Shareholders of GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc (GSK), has urged the management of the company to employ strategies that will help drive its business on the path of profitability.
The shareholders who spoke during the company’s 46th annual general meeting in Lagos argued that considering the challenging operating environment, the management of GSK should ensure it improves on the quality of its different products in order to have added advantage over other competitors in the market.
This was the shareholders also approved the N359 million dividend translating to 30 kobo per share recommended by the board of GSK. The dividend would not be subject to withholding tax deduction as it is to be paid out of the retained pioneer earnings, the company said.
A shareholder activist, Olawale Lawal, commended the company for the dividend but urged the management to drive GSK to profitability in order not to pay dividend from its retained earnings next year.
Addressing the concerns of the shareholders, the Chairman, GSK Mr. Edmund Onuzo, assured the shareholders the company is doing everything possible to grow profit adding that despite the challenging economy and divestment, the GSK is better positioned for growth to improve shareholders value.
Onuzo told the shareholders that following the divestment of its drinks business, GSK has continued to fine-tune its market strategies to ensure reach and availability across all platforms and is focusing on driving efficiencies through consolidation in its supply chain operations, as well as its operating model. He said the objective of the divestment was to enable the company align with its global business so as to focus on its core competence of healthcare and to drive a more nimble organization.