It was indeed a fantastic financial year 2018 for construction giant- Julius Berger Nigeria, as management became more efficient as gauged by the three-digit rise in profit before and after tax, faster than the revenue growth rate. As result, the directors have recommended a final dividend per share of N2.00, representing total payout of N2.64bn.
Revenue jumped 37.16% up from N141.89bn in 2017 to N194.617bn, even as cost of sales rose by 46.13% to N142.609bn, as against the previous N97.591bn, resulting in gross profit of N52.008bn, 17.4% better than the N44.298bn reported in 2017.
A breakdown of the revenue showed that construction contracts was the biggest earner, accounting for N178.532bn, up from N135.29bn, while services rendered fetched N16.085bn, a jump from N6.599bn.
Marketing expenses climbed 165% from N47.85m to N126.81m; just as administrative expenses slipped marginally to N34.466bn from N35.564bn; leaving operating profit of N12.087bn, up from N39.16bn, representing a rise of 39.16%.
Investment income, being interest income dropped by 57.91% from N1.126bn to N474.18m, in the absence of the N1.126bn dividend received in 2017; other gains fell from N4.076bn to N2.29bn, being profit from sale of property, plant and equipment of N529.887, nose-diving from N3.215bn in 2017; as well as N862.693m from net foreign exchange gains, up from N185.943m; and N897.746m in sundry income, compared to N674.93m in previous year.
Finance cost declined to N4.563bn from N6.9bn, down by 33.81%, with the interest on overdraft at N3.511bn being the bulk, despite the drop from N5.411bn; just as interest on loan slipped from N1.327bn to N616.551m; while other finance charges soared to N435.225m from N161.176m.
Foreign exchange acquisition loss dropped by a significant 97.19% from N3.249bn in 2017 to N91.22m; following which profit before tax stood at N10.197bn, 172.73%, better than the N3.739bn reported in the prior full year.
After tax profit soared by 142.37% from N2.517bn in 2017 to N6.101bn, translating to N5.30 Earnings Per Share, up from N3.61, representing a 46.81% rise, out of which the directors have proposed the dividend payable on June 21, 2019, a day after shareholders are expected to approve the payment at the Annual General Meeting. Qualification date is May 31, 2019, while closure date is June 3 and 9.