NIPCO targets 75% outstanding dividends’ payment in 2024
Chairman, NIPCO Plc, Chief Bestman Anekwe, has expressed confidence that by next annual general meeting, about 75 per cent of the outstanding dividends to investors would have been paid out.
He also affirmed that after over 19 years of operations, the company is focused on becoming Nigeria’s petroleum product marketing company of choice.
Chief Anekwe who disclosed this at the 19th Annual General Meeting of the company held at the Abuja Continental Hotel said the prudent management of the human and material resources of the organisation had made it tower above its peers in the hydrocarbon industry
Echoing the chairman’s, views ,a non executive director , Ramesh Kansagra, said despite the myriad of challenges in the economy, NIPCO has been able to establish itself as a downstream petroleum industry operator to reckon with, in terms of value addition to the economy and its shareholders.
Kansagra, who spoke to shareholders at the meeting from London through Zoom said after 19 years in business since 2004, NIPCO has largely achieved its vision, although much still remain to accomplish to get to where the company wants to be.
He thanked the investors and shareholders who have entrusted the company in their management, assuring that with what the company is currently doing it would become the leading company in Nigeria in the next fear years.
“When the company started operations in 2004, the vision of the management was to see NIPCO emerge as the leading petroleum products marketing company in Nigeria. Today, we have achieved a lot towards realising that vision. However, it is clear we still have a long way to go to get to where we really want to be in future,” he said.
On the request by the shareholders for higher dividend, Kansagra defended the decision by the management of the company to focus on investing of the development of operational infrastructure, arguing that high dividend paying companies were those who lacked the capacity to pursue their growth agenda.
Apart from the company’s investments to upgrade the infrastructure to make for its effective operations, he said NIPCO has over the years diversified its portfolio into other areas, including the hospitality sector, in addition to consistently paying dividends to shareholders.
He assured the shareholders that NIPCO was growing on the right path set for itself, while appreciating that the company was still on a long journey to where it wants to be.
“Because of the current economic crisis in the country, the interest rate charged by banks on loans are very high. If the company was to borrow from the banks to carry out most of the investments it has embarked upon, it would have spent a huge amount of its resources on the repayment of the loans.
“Also, rather than take money directly from the shareholders, the management decided to look inwards to rely on its available profits for the investments it decided to pursue, which are very visible for all to see,” he explained.
He pleaded with shareholders for patience, saying these investments have high prospects of yielding dividends for the benefit of all the investors who have toiled and stood by the management despite the difficult economic climate.
Earlier, the company secretary, Paul Obi, told the shareholders that over the last 19 years, a lot of the company’s resources have been capitalised through massive investments in the development of strategic capital projects.
On the issue of unclaimed dividends by shareholders, Obi assured that the matter would be resolved within the next one month, as the company has commenced the process pay all the outstanding dividends to shareholders in compliance with the regulations by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Following the issuance of NIPCO shares 2003, he recalled that the bulk of the investors were IPMAN members who were among the over 5000 marketers from the 21 different depots that contributed to the fund from across the country, while the direct shareholders were about 1800 investors.
He said NIPCO management has commenced the process of getting those shares issued directly to marketers in all the depots, with all the accumulated dividends for investors in the depots in the northern part of the country already settled, along with 90 percent of those in the South-West region.
The Secretary said attention was now focused on settling the over 1000 marketers in the Southern region, including over 500 from the South-East zone, assuring that all the accumulated dividends due to investors in the region would be paid out within the next 22 days to one month.
He expressed confidence that by next annual general meeting, about 75 percent of the outstanding dividends to investors would have been paid out.
