Directors of agribusiness giant, Okomu Oil Palm Plc, on Thursday evening published its results showing faster growth in profit before and after tax than sales revenue, as the company recorded an all-time high top and bottomline figures, despite a 316.74% jump in 2016 income tax.
The directors have recommended a N1.43bn total dividend (N1.50 per share) payout, representing a significant increase from the N95.391m (N0.10 per share) of 2015, for approval by shareholders when they meet at the next annual general meeting (AGM).
According to the result, sales revenue rose to N14.364bn from N9.738bn, an increase of about N4.626bn or 47.51%, the bulk of which (N12.164bn) came from sale of oil products and bye-products locally, compared with N7.342bn in 2015; while export of processed rubber fetched N2.199bn, a slight increase over the N1.995bn recorded in 2015.
Overhead costs incurred on immature biological assets during the year rose to N2.293bn from N1.448bn, with palm immature accounting for N1.929bn, while rubber immature accounted for the remaining N384.277m.
Raw materials and consumables used stood at N3.305bn from N1.803bn, led by general overheads of N2.693bn; just as external charges fell slightly to N2.65bn from N2.885bn, boosted by wages of about N1.98bn, from N2.0161bn; followed by N622.237m in transportation charges, up from N437.752m; while administrative expenses rose to N2.016bn from N1.49bn.
The resulted in operating profit before tax, finance and other related costs of N6.951bn, up from N3.278bn; finance income soared from N43.111m in 2015 to N291.273m, comprising of interest income on fixed deposit of N177.434m, and forex gains of N113.839m, as against the N43.111m in 2015.
Profit before tax for the year rose N911.407m or 212.35%; bringing profit from continuing operations before other comprehensive income and tax to N5.906bn, up by N3.007bn or 103.75% from the N2.898bn reported in 2015.
The company’s income tax rose to N996.18m from N239.03m; leaving profit from continuing operations after taxation at N4.91bn, representing a rise of about N2.236bn or 82.02% from the N2.659bn of 2015, which translates to Earnings Per Share of N5.15, as against N2.39.
