PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc announced a dividend of 50 kobo per share for its shareholders for the year ended May 31, 2016. The company said in a corporate action filed with the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) that closure date for the dividend is from September 19 to 23, 2016, while payment will be made on October 7, 2016, after its Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Abuja.
The 50 kobo dividend is lower than the 61 kobo per share paid the previous year. Market operators said the reduced dividend was expected considering the challenging operating environment that affected the bottom-line of the company.
A breakdown of the audited financial statement shows that the company top and bottom line went down. For instance revenue dropped by 0.88 percent to N69,527 billion which is below N73,126 billion that was reported same period in 2015.
Gross profit was down by 15.33 percent. Selling and distribution costs went down by 4.57 percent. Profit before tax stood at N3,148 billion against N6,556 billion that was reported same period in 2015, which is a drop of 51.99 percent.
Profit after tax went down from N4,570 billion in 2015 to N2,129 billion in the period under consideration, which was a decrease of 54.04 percent. Net finance cost was up by 79.30 percent to N387 million above N216 million in 2015.