Shareholders Laud IMG Over 40kobo Dividend

Shareholders of Industrial and Medical Gases Nigeria (IMG) Plc, have extolled the board and management of the company over exemplary performance and delivery of brand promise, despite the inclement operating environment.

The profit before tax of the manufacturer of industrial and medical gases grew by 27.56 percent to N704 million in December 2022, as against N552 million in the corresponding period in 2021 while its earnings per share stood at 90 kobo, compared to 89 kobo in the previous year. The net profit shoot up by 20.52 percent to N448 million from N372 million in 2021.

As a demonstration of its consistency in delivering on shareholder value, the board rewarded the shareholders with a cash dividend of N208.122 million for 2022 financial year, which translates to 40 kobo per share.

Speaking on the company’s performance at its 64th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Lagos, the president, Noble Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Mathew Akinlade, commended the board, management and staff of IMG for an outstanding performance despite the issues of inflation, forex scarcity, insecurities and other challenges that impacted business in the review period.

The acting chairman of IMG, Mr. Aminu Ado, assured the shareholders that the company would embark on revenue generating capital expenditure to boost its earnings in 2023.

“The year 2022 was challenging but successful year for us. Our superior performance was made possible by the collective efforts of all our stakeholders. 

In the year 2023, your board will continue to support management’s drive on aggressive marketing of its products, improvement service delivery, reduction of overheads, developing new markets and introduction of new and innovative products. 

“These activities, we believe will back-up management’s drive to sustain and improve shareholder value in 2023,” Ado assured. 

The managing director and chief executive officer of IMG, Mr. Ayodeji Oseni, explained that, some of the key drivers of the impressive performance were implementation of strategic business and other initiatives.

“We place a high premium on strategic business development initiatives and we are a customer-focused organisation. Our operations are based on integrated marketing and selling solutions in the marketplace. The adoption of a deliberate cost reduction policy and focused improvements in our processes is to ensure that plant capacity utilisation play a major role in our performance. 

“We value our staff and constantly empower them in addition to ensuring continuous improvement in our internal efficiencies across the business,” said Oseni.

The company had, in 2021, rebranded (from BOC Gases Nig. Plc) to her new name and brand, Industrial & Medical Gases Nigeria Plc and developed a blueprint to strengthen its global competitiveness on a sustainable basis, irrespective of the nature of the operating environment.