Guinness shareholders okay N1.01bn dividend following stellar FY21 performance
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Apparently satisfied with the full year 2021 performance of Guinness Nigeria, the company’s shareholders have approved a dividend payout totalling N1.008 billion that was proposed by the board at its recently held annual general meeting.
The company reported a 54 percent year on year growth in revenues to N160 billion for the year ended 30 June 2021, a performance for which the shareholders expressed satisfaction and approved the dividend recommended by the company’s board of directors.
Omobola Johnson, chair of the board, at the 71st general meeting, while appreciating the support of the shareholders, maintained that the company will keep up with its growth strategy to continue on its path of profitability.
“We are confident that our strategy is comprehensive and robust. We are keen on making the right investments that will drive growth across the board and ensure our competitiveness, despite the challenging business environment. We thank our shareholders for their confidence in the board and management of our dear company and we are committed to ensure that we sustain the momentum,” Johnson said while also explaining that innovation was at the heart of Guinness’ success.
“As a company, we keep tasking ourselves regarding innovation and how best to satisfy our consumers with our innovative products. An example is the recent launch of Orijin Tigernut and Ginger; an exciting new variant of the Orijin brand to expand profitability for the brand, while catering to a younger, vibrant demography of consumers. As the only Total Beverage Alcohol Company in Nigeria, we are proud of the legacies of our iconic brands and we hope to keep on turning out products that will make our consumers happy and satisfied.
“We are also glad that our promise to you last year is being fulfilled as we have been able to implement our strategies and improve on revenue projections as manifested in our financial results. The board will continue to support the management in its efforts to sustain global best practices aimed at consistently delivering business growth for stakeholders,” she said.
Baker Magunda, managing director of the company, expressed optimism and strong outlook for the company, emphasizing that some key strategic decisions of the company in the last year increased the chances of the company’s journey to sustained profitability.
“The performance of fiscal year 2021 showed that the business delivered growth despite the challenging external environment characterized by COVID-19 restrictions and high inflation. Our strategic objectives will continue to ensure we leverage local opportunities, create value and empowerment through local sourcing, while taking opportunities that will grow revenue and protect our margins,” Magunda added.
Patrick Ajudua, national chairman, New Dimension Shareholders Association of Nigeria, while reacting on behalf of the shareholders as a proxy, said that the financials for the year has shown a new dimension, growth and that Guinness is being repositioned from a huge negative loss to a profit in their bottom time.
“We hope that it will be sustained overtime, going by the fact that we have a lot of problems in the economy and the Covid-19, our expectations are very high and from what we have heard from the management, they are equal to the task of meeting the expectations of the stakeholders,” Ajudua noted.
Adetutu Shiobola, who represented the Highly Favoured Shareholders Association, also as a proxy, expressed satisfaction with the management’s stellar performance, noting that the company was moving from a loss to a profit this year, from negative to positive accounts. “Though the dividend declared is a kobo dividend, I’m happy that unlike last year, [when] nothing was declared. I’m happy to see that we are making some progress.”
Meanwhile, the total beverage and alcohol company recorded handsome growth numbers for FY21 after recovering from a challenging environment in Nigeria with disruptions relating to the #EndSars protests, Covid-19 restrictions, and high inflation.
While the operating business environment has remained tepid, Guinness reported a 110 percent year on year increase in earnings after tax to N1.3 billion, while its profit after-tax surged 134 percent to N5.8 billion.