Chinwendu Obienyi
Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc says it is proposing a 20 per cent increase in its dividend to shareholders in the 2018 financial year.
The company said in a statement on Friday that its audited financial results showed a 30 per cent decrease in its financing cost and a strengthened balance sheet, which it said would enable the group to increase its dividend by 20 per cent.
It added that its total net debt reduced by N21.2billion while finance cost dropped by N9.8billion.
According to the statement, the company is proposing a dividend of N1.20 for the 2018 financial year, subject to shareholders’ approval at the annual general meeting.
It said, “Continuous growth is envisaged in key segments such as food and agro-allied, as targeted strategies deliver improved margins and operational efficiencies.
“The continuous implementation of turnaround initiatives in the agro-allied business, accelerated expansion in the business-to-consumer segment, optimal operation of our supply chain and further balance sheet management is expected to result in higher profitability.”
The Group Chief Financial Officer, FMN, Anders Kristiansson, said the company’s strategy to restructure the balance sheet base and optimise financing costs had started to yield the desired results.
He noted that the business started showing increased levels of efficiency, despite ongoing pressure on consumer disposable income in many of the target categories.
The Group Managing Director, Paul Gbededo, said, “We have made substantial progress this year, even in the face of an adverse and challenging business environment.
“Our growth and efficiency initiatives across our various functions and businesses have started to show anticipated gains as we continue to focus on organic sales growth and position the business for continuous profitability.”