. Consequently, profit before tax fell by 34 per cent from N2.381 billion to N1.572 billion, while profit after tax fell by 46 per cent from N2.137 billion to N1.153 billion. In spite of the lower profit, the directors recommended a dividend of N1.221 billion, which is 65 kobo per share.
Meanwhile, the positive trend in the Nigerian equities market was reversed yesterday as the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index dipped by 4.3 per cent to close at 27,671.08. Market capitalisation sheds N425 billion to close at N9.5 trillion.
Market analysts attributed the return of the bears to profit taking and investors’ reaction to uncertainty surrounding the foreign exchange policy, which was not mentioned in the President Muhammadu Buhari’s speech on Democracy Day.
After hitting a year high of 28,902.25 last Friday on the back of the decision of the government to adopt flexible foreign exchange policy, lack of details has created an uncertainty, which made the benchmark to fall yesterday. The decline has sent the year-to-date decline back to negative region.
The bears were influenced by market bellwethers such as Zenith Bank Plc (9.7 per cent decline) Nigerian Breweries Plc (4.9 per cent) and Dangote Cement Plc(4.6 per cent).
All the sectoral indices trended southwards led by the NSE Banking Index, which fell by 6.6 per cent on the back of losses by Zenith Bank Plc (9.7 per cent) and Guaranty Trust Bank (5.2 per cent). The NSE Industrial Goods Index declined 5.5 per cent following losses recorded by Lafarge Africa Plc (7.8 per cent) and Dangote Cement Plc (4.6 per cent).
