When shareholders of pharmaceutical and healthcare products making giant- May & Baker Nigeria Plc meet on Thursday for the 67th Annual General Meeting in Lagos, one of the special resolutions the board would propose to them, is a vote to retain Lt. General Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma as chairman.
This, according to the revised notice of the AGM, signed by Adetoun O. Abiru (Mrs), the company secretary, presented to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Monday, is notwithstanding that Danjuma, former Minister of Defence, attained the age of 70 years on 9th December, 2007,” 11 years ago. This means that TY, as he is popularly called, will be about seven months shy of his 81st birthday, on the day of the AGM.
As part of the meeting’s ordinary business, the directors have proposed a 20 kobo dividend per share for approval at the meeting, this just as the company is planning a capital raising exercise. For this reason, the directors want the meeting to approve a proposal to increased authorized capital to N3bn, “by creation of 2.2bn ordinary shares of 50 kobo each.”
The directors also seek approval to strip the company’s assets through a proposed sale or lease as may be deemed fit, of any one of its “two properties located at 3/5 Sapara Street, Ikeja, Lagos on the terms and conditions determined by the board.”
Earlier in the year, M&B reportedly sold its food business- Mimee Instant Noodles- De-United Foods Industries Limited (DUFIL), owners of Indomie Noodles and the oldest and foremost competitor in the industry for N775m. DUFIL had earlier bought two production lines of Dangote Flour Mills’ noodles and pasta business last November for N3.75bn.
According to the 2017 full-year score-card, M&B’s sales revenue rose to N9.352bn from N8.469bn, representing an increase by about N883.277m or 10.42%, while net profit for the period stood at N357.181m from a loss of N38.712m, representing Earnings Per Share of 38 kobo, as against the previous four kobo (READ MORE). The directors have recommended a dividend of 20 kobo per share, amounting to N196m from its net profit, which would be credited directly to accounts of shareholders on Monday, June 4, 2018. Qualification date remains Friday, April 20, 2018, following which the shareholders’ registered was closed from Monday April 23 to Friday, 27, 2018.