Total Nigeria’s shareholders will receive ₦5.77 bln cash dividend

Shareholders of Total Nigeria Plc will today receive ₦4.75 billion in final cash dividend for the 2017 business year, after they voted unanimously yesterday at the annual general meeting in Lagos to approve the dividend recommendation by the board of the downstream oil company.

Chairman, Total Nigeria Plc, Mr Stanislas Mittelman, said the final dividend of ₦4.75 billion will be paid to shareholders today in line with the corporate reputation of the petroleum-marketing company for early disbursement of shareholders’ dividends.

Shareholders that had completed the electronic dividend (e-dividend) payment mandate will be automatically credited with the final dividend per share of ₦14, bringing the total dividend per share for the 2017 business year to ₦17. The company had earlier distributed ₦1.02 billion as interim cash dividend, representing interim dividend of ₦3 per share.

Mittelman said Total Nigeria is poised to deliver better returns to shareholders by taking advantage of the expected growth in the Nigerian economy and improvement in macroeconomic environment to grow its business.

According to him, a stable and conducive business environment in 2018 will provide Total Nigeria with opportunities for growth, investment and consolidation.

“We intend to take advantage of the projected growth the Nigerian economy will offer and deliver value to you our shareholders and other stakeholders,” Mittelman said.

He noted that while Total Nigeria recorded many milestones in 2017, the company’s overall performance was adversely affected by the economic recession and its consequent contraction of the downstream market as well as scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) due to high landing cost compared to the template.

He added that the performance in 2017 was also affected by foreign exchange scarcity that hindered importation and high financial costs due to increase in bank lending interest rates.

He pointed out that the company’s lubricants business delivered strong performance in 2017 while the company continued to improve on its credit control management and fixed costs evolution.

He noted that Total Nigeria reinforced its leadership in health, safety, environmental protection and quality (HSEQ) in 2017 by becoming the first petroleum-marketing company to receive the ISO 9001: 2015 and ISO 14001:2015 certifications, adding that the company also recorded no accident during the period.

Shareholders commended the steady performance of the company in spite of the challenges in the oil and gas sector.

National President, Constance Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Mr. Shehu Mikail, said the performance of Total Nigeria when compared against other operators in the sector showed the resilience of the company.

Former General Secretary, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), Mr. Adebayo Adeleke, urged the company to improve on its performance.

Key extracts of the audited report and accounts of Total Nigeria for the year ended December 31, 2017 showed that turnover dropped marginally from ₦290.95 billion in 2016 to ₦288.06 billion in 2017. Profit before tax dropped by 42 per cent from ₦20.35 billion in 2016 to ₦11.8 billion in 2017 while profit after tax declined by 46 per cent from ₦14.8 billion to N8.02 billion. Earnings per share also declined by 46 per cent from ₦43.58 in 2016 to ₦23.62 in 2017. However, the company’s shareholders funds improved by 20 per cent from ₦23.57 billion to ₦28.23 billion.

Advertisements