THE board of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) Plc on Friday recommended the payment of three kobo per share final dividend to shareholders of the company for the year ended December 31, 2018.
The firm proposed the final dividend payment after releasing its 2018 full year financial results to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
In the period under review, Transcorp grew its profit after tax by 95 per cent to N20.627 billion from N10.607 billion in full year 2017.
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Also, the profit before tax appreciated to N22.402 billion as at December 31, 2018 from N12.306 billion as at December 31, 2017.
Revenue generated by the firm in 12 months further rose to N104.163 billion from N80.285 billion, while the gross profit increased to N48.252 billion from N36.424 billion, with the operating profit going up to N34.649 billion from N26.032 billion.
According to its results, Transcorp’s cost of sales in the 2018 fiscal year went up to N55.910 billion from N43.861 billion 12 months earlier, while the administrative expenses also going up to N14.600 billion from N11.755 billion, with the other operating income reducing to N997.196 million from N1.360 billion.
The finance cost in the period under review stood at N9.579 billion against N9.671 billion, while the finance income ended at N499.463 million versus N498.259 million a year earlier.
The company’s foreign exchange loss on financing activities, including interest-bearing loans and borrowings, was N3.168 billion in FY 2018 compared with N4.554 billion in FY 2017.
“We’re proud to have ended the year on a high-note while sustaining a strong performance, which is a reflection of our sound business strategy,” said Valentine Ozigbo, Transcorp’s President and Chief Executive Officer, who took over at Transcorp in January 2019.
“We will continuously strive to deliver significant value to our stakeholders while achieving our long-term goals,” he said.
“This result was achieved due to the increased revenue from the power and hospitality segments of the group. In addition, we were able to cut down on our loss from Forex arising from financing activities by 30 per cent year-on-year as we experienced a relatively stable exchange rate during the fiscal year-ended 2018, this no doubt impacted our Profit before tax as it soared 82 per cent year-on-year,” Mr Ozigbo added.
“Transcorp Power Ltd has continued to explore opportunities created by the eligible customer framework initiated by the Federal Government. We are at an advanced stage of negotiations with a number of eligible customers, which will translate into transactions in the months ahead. Our hospitality subsidiary, Transcorp Hotels Plc, also maintained its history of profitability in 2018, displaying the impact of our recent US$100 million upgrade at the Transcorp Hilton Abuja and the immense value placed on the hotel’s best-in-class hospitality services.”
Reflecting on the results, the Chairman of Transcorp, Mr. Tony O. Elumelu, CON, stated, “We remain committed to our purpose of improving lives and transforming Nigeria by powering our industries and businesses while providing our local and international guests with unrivalled hospitality services. This is our way of creating sustainable value for all our stakeholders.”
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