Foods and Agro Allied company, Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, grew its profit by 5.32 per cent to N29.504bn at the end of the financial period, March 2023, from N 28,015bn recorded in the same period in 2022.
In its Annual Report which was filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited on Tuesday, the organisation also recorded a 32 per cent growth in its revenue from N1.163tn to N1.539tn.
Also, in its unaudited financial results for the three months ended 30 June 2023, FMN suffered a loss of N9.337bn. The company had recorded a gain of N5.812bn in 2022.
In accompanying notes, FMN Plc said its operating profit dropped significantly due to foreign exchange loss of N22.5bn in the last quarter leading to loss before tax of N9.3bn.
“Without the devaluation of the exchange rate, the operating profit would have increased by 52 per cent. Management remains optimistic that with the current government monetary policies at stabilising the forex market, and management continues effort in sales and marketing activities geared towards boosting our top line while keeping cost under control, we expect to see significant improvement in profit generation in the coming period,” the report said.
The board of the company proposed a total dividend of N9.225bn be paid to shareholders. This is five per cent higher than N8.815bn paid at the end of March 2022 representing a dividend of N2.25 (2022: N2.15) per ordinary share of 50 kobo each.
Within the period under review, the company’s assets grew by 64.47 per cent to N1.097tn compared to N667bn in 2022 while total liabilities surged by 85.13 per cent to N872.171bn from N471.107bn.
On 12 May 2022, FMN acquired 77.75 per cent of the voting rights of Honeywell Flour Mills Plc. The company said that the transaction was entered into as part of “FMN Group’s global growth strategy, to create a stronger and more resilient national champion for Nigeria and further enhance food security. The transaction combined the strategic talents that are unique to each company, enhance customer’s access to a wider range of innovative products and enable FMN expand its group operations.”
The company was incorporated in Nigeria on 29 September 1960 as a private limited liability company and converted to a public liability company in November, 1978. A company registered in Liberia, Excelsior Shipping Company Limited, is the ultimate holding company with 2,597,314,890 units of shares held representing 63 per cent stake.
The Group is primarily engaged in flour milling; production of pasta, noodles, edible oil and refined sugar; production of livestock feeds; farming and other agro-allied activities; distribution and sale of fertilizer; manufacturing and marketing of laminated woven polypropylene sacks and flexible packaging materials; operation of Terminals A and B at the Apapa Port; customs clearing, development of real estate properties for rental purposes, forwarding and shipping agents and logistics.
