E-Business solutions and advisory company, Courteville Business Solutions Plc has announced a profit before tax (PTF) of N339.4m in 2019 against a figure N179.8m recorded in 2018.
This profit, according to the company, is coming on the back of expansion of business activities and astute management cost and financial controls measures put in place during the year.
Chairman of the company, Afam Edozie, who was represented by Mr. Olufemi Adekoya, in his speech at the 15th annual general meeting in Lagos, said, the board of directors, based on the result recorded and the current economic realities, would however not recommend the payment of dividend to the shareholders.
He stated that the company secured three new AutoReg Motor Vehicle Administration Documentation (MVAD) mandates while also renewing the contract with the Nigerian Insurance Association (NIA) for another year.
He said the telecoms and information service subsector continues to be the biggest contributors to the growth recorded in the economy as it contributed N2.57 trillion to the national gross domestic product (GDP), which helped in the growth of 8.50 per cent in the non-oil sector of the year-on-year according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Edozie said the company would continue with its business expansion drive, especially for its flagship product, AutoReg; within the local boundaries, while assuring that they will also continue to grow the business internationally especially within the African and Caribbean markets.
“Our company will be seeking to expand its product base and to this end, emphasis will be placed on research and development. We will also be deepening our existing business relationships with the aim of growing our market share of the businesses and maximising total output,” he said.
The chairman noted that the coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc on the global economies within the first quarter of the year 2020 and resulted in deaths, while complete lockdown of people worldwide has caused shutdown in activities, especially in industries such as oil and gas, aviation, hospitality and transportation.
“This has had a multiplier effect on revenue streams of companies and individuals as our major income stream has been affected since no movement means that vehicle licence registrations and renewals would not be happening and even other income streams are affected.
“The first quarter of the year is gone and all the projections have fallen through and we would have to go back to the drawing board to work on the way forward,” he said.
The company’s Group Managing Director, Adebola Akindele, said the firm had the foresight to prepare for lockdown by activating the work from home model and this helped in seamless flow into the lockdown period.
“The coronavirus induced lockdown disruption affected us negatively in term of profitability initially, but it allowed us to bounce back once the lockdown was lifted.
“We have always planned for this kind of risk in our system and it prepared us to be able to take advantage of all kinds of resources we put together going forward,” he said.
