Shareholders of beverage manufacturer, Guiness Nigeria Plc, have approved a dividend of N8.00 per share and scrip dividend representing one ordinary share for every 33 ordinary shares, the company has said.

According to a statement by the Corporate Communications Manager, Guiness Nigeria Plc,  Olayinka Edmond, the shareholders gave the approval at its Annual General Meeting for the year ended June 30, 2012, which was held in Abuja on Friday.

The statement said the shareholders approved all resolutions at the meeting including the re-election of directors and amendment of the company’s articles of association.

Explaining the reasons behind the proposals, the Chairman of the company, Mr. Babatunde Savage, was quoted to have said, “In 2010 we announced an investment of N52bn in Guinness Nigeria because we have a deep understanding of the potential of the market and are committed to seeing the continued success of Guinness Nigeria. I am happy to say that we are now half way through our project and we are already seeing the benefits with increased production capacity and optimised distribution infrastructure amongst others.

“What we are proposing today is an opportunity to further support that investment by giving shareholders an option to convert their dividends into increased shareholdings of Guinness Nigeria but it is only an option. Those that are interested in collecting the dividend are still able to do so.”

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Guinness Nigeria Plc, Mr. Seni Adetu, attributed the company’s success, despite what he said was a tough operating environment, to “a very caring, loyal and supportive shareholder base”.

“All the proceedings here today, point to factors that will ensure the continued business success of Guinness Nigeria. I strongly believe that we have the strategy and support that we need to be No. 1 in the market and I can only advise all our shareholders to invest in the future of our great Company,” he said.

For his part, the Vice-Chairman of the Company and President of Diageo Africa, Dr. Nick Blazquez, expressed delight at the role Nigerians are playing in the company.

He said, “For the first time in almost two decades, Guinness Nigeria has a Nigerian CEO who is leading an executive management team made up almost exclusively of Nigerians.”

Blazquez added that the development was proof of the confidence Diageo had in Nigerians and expressed the hope that other multinationals would also “invest in Nigeria and Nigerian talent”.

Source: Punch (written by Simon Ejembi)