Unilever pledges to maintain steady growth, profitability

Unilever Nigeria Plc has assured shareholders that the firm would consolidate on its performance to consistently realise its growth ambitions in a sustainable manner.

With a total dividend payout of N378.3 million, culminating in 10 kobo per share, the Chairman of the company, Nnaemeka Achebe, stressed the firm’s commitment to continuously improve shareholders’ value amid harsh operating environment.

Addressing shareholders during the 92nd yearly general meeting of the company held in Lagos at the weekend, explained that the firm posted 17 .8 percent rise in turnover from N59bn in December 2015 to N69bn in December 201, even as a significant portion of this growth is from volume increase.

According to him, Profit After Tax (PAT) also increased from its 2015 position of N1.19billion to close the year with N3.07bn, representing 157 per cent growth.

He explained that marketing and administrative expenses reduced by 16 per cent from N13.1 billion for year ended December 31, 2015 to N11.6 billion same period in 2016, while other income grew by 60 per cent to N124 million from N77.5 million in 2015.

Furthermore, the chairman pointed out that that net finance costs reduced by 40 per cent to N1.7 billion by the end of last year, compared to N2.8billion reported for the corresponding period in 2015.

He added that the results showed that net finance cost as a function of operating profit improved significantly to 29 per cent (2015: 62 per cent), reflecting improvements in cash management.

Achebe assured shareholders of its efforts to ensure a sustained and steady growth in the company’s operations to achieve better returns on their investments.

“Although Unilever Nigeria has not been insulated from the tough economic environment, we have remained focused on our short and long term growth ambitions with clear emphasis on operational intensity, cost efficiencies and growing market share across key categories

“In Unilever, we believe that ‘when the going gets tough, the tough gets going’. Our company will therefore continue to focus on operational intensity and brilliant execution basics to navigate the twists and turns within our operating environment and consolidate on the gains of 2016 to ensure we remain consistent in realising our growth ambitions.”