Shareholders of National Salt Company of Nigeria (NASCON), a subsidiary of Dangote Group, has commended the company on the huge investment made in production of tomato paste, vegetable oil and seasoning.
The shareholders, who spoke during the 2014 yearly general meeting of the company, held in Lagos on Wednesday, urged the board to strengthen its research and development department to achieve optimal result and enhance operations.
Specifically, a shareholder, Kazeem Olayiwola lauded the management for enhancing their returns on investment through dividend payout.
The company paid a dividend of N1.32 billion, culminating to 50 kobo per share due to every investor of the company for the 2014 financial year.
He expressed satisfaction on the successes recorded so far in the production of other food condiments apart from salt, adding that the investment would translate into more values for stakeholders.
He charged the management of NASCON especially the marketing division to be more innovative as to drive more sales of the several range of products now available within the company.
He specifically tasked the management to pay more attention to staff training and incentives as these are essential to drive productivity.
Another shareholder, Sotunde Sopeju also commended the management for turning around the fortunes of NASCON which has now gone beyond salt refining.
Sopeju lauded the management for ploughing back much of the profit into new projects, adding that it would boost the company’s revenue going forward.
Reviewing the company’s performance, the Chairman of the company, Aliko Dangote assured shareholders that the company’s new business lines will impact significantly on the returns to shareholders and drive both revenue and profit.
He said that following the approval of the shareholders at the last annual general meeting to change the name of the company to reflect current investments and new operational status as a manufacturer of other related consumer and daily needs, the company is now known as Nascon Allied Industries Plc.
“I am happy that our prospect for 2015 remains excellent. We shall continue to be committed to improving our upward trend, and we will ensure your company continues to grow and remain competitive so as to deliver increasing dividend to all stakeholders” he assured.
He explained that the company posted a turnover of N11.2 billion, representing four percent rise when compared to N10.8 billion achieved in 2013.
However, profit before tax stood at N2.8 billion compared to N4 billion achieved in the previous year.
Dangote expressed optimism that the new investments made by the company would enhance profitability and robust dividend to shareholders in the current financial year.
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