GSK Shareholders Approve N657.7m Dividend
Shareholders in GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc has approved a dividend of N657.7 million at 40k per share at the 50th Annual General Meeting of the company held in Lagos.
This is just as the company declared a profit after tax of N623.01 million for the year ended December 2020 amidst the celebration of its 50 years of existence in Nigeria. The results also showed that the company’s turnover grew by three per cent to close at N21.3 billion as against N20.7 billion recorded in 2019.
Presenting the results to the shareholders, Mr. Edmund Onuzo, the Chairman, Board of Directors, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc., said that despite the challenging economic environment, particularly for manufacturers in the country, the company was determined to achieve a sustainable performance across all its portfolio.
“The year 2020 presented a difficult and unpredictable business environment globally. In Nigeria, many events shaped our business environment, but I will like to focus on a few. My focus will include the unprecedented lockdowns due to COVID-19, insecurity and the #EndSARS protests that took place towards the end of the year,”
Onuzo said. He added: “The unpredicted impact of the pandemic slowed Nigeria’s economic recovery as the country went into a recession for the second time in five years, after the marginal economic growth noticed before 2020.”
Despite these challenges, Mr. Onuzo declared that the task before the company is to drive its strategic objectives that would not only keep the business afloat but make its portfolio more efficient and profitable.
“The performance of our company in 2020 reflected our determination to remain strong and deliver value to our esteemed customers and stakeholders in a challenging economic climate. We will continue to invest in our brands and our people to achieve sustainable growth and development,” Onuzo assured. Regarding government’s intervention for businesses from a macroeconomics standpoint,
Onuzo said: “It is heart-warming to acknowledge that the federal government is making efforts to diversify the Nigerian economy from a monopolistic economy that largely depends on oil revenue.”
Globally, the pandemic has taught governments and policymakers to be readily prepared and proactively plan for their societies as it has become a necessary collective responsibility in this era.
Commenting on the company’s performance for the year, Kunle Oyelana, Managing Director, GlaxoSmith- Kline Consumer Nigeria Plc, said the achievement was a result of collaborative support from all key stakeholders of the healthcare delivery subsector.
