SHAREHOLDERS of Cadbury Nigeria Plc have made a capital gain of 45 per cent following the consistent rise in the price of its stock at the nation’s capital market, due largely to the impressive financial results of the company.
Consequently, the company has recorded a growth of 45 per cent in its share price, as it ended trading on may 31, 2013 at N64.53 per share against N44.50 at which it opened trading for the week.
Cadbury recorded a profit after tax of N3.4 billion for the year-ended December 31, 2011 and paid a dividend of N1.564 billion after seven years. And just as shareholders are still savouring the resumption of dividend payment, the company has raised their hopes for higher dividend this current year by reporting an increase of 185 per cent in profit after tax for the first quarter ended March 31, 2013.
According to the results, Cadbury reported revenue of N8.362 billion in Q1 of 2013, up 16 per cent from N7.198 billion in the corresponding period of 2012. Profit before tax and after tax soared by 185 per cent from N587 million to N1.676 billion and N401 million to N1.142 billion respectively.
These figures have spurred more demand for the shares of the company, leading to a growth of 45 per cent last week alone.
Shareholders of Cadbury stayed without dividend for seven years as the company struggled to recover from losses that occurred due to provision for past overstatements of financial accounts.
Addressing the shareholders at the yearly general meeting of the company recently, Chairman of Cadbury, Atedo Peterside, said: “We are pleased to be in a position to pay dividend to our shareholders this year. Also we sincerely appreciate the support and patience of all our shareholders throughout the years of rebuilding the company when profits were ploughed back to sustain the business and dividends could not be paid.”
Peterside attributed the ability have paid dividend this year, to operational efficiencies and cost control programmes of the company, which he added, provided a strong platform to ensure that this top-line performance translated into the company’s profitability for the year under review.
Cadbury also received N2.8 billion exports incentive, granted by the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) for sales of its cocoa products through its subsidiary, Stanmark Cocoa Processing Limited, Ondo State.
Market operators have commended the company management for the turnaround and profitability during the financial year ended December 31, 2012.
They also expressed optimism that the company no doubt would surpass investors’ expectation for the current year ending December 31, 2013.
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