By Joy Odigie
Shareholders of Presco Plc. have approved payment of final dividend of N6.60 per share, indicating N6.6 billion, for the year ended Dec. 31, 2022.
The company had paid an interim dividend of 20k per share, which amounted to N2 billion.
The latest dividend brought the total dividend the company paid for the year to N8.6 billion, amounting to N8.60 per share.
Addressing shareholders on Friday at the company’s 30th Annual General Meeting held on Obaretin Estate, Benin City, the Chairman of Presco Plc, Mr Jean Van Gysel, said that the dividend payment represented an increment of 13.16 per cent over what it paid in 2021.
Van Gysel said the final dividend would be paid on Oct. 3 to shareholders whose names appeared on the register of members as at the close of business on Sept. 13, 2023.
The chairman praised the shareholders and all stakeholders for support during the period under review.
He said: “On behalf of the board, I would again like to thank all of our amazing people and teams across the business for all their commitment and hard work during the year.
“I thank my fellow directors very sincerely for the wonderful work they do for the company.”
The chairman said that the company, during the period, recorded N81.03 billion revenue as against N47.43 billion it realised 2021.
He noted that the figure represented an increment of 71 per cent.
According to him, the company’s gross profit grew by 57 per cent to N49.97 billion from N31.75 billion in 2021.
Van Gysel said that fresh fruit bunches harvest in 2022 amounted to 302,050 tonnes compared with 233,253 tonnes in 2021.
“Crude palm oil produced was 68,998 tonnes as against 53,775 tonnes in 2021,” he said.
The chairman added that the company produced 55,878 tonnes of Refined, Bleached and Deodorized Oil (RBDO) in 2022, compared to 46,327 tonnes it produced in 2021.
He also said that the company produced 19,420 tonnes of Olein and Stearin in 2022 as against 17,912 tonnes in 2021.
“The year under review birthed another exciting news concerning our expansion and growth strategy.
“We concluded plans to commence, in 2023, the planned and necessary construction of a new palm oil mill to cope with the steadily increasing fresh fruit bunches harvests and have same ready for commissioning before the end of the second quarter of 2025.
“When completed, installed capacity for palm oil milling capacity will increase to 170 metric tonnes per hour,” the chairman said.
The Managing Director of Presco Plc., Mr Felix Nwabuko, assured the shareholders of improved performance in the years ahead.
Nwabuko advised the shareholders to identify their registrars and fill necessary forms as part of measures to tackle the issue of unclaimed dividends.
The President of Capital Shareholders Association, Abuja, Mr Augustine Ezechukwu, praised the board of directors and management of the company for outstanding performance in the year under review. (NAN)
