Stanley Opara
Portland Paints and Products Nigeria Plc, a subsidiary of UAC of Nigeria Plc, says its current move to restructure its operations will drive further growth and enable it to deliver better value to all stakeholders.
The Chairman, Portland Paints, Mr. Larry Ettah, in his address at the company’s Annual General Meeting held in Lagos on Wednesday, said, “Although the firm has been undergoing restructuring of its operations in the reporting year, which has been exacerbated by the daunting challenges in the operating environment, it was able to report a modest result in 2016.
“Portland Paints recorded revenue of N1.971bn in 2016, which is a nine per cent drop from the N2.168bn of the previous year. The company profit after tax was N8.597m, a major reversal from the N232.98m loss recorded in the previous year.”
He said in view of this level of performance, the Board of Directors did not recommend the payment of dividend.
According to Ettah, in response to the challenges posed by the business environment, the company has worked towards cost reduction and optimisation in all areas of its operations to ensure the survival of the business and its sustained value creation for stakeholders.
On the concluded capital restructuring, Ettah said, “The Rights Issue of 2 for 3 approved at the 2015 AGM to raise additional capital for the company hit the market on January 23, 2017 and closed on March 1, 2017. It was 65.5 per cent subscribed and was affected by the general capital market sentiments and softness.”
Meanwhile, the country’s equities market gained N76bn on Wednesday to close at N10.197tn capitalisation from N10.121tn. A total of 343.192 million shares worth N3.338bn exchanged hands in 4,905 deals as 35 counters gained, while 20 lost.
