By Dipo Olowookere
Shareholders of an information and communications technology (ICT) company, Chams Plc, have been assured of enhanced returns through the delivery of strong and sustainable performance.
This assurance was given by the board of the firm at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held last week in Lagos.
Chairman of Chams Plc, Mrs Dere Awosika, while speaking at the gathering, said the firm was planning to consolidate on the progress made in the previous years to achieve this goal.
According to her, the company was well positioned to enhance shareholders’ value with the successful restructuring of its finances, which laid a solid foundation for performance and competitiveness.
She informed the shareholders that on the strength of the new outlook, there were more opportunities for effective and efficient implementation of the company’s growth strategy.
“We plan to consolidate on the progress made in the previous years to deliver a strong and sustainable performance that enhances returns to our shareholders.
“We are marching forward in the year with confidence and optimism, knowing fully that our businesses have been strategically positioned to take advantage of key opportunities as we stay on course in the execution of our growth strategy,” the Chairman said at the AGM.
Mrs Awosika further stated that the company would continue to leverage on the restructuring of its balance sheet to expand income stream, boost performance indicators and sustain competitive edge.
On his part, Group Managing Director of Chams Plc, Mr Femi Williams, stated that the improved performance in the 2018 financial year against the losses recorded in the 2017 fiscal year reflected the success of the company’s restructuring programme.
Mr Williams informed the shareholders present at the meeting that in the present financial year, the ICT entity would mainly focus on increasing its volume of business and then significantly improve the expense ratio so as to secure the company’s competitiveness in the market.
During the meeting, the board presented its proposal for the payment of N140 million divided to shareholders, amounting to 3 kobo per share. This was eventually approved at the event.
It was the first dividend payment by the firm in years and shareholders expressed their satisfaction with it.
In the year under review, Chams declared a profit after tax of N385 million for the year ended December 31, 2018 in contrast to the over N1 billion loss declared in 2017, while the revenue grew to N3.01 billion in 2018 compared with N1.95 billion recorded in 2017.
Adedapo Adesanya 
Modupe Gbadeyanka