… declares N1.36bn interim dividend
BY KENNETH EZE
Total Nigeria Plc appears to be on a recovery path as it announced that its revenue in the first half of 2021 rose by 26.90 per cent, as against a decrease of 47.82 per cent in the same period last year.
Consequently, the company, in a statement on its unaudited financial statements, indicated that it would pay an interim dividend of N4.00 per 50 kobo ordinary share, which would amount to N1.36bn.
The Company Secretary, Bunmi Popoola-Mordi, said, “An interim dividend of N4.00 per 50 kobo ordinary share, subject to appropriate withholding tax and approval will be paid to shareholders whose names appear in the Register of Members as at the close of business on the 13th of August 2021.”
The company’s operating profits year-on-year, increased to N12.53bn from an operating loss of N716.81m.
In the same vein, it earned a net profit of N8.07bn as against a net loss of N537.19m in H1 2020.
Its earnings per share increased to N23.76 from a loss of N1.58 per share the previous half-year.
Its gross profit for H1 2021 jumped by 105.67 per cent to N25.50bn from N12.40bn in the same period of 2020.
Gross margins also improved from 11.62 per cent in H1 2020 to 16.85 per cent in H1 2021.
On its balance sheet, the firm recorded a 35.19 per cent increase in short-term liabilities due to a N35.15bn increase in payables and a N649.86m loan.
The cash and cash receivables of N111.50bn exceeded payables at N108.64bn.
Long-term loans fell by 0.41 per cent to N5.62bn while total equity increased by 16.59 per cent to N32.82bn, placing the long-term loan to equity ratio at a positive 0.17.
The company also recorded positive cash and cash equivalents of N55.27bn by the end of H1 2021 from negative N19.60bn in corresponding period of 2020.
