Nigeria’s oldest surviving company and largest conglomerate, UAC of Nigeria (UACN) Plc is willing to acquire more companies as part of organic and inorganic growth strategies aimed at accelerating the growth of the widely diversified group.
Group Managing Director, UAC of Nigeria (UACN) Fola Aiyesimoju said the conglomerate will explore acquisitions to hasten its growth and deliver better long-term returns to shareholders.
Speaking against the background of the release of the audited report and accounts of the group for the year ended December 31, 2020, Aiyesimoju said UACN was still interested in strategic acquisitions in line with the growth objectives of the group.
“Going forward, our focus remains on creating shareholder value and we continue to prioritise growth, scale, and simplicity to achieve this. We will explore acquisitions as an avenue to accelerate growth,” Aiyesimoju said.
Meanwhile, the board of directors of UACN has approved the distribution of N7.1 billion in capital returns to shareholders as the conglomerate’s bottom-line recovered to net profit.
The N7.1 billion capital returns include total cash dividend of N3.5 billion and distribution of unbundled shares of UPDC Real Estate Investment Trust (UPDC REIT) valued at N3.6 billion. Shareholders will receive ordinary cash dividend of 65 kobo per share and a special dividend of 55 kobo per share, bringing total cash dividend for the 2020 business year to N1.20 per share.
The stock market appeared excited with the dividend yield of about 13.8 per cent as increased demand for shares of the conglomerate placed it within the top highest gainers at the weekend, with a capital gain equivalent to the dividend yield.
Aiyesimoju reiterated that UACN remains committed to its objective of generating attractive long-term, risk-adjusted returns for its shareholders.
He noted that while over the last 12 months, the country and the larger world have faced a recession, civil unrest, and significant changes to the ways of life due to the COVID-19 pandemic, UACN has continued to execute its key priorities as shown by implementation of initiatives relating to its erstwhile real estate subsidiary, UACN Property Development Company (UPDC).
He added that the group has further strengthened its management while strategic initiatives taken led to the return of the group to profitability.
According to him, as part of the partial exit from UPDC, the group received N6.6 billion net cash proceeds and 649 million UPDC REIT units valued at N3.6 billion.“I am excited that we are unlocking value for our shareholders via a special […]
