Shareholders at the weekend in Lagos applauded the board and Management of Dangote Flour Mills for returning the company to profitability after years of losses, urging to sustain the rebound by creating more awareness for the company’s products range which are of high quality and of global standards.
Speaking at the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) for example, a shareholder, Alhaji Muktar Muktar, also commended the management for reopening the Kano mills, a move he believes contributed to the increased sales volume and revenue.
With the return to profitability after years of losses, shareholders, he continued, are hopeful that the board will recommend dividend payment in the not-too distant future.
“I want to commend you for this result. It clearly shows that this board is highly proactive and ready to tackle the problems of this company. You have significantly reduced the accumulated losses and reduced borrowings; I believe that under your leadership we should be able to receive dividends in the next couple of years.”
Idowu Monsur, another shareholder, tasked the management to ensure that all of the company’s products range is available in all markets, thereby dominating its sector, like Dangote Cement is doing in its own market.
According to him, with the high cost of rice, availability of the products will compel people to shift to consumption of pasta, translating to increased revenue.
Commenting, Asue Ighodalo, the company’s chairman said the performance was “despite the tough business environment, I am delighted to announce that your company delivered impressive results.
“Our turnover during the period was N105.7 billion, representing an increase of 120.2% above the N48bn recorded in the 2015 financial year. Gross Profit improved by 556% during the period, rising to N29.3bn from N4.4bn in the prior period.”
Consequently, there was a complete turnaround in bottom line, with profit after tax of N10.6bn, compared to previous year’s N12.7bn loss.
Despite the superlative performance, Ighodalo continued, the directors are unable to recommend a dividend payment.
He recalled “that the company recorded continued losses in the preceding four years, as a result of which accumulated losses stood at N23.1bn as at 30 September 2015. Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of your board and management the accumulated loss position was not fully extinguished by the current year’s results. We are therefore unable to declare any dividend because financial standards and regulatory considerations only allow payment of dividends from accumulated profits.”
He however assured shareholders that the board will continue to focus on sustaining high product quality, improving customer engagement strategies and strengthening supply chain capabilities.
“We will continue to work extremely hard to enhance the value of your investment in our company. With your unalloyed support, we look forward to consolidating on these gains in the coming year,” he stressed.
Speaking at a post-AGM interview, the company’s Executive Director, Sales & Marketing, Halima Dangote assured that Dangote Flour Mills recently re-vamped its pasta range to reduce the dependence on rice consumption by Nigerians.