OANDO GETS SHAREHOLDERS' APPROVAL TO RAISE FUNDS … DECLARES N3 DIVIDEND
By Peter Egwuatu
Shareholders of Oando Plc have given its Board of Directors approval to raise funds by way of issuing up to 25 per cent of its unissued share capital.
The shareholders at the 34th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held last week in Lagos also ratified the Oando's financial accounts for the year ended December 31, 2010, just as they applauded the Board and management for the impressive results considering the harsh operating environment the company operated upon.
Following the approval to raise additional funds, the Board of the company were empowered to choose what ever options available to raise money either by way of a private placement or any other method on terms and conditions determined by the directors for the purposes of corporate restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, settlement of debts, employees and executive compensation and any other purpose which the directors resolve to be in the best interest of the company subject to obtaining the approvals of relevant regulatory authorities.
Sectoral Distribution of Quantity Traded for Week Ending July 1, 2011.
Speaking at the meeting, Sir Sunny Nwosu, National Coordinator of Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN) said, 'We are delighted at the impressive performance of our company.
We appreciate the N3 dividend being proposed to us as well as the bonus of one for four. Like Oliver Twist we hope that we will get higher dividend come next year'
Continuing, he said, 'We advise the Board to ensure that the unclaimed dividend is managed properly since it is expected that in the next three years it would become status barred.
So, in order not to allow the unclaimed dividend to keep rising it would be better if our company can publish lists of unclaimed dividend so that people can see and may be able to identify some of the beneficiaries.'
He commended the outgone Chairman of Oando Plc, in person of Major General M. Magoro who retired having attained the age of 70 years for serving the company meritoriously. He further wished the current Chairman, Oba A. Gbadebo a successful tenure
Another shareholder, Joseph Okelana, commended the Board and management for the dividend and bonus declared. He equally praised the out gone Chairman for managing the company successfully right from inception.
According to him, 'We commend the successful transition exhibited by the Board and wish that our company will grow from strength to strength.
Meanwhile, the Group Managing Director, Oando Plc, Mr.Wale Tinubu thanked the shareholders for their support and loyalty.
The NSE All-share and NSE 30 indices for the Week Ending July1, 2011.
According to him, ' During the year under review, the company witnessed an immense improvement in its financial results in comparison to 2009, thereby confirming a year of tremendous growth for the entity in line with the global economic recovery experienced since the down turn that began in 2007.'
Continuing, he said, 'Our strategy to lay more focus on the higher margin upstream sector yielded dividends, with this sector contributing immensely to our earnings. Our turnover increased by 12 per cent from N336.86 billion in 2009 to N378.93 billion in 2010, and profit after Tax also increased by 42 per cent from N10.10billion in 2009 to N14.37 billion in 2010.
This underscores the resilience of our integrated business model, which leverages scales, diversity and market leadership to consistently deliver in the face of challenging operating environment.'