Mohammed Shosanya
Shareholders of Odu’a Investment Company Limited, will receive the sum of N428million as dividend for the year 2022,its chairman,Otunba Bimbo Ashiru .
Otunba Ashiru,who spoke on Thursday at the Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja during the 41st Annual General Meeting of the company,expressed optimism that the company’s performance in the current year would be superlative and add more value to its shareholders.
Odu’a Investment Company Limited’s operating revenue decreased 8.5% from N4.01 billion in 2021 to N3.67 billion in 2022,he said
According to him,the company posted a profit before tax of N4.08 billion in 2022, 56.5% lower than the N9.37billion in 2021,which was driven largely by lower revaluation gains.
Total assets,he said,grew 3.6% from N110.56billion in 2021, to N114.51billion in 2022.”
He added:”Despite the socio-economic challenges we faced as a business, I’m happy to reports that the board has recommended a dividend of N428 million for your approval, this is higher than the dividend of N418 million paid in 2021, and indicative of our commitment to delivering sustainable returns”
Last December,Odu’a Investment Company Limited reached an agreement with strategic partner to remodel, renovate and upgrade the existing Premier Hotel from an 87-room hotel to a 150-room 5-star hotel,Ashiru said.
He also said the redeployment hotel will be equipped with world-class conference facilities, restaurants, recreational facilities, and ample parking.
He added:”The project is expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2025. I’m happy to inform you that we have also registered and set up the office for the Odu’a Investment Foundation today.
“The outlook for 2023 remains positive, we expected some of the critical changes in the monetary and fiscal policy environment that will drive activities in real estate and construction, agriculture, and the power sector amongst others.”
“I believed that the year 2023 will be pivotal for the business, several transformational initiatives in our operations will be completed or nearing completion, and it will therefore be a year of consolidating on the significant shift that the board and management have worked so diligently to achieve over the last three years. The multiplier effects that we expect on our revenue and asset base have begun to appear and the trajectory of the business can only be upwards”
Speaking,the Group Managing Director/CEO of the Company, Mr. Adewale Raji,said Odu’a Investment Company recorded a revenue of N3.68 billion in 2022 which was an 8.5% decrease from the 2021 amount of N4.01 billion. Profit Before Tax was N4.08 billion compared to the 2021 figure of N9.37 billion.
He hinted that this was driven mainly by a reduction in revaluation gains on investment properties from N7.11 billion in 2021 to N2.98 billion in 2022.
He added:”These gains do not occur on all our properties all at once and will typically vary from one year to another. If this Accounting gains are removed, the normalized Profit Before Tax for 2022 will be N1.1 billion compared to N2.26 billion for 2021Based on this modest profitability, the Board of Odu’a Investment Company limited is proposing for the approval of the shareholders a gross dividend of N428 million.”
“This is a 2.2% increase over the N418 million paid for 2021 Financial Year. Should this recommendation be approved and paid out, it will bring the total dividend paid to Shareholders over the last 9 years to the sum of N2.56 billion”
