GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc has declared a Profit After Tax (PAT) to the tune of N917 million, shareholders will receive 55 kobo per share as dividend, a total of N657.7m for the year ended December 2019.
The company’s annual turnover increased from N18.41 billion in 2018 to N20.76 billion in 2019, representing a 13% growth while PAT rose from N617.62 million to N917.10 million.
Mr. Edmund Onuzo, Chairman, Board of Directors said at the company’s 49th Annual General Meeting (AGM) which held recently that despite 2019 being a challenging year for manufacturers in the country, the company was able to achieve a sustainable performance on all its healthcare portfolio.
“GSK delivered a good performance in 2019 with growth in sales, earnings and strong cash generation. We also made excellent progress in our three long-term priorities: Innovation, Performance and Trust, strengthening our consumer healthcare portfolio, improving operational execution and reshaping the company,” Onuzo said.
He further disclosed that the task before the company in the new financial year is to drive its strategic objectives that would not only keep the business afloat but make its portfolio more efficient and profitable.
Onuzo affirmed that achieving these objectives may be challenging most especially with the current realities of COVID-19 which has resulted in major shifts in the stock market and a downturn in Nigeria’s economy.
“This year started as a great challenge with the novel Covid-19 pandemic, however, we remain resilient as we innovate and adapt in this unprecedented time. We demonstrate this confidence with the right strategy to deliver consistent and sustained value for our customers and shareholders. We are optimistic that our focus on innovation will enable us to capitalise on opportunities that will propel the organisation to drive long-term value for investors.”
Kunle Oyelana, Managing Director, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc expressed his confidence in the economic outlook for 2020 while expressing appreciation for the immense support from all stakeholders.
“We are pleased with the result for 2019 despite the decline in our financial statement and annual report, we were able to grow significantly both the topline by about 13% and of course, the profit by higher than 40%, this is a testament of the incredible work of all various stakeholders, both internal and external. For 2020, whilst the subdued outlook for the economy based on the current pandemic and the impact of that on the demand affordability of the consumer, we expect to still stay very focused on our strategic objectives for the year 2020 and we are confident that with the support of everybody working together, we will achieve the objectives we have set for ourselves.”
