Shareholders Laud Transcorp’s Turnaround

• Shareholders Laud Transcorp’s Turnaround

Shareholders of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) Plc have commended the board and management of the conglomerate for the turnaround of the group from a loss position to profitability.

Transcorp witnessed considerable growths in turnover and profitability in 2017, pulling back from a pre-tax loss of N5.93 billion in 2016 to a pre-tax profit of N12.31 billion in 2017.

At the annual general meeting in Lagos, shareholders unanimously approved the payment of N812.96 million as cash dividend for the 2017 business year, as recommended by the board of the conglomerate. Shareholders will receive a dividend per share of 2.0 kobo.

National President, Association for the Advancement of Rights of Nigerian Shareholders (AARNS), Dr. Faruk Umar, said the leadership of the company has shown strong commitment to wealth creation for shareholders.

According to him, the management of the conglomerate has kept to their words of delivering superior returns to the shareholders as promised at the previous general meeting.

“We are very pleased with this turnaround, and we trust that the company will do all it can to uphold this,” Umar said.

Chairman, New Dimension Shareholders Association, Mr. Patrick Ajudua also commended the management for returning the company to profitability and deciding to pay dividend to shareholders.

He urged the directors of the conglomerate not to relent in their efforts to ensure that the conglomerate continues to surpass targets every year.

Chairman, Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) Plc, Mr. Tony Elumelu, said the improvement in the performance of the conglomerate reflected the underlying improvement in the Nigerian economy.

According to him, Transcorp is a gauge of Nigeria’s economy as it was setup to drive the nation’s economy in a positive direction by investing in catalytic sectors, capable of improving lives and Transforming Nigeria.

“When Transcorp is doing well, you don’t have to check to see if Nigeria is also doing well. Their journeys are intertwined,” Elumelu said.

He assured shareholders that strategic initiatives implemented in 2017 have laid firm foundation for continuous growths in the years ahead.

He pointed out that achieving excellence in the execution of the group’s identified strategic imperatives remains critical to its success as an organisation as this continues to position it for several opportunities in the economy and adequately insulate it from any challenges within the operating environment.

He said the group would explore its oil & gas assets to enhance performance in the years ahead while also leveraging on the oil and gas assets to maximize Transcorp’s potential in the power generation space.

“The plan is for Transcorp Power to continue expanding its generating capacity and contribute even more to the national grid despite already emerging as Nigeria’s highest generator of Power,” Elumelu said.

He noted that the group has successfully obtained NNPC’s approval for extension of the Phase 1 Exploration Period for its OPL 281 PSC, which has given it additional time to fulfill work commitments, including drilling of the appraisal wells, under the first Phase of the PSC.

“We are positive that further engagement with investors will lead to effective execution of OPL 281work obligations, as approved under the PSC,” Elumelu said.