At its 8th Annual General Meeting (AGM) today, Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (Transcorp), a leading Nigerian conglomerate which recently added power generation to its portfolio of strategic business interests, presented to shareholders its impressive audited accounts for the year ended 31 December 2013, at the Lagos Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), the 2013 audited financial results reported gross earnings for the group at N25.2 billion, representing a 60% increase over the N15.8 billion recorded in the corresponding period in 2012. The Group’s Profits before tax rose by 129% from N3.9 billion in 2012 to N9.0 billion in 2013.

At the meeting, its shareholders unanimously approved the 2013 audited financial statements as well as the proposed N1.93bn dividend on the basis of 5 kobo per share. The shareholders were visibly excited about this fulfilment of Transcorp’s promise, made at its previous AGM.  One shareholder commented, “Indeed this is a first in the history of Transcorp and we are confident this is an indication of an even brighter future ahead for Transcorp and the shareholders.”

During the meeting, the Chairman of Transcorp, Tony O. Elumelu, CON, stated that “the past year for Transcorp has been exceptional; we launched new businesses and projects and expanded existing ones. The results of our efforts have become visible and are rightly being acknowledged by our stakeholders, including the investing public. Looking ahead, we expect the company to continue on this growth trajectory and the board has set a target of profit before tax of N30bn for management for 2014, which we believe is very achievable.”

In pursuit of this target, Transcorp has positioned Ughelli Power Plc, its most recent acquisition, as a leader in the Nigerian power space.

Elumelu continued, “When we took over the power plant, its generating capacity stood at 160 MW. Today, we are proud to announce that capacity at Ughelli has more than doubled to 400MW. Our target is to reach 700MW by the end of this financial year. We want to be recognized as a company that has contributed to Nigeria achieving one of its most critical developmental needs.”

President and Group Chief Executive Officer of Transcorp, Mr. Obinna Ufudo, thanked the company’s shareholders for their continued support and commitment as always, noting, “Last year, we began phase 2 of our transformation plans to expand our business lines. This financial year, we will push the frontiers of our three operating areas – energy, hospitality and agriculture – for greater financial results. We will begin construction of Transcorp Hilton Ikoyi Lagos in April, and we envisage completion within the next 36 months. In addition, we plan to repair 3 more turbines (5 turbines have been fixed so far) at the Ughelli power plant to hit our group 2014 revenue target of N65billion. These should give us improved financial performance positioning us to pay larger dividends next year.”