…As shareholders get N2.4bn dividend
Paterson Zochonis Cussons, popularly known as PZ Cussons, has declared a total dividend of N2.4 billion and 61 kobo per share from a profit after tax of N5,082,747.
Making the declaration in Abuja, its Chairman, Prof. Emmanuel Edozien, said the 61 kobo per share is beside the interim dividend of 20 kobo per share that was paid to shareholders last February.
The chairman said the company made the profit despite the company’s poor showing in the North East following the insecurity challenge in the area. He noted that PZ Cussons was able to break even because other products of the company are doing well in other parts of the country. However, he explained that the workers who are still in the war-prone area are being taken care of.
The product, which, he said, performed well in the market within the period under review was the personal care brand.
“The personal care business was driven by personal wash, beauty, medicaments and mother and baby categories. We maintained our leadership position in the toilet soap segment with Premier, Joy and Imperial Leather. Our Premier range, especially Cool Deo, is growing rapidly and it is driving our market leadership. The Robb range also remained the market leader of the medicaments segment with the Hot Robb variant accelerating our growth in the hot ointment segment. Our range extension into gift packs with Cussons Baby is driving growth and leading our challenge for leadership of the baby category. Cussons Baby soap remains the market leader in the baby soap segment,” he said.
Edozien was optimistic that the company would meet its target as it continues to invest in strengthening the supply chain and improving the operational efficiency and consumer experience while minimising the cost base.
“The detergent and soap manufacturing processes have been further improved to drive efficiencies and meet the increasing demands for these products. These initiatives plus other investments to optimise the supply chain and overall overheads will ensure a flexible and competitive cost structure for the company going forward,” the chairman told the shareholders.
Source : SunOnline