A.G Leventis Nigeria Plc monday recommended a dividend of N264.729 million for the year ended December 31, 2015. The dividend, which translates to 10 kobo per share, was recommended despite the fact that group recorded a loss of N177 million, while the company ended the year with a decline of 54 per cent in profit to N355 million.
The audited results, made available yesterday, showed that the group recorded a revenue of N12.536 billion up by six per cent from N11.7 billion achieved in 2014. Gross profit fell by 20 per cent from N3.469 billion to N4.166 billion, while profit before tax fell by 38 per cent to N329 million, from N524 million in 2014. Finance costs rose to N1.023 billion from N833 million.
The group ended the year with a loss of N177 million, compared with a profit of N211 million in 2014. Despite the loss, the directors recommended a dividend of 10 kobo for the approval of shareholders. According to the directors, the dividend will be paid on September 9, to shareholders whose names appeared on the register of the company as at the close of business on August 19, 2016.
Meanwhile, trading at the stock market continued on a bearish note as the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index (NSE) ASI declined further by 0.47 per cent to close at 27,103.89. Similarly, the market capitalisation shed N44.19 billion to close at N9.31 trillion. Yesterday’s loss extended the year-to-date losses to 5.37 per cent. Twenty-three stocks declined while 15 appreciated.
In terms of sectoral performance, the NSE Industrial Goods Index shed 0.72 per cent, NSE Consumer Goods went down by 2.05 per cent while the NSE Insurance Index lost 0.81 per cent.
On the positive side, the NSE Banking appreciated by 0.76 per cent following gains recorded by GTBank Plc and Access Bank Plc, which rose by 0.69 per cent and 4.17 per cent respectively.
Investors traded was 152.32mn in 3,406 deals, led by FBN Holdings (40.04 million shares ), FCMB (19.13 million shares) and Zenith Bank (11.04 million shares ) as most active, while the most actively traded sectors were Financial Services (124.58 million shares), Consumer Goods (10.80 million shares ) and Conglomerates (8.57 million shares).
However, analysts at Cordros Capital Limited said they expect investors to remain downbeat, as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s delay of the guided forex flexibility details lingers.
