Eterna investors share N391m in dividends for 2016

Investors who kept fairh in the shares of Eterna plc are to share in dividends totalling N391 million, with each share getting 30 kobo for the company’s business year ended 31 December 2016.

At the company’s 24th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos, the board of the company got shareholders’ approval for its proposal to have this payment made.

“We are impressed with the record performance and the balance sheet. We are indeed happy that Eterna is paying dividend amid the tough challenges facing downstream operators in this country. It shows that the board and management of the company hold every shareholder in high esteem,”  said Adebayo Adeleke, former Secretary General of the Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria.

Lamis Dikko, chairman of Eterna, said operating revenue was N106.9 billion in 2016 compared with N92.06 billion in 2015, while the operating profit increased significantly from N3 billion in 2015 to N8.6 billion in 2016.

Dikko told shareholders that the dividend payment represented a 20 percent increase from the dividend payout of 2015 and that it was in keeping with the board’s promise made to them.

“We achieved 221 per cent increase in operating profits despite 16 per cent increase in our turnover and 178 per cent increase in gross profits,” he added.

Mahmud Tukur, the managing director of the company assured shareholders and other stakeholders of a policy that would ensure sustainability and profitable growth.