Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc has announced that it will drive top-line performance and profitability by expanding support for the growth sectors of the Nigerian economy.
The company said that it would focus on key investment areas which had been identified as its major strengths to boost the fortunes of investors.
Speaking during the company’s annual general meeting in Lagos on Wednesday, the Chairman, Flour Mills, Mr. George Coumantaros, said plans were in place to ensure that it increased its market share in the high-performance areas.
He said, “As a company, we will actively support the Federal Government’s backward integration policy by expanding its agricultural holdings, by ensuring that our agro-allied strategy provides sustainable returns on capital invested by maximising local content in group products.
“We will put things in place to ensure that raw materials are produced locally wherever possible to ensure that good quality but fair value products are developed through the food supply chain from growing to final consumer consumption.
“Going forward, I want to assure stakeholders that we will leverage the unassailable quality of our flagship products, Golden Penny flour, the growing popularity and market acceptability of our sugar brand.”
Coumantaros said that the company’s continuous investment in new milling technology in a “green-field” pasta factory at Agbara as well as synergies arising from its recent group restructuring would help to generate improved earnings and deliver superior shareholders’ value.
Meanwhile, the shareholders at the meeting commended the N2 per share dividend paid to investors for the 2012 financial year.
They said that the development was interesting, despite the fact that its cement company had not been in operations.
The President, Professional Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Anono, said that that there was the need for the company to merge subsidiaries that were not performing well in order to increase their bottom-line and add value to shareholders’ investment.
He said, “You should take closer look at your subsidiaries. The subsidiaries that are not doing well should be merged to enhance profitability because the merger of two companies would more likely attract better returns.
“Also, there is the need to engage in aggressive marketing because competitors are watching.”
The President, Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Mr. Boniface Okezie, who commended the company on the dividend payout, urged them to approach the capital market to source cheap funds to enable them to carry out most of the projects that were capital intensive.
This, according to him, will enable them to eliminate high borrowing from banks with the interest accrued to it.