National Wire About Nigerians, Nigerian Business and Other Stories
Shareholders of GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc on Thursday May 24, 2018, at the company 47th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos, approved the payment of a final dividend of N478 million, which represent 40 kobo per 50 kobo share, just as they commended the board of directors for the special dividend of N8.491 billion representing N7.10 kobo per share.
The special dividend will be subject to withholding tax deduction, while the final dividend will not be subject to withholding tax deductions as it is to be paid out of the retained pioneer earnings. Commenting on the 2017 financial performance of the company, shareholders raised the issue of high cost of sales, trade receivables, local brands expansion and the impact of codeine on the company business.
Responding to shareholders concerns, chairman of the company Mr Edmund Onuzo, explained that the high cost of sales that was recorded is due to a lot of factors, which includes foreign exchange and raw materials challenge that was experienced in 2017. He assured shareholders that 2018 will witnessed a better level as shown in its first quarter result for the period ended March 31, 2018.
Adding that the company is not on any bank loan, rather are earning interest from their money. On the issue of expanding their products base, Onuzo noted that the board is very mindful and had been discussing with their foreign partners, which they are looking into. He said the recent concern about codeine those not have any effects on their business.
Highlighting the company financial performance in 2017 audited accounts, Onuzo pointed out that turnover grew by 12 percent against the previous year to close at N16.089 billion. While the impact of devaluation and increased cost of doing business led to a significant drop in profit before tax against the previous year. An income tax write down of over N637.8 million further affected the profit after tax to a figure of N486.4 million which is an 88 percent decline against the previous year.
Photo Caption: GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc logo
