Minority shareholders of Malawi Stock Exchange (MSE)- listed Nico Holdings Limited have expressed excitement over a K6.3 billion dividend for the year ended December 31 2022 which the company declared yesterday.
This represents an 85 percent jump in earnings for the shareholders when compared to the K3.4 billion dividend the company declared in 2021.
The announcement was made during the company’s annual general meeting the company held in Blantyre on Wednesday, where it announced a K37.6 billion profit for 2022.
Nico Holdings Limited Chairperson Gaffar Hassam said the group will continue to leverage on technological innovations and amalgamation of its subsidiaries under the one Nico theme to ensure stability and growth.
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“We have had a very good year on the back of a challenging year globally and with the war in Ukraine, inflation soaring across the globe but also here in Malawi we had sad experiences of the cyclone. Testament to a good year we have registered a 105 percent jump in profit.
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“Our strategy is to be diversified across various industries and they have all performed very well and for us it is because of the One Nico campaign where we are saying although we have different companies, we are one and collectively our strengths make us even stronger and pay a particular attention to the customer needs,” Hassam said.
Minority Shareholders Association of Listed Companies General Secretary Frank Harawa said the trend has also seen its share price jump by 100 percent recently.
“The company’s share price has been hovering around K50 to K60 per share for a long time but now it is trading above K160 per share.
“We are excited about it and we have made a lot of money. Apart from the capital gains, the dividend pay-out is good and all minority shareholders are happy with the performance,” he said.
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Harawa said the company has released a trading statement which is, again, very encouraging.
Meanwhile, Harawa said the association remained dismayed at continued re-appointment of directors beyond the age of 70 which they claim is prohibited by the law.
But Hassam said the matter was arising based on misunderstanding of the law.
