By Udeme Ekwere

May and Baker Nigeria Plc has assured its shareholders of good dividends at the end of the next financial year.

This, according to the new management of the company, is largely as a result of its various investments, including the N3bn investment in a new plant in Ota, Ogun State.

The new Managing Director, M&B, Mr. Nnamdi Okafor, disclosed this at a press conference in Lagos on Wednesday.

According to him, the new strategies put in place by the company will ensure that the company is on a sustained path of profitability that will translate into higher dividend for its shareholders.

He said, “The company started to build a new pharmaceutical plant in Ota in 2008, that plant is at its completion stage and should start test running by the end of this month. We hope to inaugurate that plant by the end of June this year.

“The facility, which has taken investment in excess of N3bn, will have a capacity of 30 billion tablets and 25 million bottles per annum. This, in addition to our current capacities at the Ikeja factory, will represent a significant percentage of Nigeria’s drug requirement.”

He noted that when the new plant began full operations, shareholders would benefit immensely as it would translate into increased profitability to the company and its investors in terms of dividends and earnings per share.

Okafor said, “We are embarking on various expansion projects to deliver an enviable company for all. What we promise the shareholders is that we shall continue to make their investments in our company worthwhile by ensuring that they enjoy the benefits accruable from a strong entity.

“This is in terms of returns on investment, capital appreciation and security of investment; also, we intend to excite our shareholders with more robust dividends in the coming years.”

The May & Baker boss noted that one of the greatest challenges of the pharmaceutical business in Nigeria, remained the issue of products faking and adulteration of original brands, which had given the industry a reputation of low profitability.

He, however, noted that the company had put in place various measures to check the incidence of adulteration of its products.

Okafor emerged as the company’s helmsman on February 1, 2011, following the appointment of his predecessor, Mr. Joseph Odumodu, as the new Director-General of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria.

Source: Punch