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 Daily Independent Online.
* Monday, August 09, 2004.
Kakawa Discount grows profit by 40%
By Mojeed Jamiu
Finance
Editor, Lagos
Kakawa Discount
House Limited posted a pre-tax profit of N1.012 billion at the end of
this financial year, a significant increase of 39.52 per cent over the
N725.25 million recorded for last year.
The company has also
introduced two new products to the market in its effort to enrich the
financial well-being of its valued clients and grow its market share.
Chairman, Board of Birectors,
Mr. Jacobs Ajekigbe, informed shareholders of the company at its ninth
Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos, that its gross earnings grew by 9.48 per cent to N5.76
billion from N5.26 billion recorded in the previous year.
Ajekigbe disclosed that the
company’s balance sheet rose by 10.24 per cent at the end of its
financial year, which ended May 31, this year, with total assets,
increasing to N32.08 billion from N29.10 in the previous year. He said
shareholders’ funds increased by 34.37 per cent to N2.03 billion from
N1.51 billion the previous year.
As part of the board’s consistent strategy of ensuring
that shareholders derive satisfactory value at all times, it has
recommended a dividend of N225 million, representing a 50 per cent
increase over the amount paid out last year.
Ajekigbe, who is also the
managing director of First Bank of Nigeria Plc, one of the shareholders
of Kakawa, said the board has proposed an increase in the authorised
share capital to N2 billion from the present level of N1 billion and a
one-for-two bonus issue to existing shareholders. “This is to strengthen
the capital base of your discount house for strategic positioning,” the
board chairman said.
On the new products introduced
by the company, the chairman said it was in line with Kakawa’s mission to
identify and convert opportunities that will enrich the financial
well-being of its valued customers and enhance the growth of its market
share.
The products are: Kakawa
Government Bond Secured Investment, pioneered by the company to create a
secondary market and trading in the recently reintroduced government
bonds and Kakawa Hedgeflex, a one-year floating-rate investment product.
He said the two products and
others in the kitty of the company have been enhanced to meet the
changing investment needs of its growing clients. The company was the
first in the sub-sector to introduce treasury bills- backed products into
the market, as part of its efforts to deepen the financial market.
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