The Board of Nigerian Breweries Plc said it has resolved to ask the company’s shareholders to approve a proposed bonus scheme designed to eliminate unissued shares.
A corporate disclosure by the brewer, seen by Nairametrics, said the decision was made during a special meeting of the Board held on November 15, 2022.
The shareholders will be presented with the recommendation during an Extra-Ordinary General Meeting (EGM) scheduled to hold in December.
Part of the statement by the company said:
- “Further to the directive of the Corporate Affairs Commission for companies to eliminate unissued shares from their books, the Board Resolved to recommend to the Company’s shareholders in general meeting, the approval of a bonus scheme of 1 (one) share for every 4 (four) shares held by shareholders recorded in the Register of Members at the close of business on Tuesday, 6th December 2022.
- “The bonus shares with a value of N1.03 billion will be issued from the Company’s Share Premium Account, which based on the 2021 audited accounts had a balance of N77.5 billion and N84 billion as of 31st October 2022”.
The Extra-Ordinary General Meeting to obtain shareholders’ approval for the bonus scheme will hold on 8th December 2022.
Financial highlights: The Board of Directors also announced unaudited and provisional results for the third quarter (nine months) that ended 30th September 2022 with an 80.1% growth in profit after tax to N14.755 billion from N8.691 billion in 2021. Revenue grew by 27.2% to N393.449 billion from N309.281 billion in 2021.
The cost of sales rose by 20.22% from N198.745 billion in 2021 to N238.919 billion in 2022. Basic Earnings Per Share (kobo) stood at 182 kobo in 2022 from 107 kobo in 2021, a growth of 80%.
Dividend payout: The Board recently announced the approval of an interim dividend of N3.288 billion interim dividend for its shareholders.
The dividend represents 40 kobo per ordinary share of 50 kobo in the share capital of the Company.
The interim dividend will become payable on Thursday, 1st December 2022 to all shareholders registered in the books of the Company at the close of business on Wednesday, 23rd November 2022.