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 Daily
Independent Online.
* Monday, July 05, 2004.
May & Baker records 74% rise in profit
By Ntai Bagshaw
Development Reporter, Lagos
The burgeoning fortunes of
the nation’s pharmaceutical industry were again evident as the nation’s
foremost pharmaceutical firm, May & Baker Plc announced 74 per cent
growth in its profit before tax for last year. The company said it raked
in a huge N135 million last year, against N77.8 million the previous
year.
Addressing journalists in Lagos, May &
Baker’s managing director, Mr. Joseph Odumodu, disclosed that the
company’s turnover also witnessed a 40 per cent rise from N1.27 in 2002 to
N1.8 last year. Its tax liabilities amounted to N40 million, Odumodu
said, leaving an after tax profit of N94.6 million. And to put the icing
on the cake, the company released its forecast for the coming years,
predicting a N5 billion turnover by 2005.
“Though the general economic climate
remained at best volatile, we as a business were able to take advantage
of the various opportunities created by an improving business climate for
the pharmaceutical sector to increase turnover and profits,” Odumodu said.
The company, for instance, during the year under review, expanded its
operations by over 150 per cent by making strategic investments in plant
rehabilitation and expansion at a cost of N150 million. “The pharma plant
was brought to international standards to meet the requirements of the
National Agency for Food and drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and
Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP),” Odumodu pointed out.
Assuring the shareholders of the company
of an improved performance every year, the May & Baker chief said it
is taking steps to build a new class of human capital through training,
re-orientation and motivational schemes. The underlying factors to the
company’s new orientation, he stressed, are people, performance,
productivity and profits. “We are working closely on our people to raise
individual capacity, which will synergise with others for overall better
performance,” Odumodu said.
Following its impressive results, May
& Baker’s board of directors will be proposing a total dividend
payout of N54.3 million or 30 kobo for every ordinary share, to be
approved at its annual general meeting to be held on Wednesday in Lagos.
“We have not only shown consistence in our ability to deliver value to
all stakeholders but also been able to increase net-worth for our
shareholders,” Odumodu said.
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