BUA Cement approves N70b dividend to shareholders.

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The Shareholders of BUA Cement Plc have approved a total dividend of N70billion representing N2.067 per share for the 2020 financial year at the 5th Annual General Meeting of the Company, held on Thursday 8th of July 2021.

This is according to a notice signed by the company’s secretary, Ahmed Aliyu and filed with the Nigerian Exchange Group Limited.

BUA Cement Plc in an earlier circular dated 5th of May 2021 had announced a revision in its dividend payment timeline. According to the notice, the firm postponed its qualification date from 9th of June to 18th of June. The closure of shareholders register was moved to 21st-25th of June as opposed to an initial date of 12th -16th of July. The firm’s AGM was also rescheduled to 8th of July as against an initial date of 22nd of July.

Consequently, a dividend of N2.067 per share was approved to be paid to the shareholders of the company who currently hold 33,864,354,060 fully paid ordinary shares, totalling N69.998 billion.

It is imperative to note that the approved dividend worth approximately N70 billion is 18.11% higher than the amount the company paid to its shareholders in corresponding period of last year (N59.26 billion: FY 2019).

BUA Cement Plc declared in its audited financial statement for 2020 that its profits grew by 19.4% year-on-year to N72.34 billion, compared to last year’s figure of N60.34 billion. The double-digit growth in profit reflected the cement maker’s focus on efficiency, excellent cost optimization strategies, among others.

As at the period of reporting this, BUA Cement Plc share price is down by 4.79% and currently trading at N67.6

 

BUA Cement Director spends N74.25million on additional 1m units of shares.

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An Independent Non-Executive Director in BUA Cement Plc, Mr. Shehu Abubakar, has purchased additional 1 million units of the firm’s shares worth N74.25 million.

This is according to a notification signed by the firm’s secretary, Ahmed Aliyu and sent to the Nigerian Exchange Group Limited, as seen by Nairametrics.

The disclosure revealed that the transaction took place on the 21st of May, 2021 at Lagos, with the Director purchasing an additional 1 million units of the firm’s share at N74.25 per share. This put the total consideration for the shares purchased by the Independent Non-Executive Director at N74, 250,000.

It is pertinent to note that the disclosure is in line with the statutory requirements pre-specified by the Exchange and needed to entrench transparency and confidence in the system. Trade by insiders, particularly purchases, often demonstrates confidence in the financial performance of the companies that they run.

BUA Cement Plc closed trading today 12th of July, 2021 with a share price of N71.

 

 

Distilled Trading International, Heineken B.V, elect to receive scrip dividend of 19.45m shares.

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Two substantial shareholders of Nigeria Breweries Plc, Distilled Trading International B.V and Heineken Brouwerijen B.V, have elected to receive 19.45 million shares as scrip dividend for the period ended 31st of December, 2020.

According to two separate disclosures signed by the company’s secretary, Uaboi Agbebaku and made available on the website of the Nigerian Exchange Group Limited (NGX).

According to the disclosure, Distilled Trading International B.V elected to receive 16,541,036 units of Nigerian Breweries shares as scrip dividend, at a reference share price of N47.75, totalling N789, 834,469. On the other hand, Heineken B.V also elected to receive a further 2,904,397 units of Nigerian Breweries shares as scrip dividend for the aforementioned period, at a reference share price of N47.75, totalling N138,684,956.75.

Cumulatively, both firms elected to receive a total of 19,445,433 units of Nigerian Breweries shares at a reference price of N47.75 per share, totalling N928, 529,425.75.

Recall that Nigerian Breweries Plc reported a profit after tax of N7.53 billion in FY 2020, and consequently declared a final dividend of 69 kobo for the aforementioned period. The final dividend dipped by about 54.3% when compared to what was declared in similar period in 2019 (N1.51: FY 2019). The decline was basically due to a slump in the profit after tax of the company, which contracted by a similar percentage.

What you should know:

  • Last week, Heineken B.V announced that it elected to receive 40.56million units of Nigerian Breweries shares as scrip dividend. With the addition of the latest scrip dividend, Heineken B.V has so far voted to receive a total of 43.46million units of the latter’s shares as a scrip dividend.
  • Recall that Nigerian Breweries Plc had earlier announced a ‘Scrip Dividend Election Scheme’, an option that gives qualified shareholders the opportunity to choose to receive their final dividends in the form of new ordinary shares of the company instead of cash.
  • Nigerian Breweries Plc closed trading today 12th of July, 2021 with a share price of N60.

UBA’s Non-Executive Director acquires additional shares worth N3.83 million.

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Caroline Anyanwu, a Non-Executive Director of United Bank for Africa has increased her stakes in the leading Pan-African Bank with the purchase of 500,000 additional shares of the bank.

This is according to a Notification of Share Dealing by an Insider, signed by the company secretary, Mr. Bili A. Odum, and published on the website of the Nigerian Exchange Group Limited (NGX)

According to the notice, the Non-Executive Director increased her stakes in UBA with the acquisition of 500,000 additional shares of the bank at N7.65 per share, on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange Limited on 8th July 2021. This puts the total consideration for the shares purchased by Anyanwu at N3, 825,000.

It is imperative to note that dealings by insiders of listed companies are corporate actions that are required to be disclosed by the management of the company. In this light, the disclosure is in compliance with The Exchange’s prespecified policy, and will help to cement the Director’s position as one of the substantial shareholders of the banking giants.

For more information about the recent disclosure, click HERE.

 

SEC approves renewal of Dangote Cement Share Buyback programme.

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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the renewal of Dangote Cement Share Buyback Programme effective until 21st of January, 2022.

According to a notice signed by the deputy secretary of Dangote Group, Edward Imoedemhe, the share buy-back programme will be executed under the approval granted by the Company’s shareholders at the recently concluded Annual General Meeting of the company.

In line with the recent development, the notice stated that the share buyback will be undertaken through an open market offer or self-tender, at a period and term determined by the company, subject to prevailing market conditions.

About Dangote Cement Share Buyback Programme

Pursuant to a resolution of the Company on 22nd of January 2020, Dangote Cement Plc (DCP) announced a Share Buyback Programme that will see the firm buy back up to 10% of its issued 10.04billion ordinary shares. The firm announced that the shares bought back will be held as Treasury Shares and subsequently cancelled.

To effectively execute this, the firm announced that programme will be implemented in tranches. The first tranche which commenced on 30th of December and ended on 31st of December 2020, saw the company re-purchase about 40,200,000 ordinary shares (representing about 0.24% of the total issued and fully paid ordinary share of the company) at an average share price of N243.02, totalling N9.77billion.

However, with the rising tide of the COVID-19 pandemic and its debilitating impact on the economy, it became apparently difficult to continue in the effective implementation of the programme as planned.

Efforts to salvage the situation paid off on the 26th of May 2021, when shareholders passed a special resolution renewing the Share Buyback Programme. The decision to renew the programme was premised on renewed optimism in the improvement in economic conditions.

In line with this development, the firm noted that it will continue to monitor the evolving business environment and market conditions, in making decisions on tranches of the share buyback programme.

What you should know:

  • A Share Buyback Programme involves the company buying back her issued shares from shareholders at a prevailing market price. This is tantamount to the company investing in itself.
  • The Share Buy-Back Programme is in line with the framework provided under Rule 398 (3)(xiv) of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) Rules and Regulations (as applicable) and in accordance with Rule 13.18 of the Rulebook of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (“The NSE”).
  • Dangote Cement is a subsidiary of Dangote Industries Limited, and the largest cement producer in Sub-Saharan Africa with an installed 48.6Mta capacity across 10 African countries.

 

 

Seplat Energy Plc appoints two new Directors, as two others resign.

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The Board of Seplat Energy Plc. has announced the resignation of Mr. Damian Dodo, SAN and Lord Mark Malloch-Brown from its Company as Independent Non-Executive Directors, after seven years of meritorious services.

In addition, the Board also disclosed that Prof. Fabian Ajogwu and Mr. Bello Rabiu have been appointed as Independent Non-Executive Directors of the Company, with effect from today.

These announcements were made in a notification issued by the Company Secretary, Mrs. Edith Onwuchekwa.

According to the notice, the changes are in line with the corporate governance principle of refreshing the Board intermittently through an appropriate balance of skills and diversity. Additionally, the firm noted that the replacement for Lord Mark Malloch-Brown is still ongoing and would be announced in due course.

Commenting on the retirement of the Directors, the Chairman of the Board, Dr. A.B.C Orjiako said: “Seplat Energy was very privileged to have had such seasoned intellectuals who made significant contributions to the growth of the Company. We remain grateful to Mr. Dodo, SAN and Lord Malloch-Brown for sharing their wealth of knowledge and vast experiences with the Board and the Company and we wish them the best in their future endeavors.”

On the other hand, commenting on the recent appointments, Dr. Orjiako said: “The Board of SEPLAT Energy is pleased to welcome, Prof. Ajogwu and Mr. Rabiu. These two prominent intellectuals bring vast knowledge in important areas such as the energy sector, corporate and business governance, industry regulation, and capital markets. SEPLAT Energy looks forward to the immense contribution they will make towards its continuing global success.”

Profile of the recently appointed Directors

Prof. Fabian Ajogwu is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and Lagos Business School Professor of Corporate Governance. He is an Alumnus of the Said Business School of Oxford University, and an Alumnus of the Lagos Business School. Professor Ajogwu holds a doctorate in Law from University of Aberdeen, Scotland; an MBA from the IESE Business School, University of Navarra, Barcelona; and Law degrees from the University of Nigeria, and the University of Lagos.

Mr. Bello Rabiu holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Mathematical Statistics from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Nigeria and another Master’s Degree in Petroleum Engineering from The Imperial College, London, United Kingdom.

Mr. Rabiu recently retired from the services of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in July 2019 after 28 years of service. He retired from NNPC as the Chief Operating Officer/Group Executive Director, Upstream Business Unit and served in various capacities in his over two decades of experience at the firm.

 

BOC Gases Nigeria Plc appoints Aderonke Segun-Alabi as Company Secretary.

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The board and management of BOC Gases Nigeria Plc, a leading industrial gases and engineering company, have notified the Nigerian Exchange Group Limited (NGX) of the appointment of Mrs. Aderonke Omowunmi Segun-Alabi as the new company secretary.

In a notice dated 8th July, 2021 and signed by the Finance Director, Adeshinai Alayaki, the company announced that the appointment of Mrs. Aderonke became effective from 28th of June, 2021 following the resignation of the erstwhile secretary, Mr. G.A Oriseh.

Assessing her qualities and commenting on the recent appointment, the firm noted that: ‘’ Aderonke is a consummate professional with strong work ethics and committed to continuous improvement. Endued with a rare mix of subtle but intensely focused ability, she is driven with an overall goal of aligning her intuition with organizational leadership, for the goal of achieving success.’’

Profile

Aderonke is a corporate legal practitioner with over two decades of experience that cuts across several areas. She is adept in Tactical Legal Advisory on Commercial Law, Corporate Law, Regulatory & Statutory Compliance, Client and Investors Advisory, Company Secretarial Services and Corporate Governance, Contract Management, among others.

In terms of education, Aderonke is an alumna of the Olabisi Onabanjo University where she obtained her LLB degree. She is currently pursuing her Master’s in Business Administration from University of Suffolk and her LLM from the University of East London; both in the United Kingdom. She is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association and an Associate Member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN).

 

Cutix Plc projects profit after tax of N169.08 million in Q2 2022.

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Cutix Plc has released its earnings forecast for the second quarter (Q2) of the 2022 financial year.

  • Revenue was projected at N1.84 billion.
  • Cost of sales was projected at N1.27 billion.
  • Distribution, administrative and other expenses were projected at N268.4 million.
  • Operating profit was projected at N260.13 million.
  • Profit after tax is projected at N169.08 million.

See link to forecasts.

Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank grows profit after tax by 99% to N300.1 million in H1 2021.

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Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank Plc released its unaudited results for the half year ended 30th of June, 2021.

  • Turnover for the period was N785.5 million. (+35.02% YoY)
  • Net fee and commission income was N59.97 million. (+74.1% YoY)
  • Operating income of N673.33 million. (+40.2% YoY)
  • Personnel expenses totalled N136.1 million. (+13.7% YoY)
  • Total operating expenses of N368.3 million. (+20.1% YoY)
  • Profit after tax was N2300.1 million. (+99.4% YoY)
  • Earnings per share of 13.4 kobo Vs 6.2 kobo YoY.

See link to results.