By Peter Egwuatu
May & Baker Nigeria Plc has recorded significant growth in major financial indices as its Profit Before Tax, PBT for the year ended March 31, 2017 rose by 75 percent to N605.6 million from N345.94 million in 2016.
The company attributed the growth in PBT to improved sales , efficiency in cost minimisation and quality services. The audited report and accounts of May & Baker Nigeria for the year ended December 31, 2017 released on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) showed impressive improvements in the underlying fundamentals of the company as well as the actual earnings figures.
The board of directors of the company has recommended distribution of N196 million as cash dividend for the 2017 business year, representing a dividend per share of 20 kobo. The recommended dividend payout for 2017 represents an increase of 233.3 per cent on the payout for the 2016 business year. May & Baker had distributed N58.8 million as cash dividend for the 2016 business year, with shareholders receiving a dividend per share of 6.0 kobo.
Highlights of the report showed that turnover rose by 10.39 per cent from N8.47 billion in 2016 to N9.35 billion in 2017. Gross profit grew by 29.13 per cent to N3.28 billion in 2017 as against N2.54 billion in 2016. Operating profit jumped by 51.04 per cent from N820.87 million to cross the billion Naira mark to N1.24 billion in 2017. Profit before tax leapt by 75.07 per cent from N345.94 million in 2016 to N605.62 million in 2017. After taxes, net profit stood at N370.87 million in 2017 compared with net loss after tax of N41.09 million recorded in 2016. Shareholders’ funds also rose by 10.3 per cent from N3.01 billion in 2016 to N3.32 billion in 2017.
Commenting on the results, Managing Director, May & Baker, Mr. Nnamdi Okafor, said: “Despite the macroeconomic challenges, the company’s sales growth has continued to improve considerably above industry average, showing continuing efforts to retain and grow market share.”
He noted that the improvement in margin validated management’s tight cost control measures and continuing efforts to harness synergies within the group to reduce costs and improve shareholders’ value.
“Our results show our main focus of satisfying our customer and enhancing our shareholders’ value. Our steady implementation of many growth initiatives are paying off as can be seen in the latest results. We are also happy that the investing public is taking note of these improvements with the performance of our stock as one of the best-performing stocks at the market,” Okafor added.
The post Improved sales, cost efficiency boost May & Baker’s PBT by 75 % appeared first on Vanguard News.