Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
The management of Julius Berger Nigeria Plc has said it has no intention to carry out any rights issue at the moment.
At an investor forum organised by the company in Lagos, the Managing Director, Mr Lars Richter, explained that the reason is mainly because of the rise in the construction firm’s shareholders equity to N35 billion.
According to Vanguard, Mr Richter, who was represented at the event by the Finance Director, Mr Martin Brack, described 2018 business year as very successful and pivotal year for the company.
“Julius Berger successfully overcame many of the tough challenges faced in the recent past and made marked progress across all aspects of its business, moving to greater profitability and success. We don’t think it is necessary to float a rights issue at this moment as our shareholders’ equity has risen by N35 billion.”
Commenting on the 2018 financial year performance, he said the company’s revenue increased by 37 percent to N194 billion from N141 billion in 2017. The profit before tax increased by 173 percent to N10.1 billion in 2018 from N3.7 billion in 2017, while profit after tax also rose to N6.1 billion in 2018 from N2.5 billion in 2017. This represents a 144 percent increase year on year and total comprehensive income increased by 47 percent.
Similarly, he told investors that the Company recorded significant progress in its first quarter results, saying it posted revenue of N35.32 billion for the period ended March 2018 compared with N34.15 billion reported for the period ended March 2017. This represents a 3 percent increase for the comparative period in 2017. The profit before tax was N2.21 billion for the period ended March 2018, compared to a N17.1 million loss before tax reported for the period ended March 2017.
The company’s profit after tax for the period ended March 2018 was N1.49 billion compared to a N426.9 million loss after tax reported March 2017.
It recorded earnings per share of N2:23k for the period ended March 2018 compared to 7 kobo loss per share reported for the period ended March 2017.
He also said that the record making progress Julius Berger has made at the second Niger Bridge Project site reflects the company’s continued commitment to a timely completion of the project.
