Conoil Shareholders Okays N1.4bn Dividend As Firm Promises Higher Return
Shareholders of Conoil Plc last Friday approved a dividend of N1.4 billion for the 2019 financial year, just as the company has expressed optimism about sustaining its tradition of delivering higher dividend. The shareholders gave the approval at the 49th annual general meeting (AGM) in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
For the financial period ended December 31, 2018, Conoil profit before tax rose by 11.4 per cent to N2.567 billion from N2.305 billion in 2017, while profit after tax grew faster by 13.8 per cent to N1.796 billion.
Commenting on the company’s performance, the shareholders expressed satisfaction with the growth path which the board and management have charted for sustained profitability.
“I must commend the board and management of Conoil for sustaining profitability and also able to pay dividend to its shareholders notwithstanding the very tough operating environment during the financial year in review. I know of some companies in the downstream oil sector that could not pay dividend to shareholders,” Founding National Coordinator, Independent Shareholders’ Association of Nigeria (ISAN), Sunny Nwosu, said.
In his address, the Chairman of Conoil Plc, Mike Adenuga, stated that despite the challenges of tough operating environment in the downstream petroleum sector, the company continued to record progress towards delivering superior shareholder value.
“Every segment of our business will continue to receive the desired attention with a view to maintaining world class levels of operating and capital discipline. We believe that the future holds a lot of promise for our shareholders, the company will surely reward them for their steadfastness and unwavering faith in its prospects,” Adenuga said.
He attributed Conoil’s achievement in the financial year under review to the commitment of the board and management of the company to deliver solid financial results in spite of the enormous challenges that confronted operators in the downstream oil sector, including the prohibitive cost of procuring petroleum products.
“We managed the challenges properly and ended the year creditably. We embarked on strategic cost reduction, while ensuring that the future growth potential of our business was not sacrificed. The company would not relent in its efforts to maintain its leading position in the downstream petroleum sector, through new initiatives in product development, service delivery and best practices, while delivering value to all our stakeholders,” Adenuga said.
