By Peter OBIORA InvestAdvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)- Shareholders of first listed registrar on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Africa Prudential Registrars Plc, (APR) (former UBA Registrars) on Wednesday endorsed a N700 million dividend for the 2014 financial year end.
This is coming on the heels of the second annual general meeting (AGM) of the Registrar, the N700 million approved by investors of the company translates to 35 kobo per share dividend unchanged from what was paid in 2013 audited year end.
Afripud says payment of the dividend will be made on Friday, April 10, 2015 and the qualifying date was March 17, 2015.
Eniola Fadayomi, chairman of the company, said the APR’s dividend policy aims at rewarding shareholders by increasing their wealth, consistently.
The only listed registrar on the Nigerian bourse added that investors who would benefit from the 35 kobo dividend are those whose name appear on the company’s Register of members and transfer Books from March 18-20, 2015.
According to her, though market performance in the Q1 of the year showed momentary positive runs, the second half (Q2) was far less impressive. “Despite the inclement operating environment, the company recorded significant gains when compared to the previous year,” Fadayomi affirmed.
On his part, Peter Ashade, managing director/CEO of Africa Prudential Registrar said that whereas the total assets stood at N18.9 billion, having increased by 15 percent from N16.4billion in 2013, group revenue grew by 14 percent following selective restructuring of the company’s core functions, investments and product developments to offer a wider range of products at different prices.
A further review of the 2014 audited year end of the company shows that profit after tax (PAT) grew 33.2 percent to N1.218 billion from N914.45 million in 2013.
Profit before tax (PBT) also climbed up 7.3 percent to N1.300 billion from N1.212 billion in the same period of 2013.
Similarly, Registrars fees income climbed up 10.5 percent to N856.03 million from N774.72 million in the corresponding period of 2013.
Ashade, while responding to comments from shareholders, reassured that the company remains true to her goal of becoming the leading and dominant provider of share registration services in Africa.
“As a result, our focus for the year will be to continue to profitably grow our businesses while providing our clients and stakeholders with appropriate alternative solutions. We will strive to manage our operating costs by optimizing our processes while concurrently improving the level of service delivery to our clients” he added.
Share price of the firm at the end of trading on the Nigerian bourse dipped 1.85 percent to N2.70 from N2.65, losing 0.05 kobo.
