Nairametrics| Okomu Oil palm plans to spend N250 million on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in 2017.
Here is the summary of the company’s CSR activities:
- The company has spent over N200 million on CSR in the past two years.
- About 27 individuals from the host and neighbouring communities are currently on the company’s scholarship scheme.
- The company has also built boreholes, schools and helped fix police vehicles.
While the proposed amount is a lot of money, it is a minute fraction of both Okomu’s 2016 revenues and profit after tax. Figures from the audited 2016 financial statements for the company show it made revenues of N14. 3 billion in 2016, compared to N9.3 billion made in the prior year. Profit after tax increased from N2.6 billion in 2015 to N4.9 billion in 2016.
The company is spending the money to prevent communal unrest which could lead to damage of its plantation and other facilities. Okomu has had several of such attacks in the past few years, often leading to burning of parts of its plantation. This results in loss of revenue and downtime in production.
The company has had a very profitable 2016 due to the Central Bank Of Nigeria (CBN)’s placement of palm oil on the list of 44 items banned from the official foreign exchange market. A disruption in its operations at this time will be very costly, as 2017 looks equally profitable. Q1 2017 results show revenue increased from N3.3 billion in 2016 to N5.3 billion in 2017. Profit after tax also increased from N1.5 billion in 2016 to N3.0 billion in 2017. Year to date, shares of the company are up 24.7% on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). Okomu Oil palm is located in Ovia South west local government, Edo state.