NB Shareholders Approve N13.87bn Dividend, €110m Intercompany Loan

Kayode Tokede

Shareholders of Nigerian Breweries Plc, have unanimously approved the dividend payout of N13.87 billion for the 2022 financial year. The dividend was approved by shareholders at the company’s  77th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Lagos recently.

The shareholders equally authorized an intercompany loan of 110 million euros from Heineken International, which is meant to settle foreign currency-denominated payment obligations of the company.

Speaking during the meeting, the outgoing Chairman of the company’s Board of Directors, Chief Kola Jamodu, explained that each shareholder would receive a final dividend of N1.03 having earlier received an interim dividend of 40k that was approved in October 2022.

Jamodu noted that despite the market’s competitive nature, the company maintained its market leadership position while ensuring value to the business and its esteemed shareholders. He said that the company had demonstrated strong resilience under difficult economic circumstances, which were occasioned by inflation and low disposable income.

Speaking on the loan, he stressed that it was necessary at this time to help the company address the challenge of forex and pay off some of its overdue foreign currency denominated payables. This will help to ensure that there is no disruption in its operations due to a shortage of imported raw materials as its procurement agent would have stopped its services as a result of the overdue payables.

“Forex loss was a major impact on our profitability in 2022. Access to Forex continues to be a major issue for NB Plc. The increase in our trade payables has been driven majorly by outstanding payments to our foreign trade partners due to unavailability of forex at the official windows”, he said.

Some of the shareholders who spoke at the meeting described the payment of dividends to shareholders as commendable despite the myriad of challenges confronting the business.

One of the shareholders who spoke at the event, National Coordinator, Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Mr. Boniface Okezie, applauded the board and management of the company for managing the business effectively, as reflected in the improved performance in profit and revenue recorded by the company for the 2022 financial year.

Also speaking, another shareholder – the Chairman Emeritus, the Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), Sir Sunny Nwosu, lauded the company’s management for its financial performance despite the challenging macroeconomic outlook.

While commending the company for the payment of dividends to shareholders, Nwosu hailed the current leadership for demonstrating immense capacity to drive the company to greater heights with some of the bold decisions taken in the course of the 2022 financial year.