By Dipo Olowookere
The board of Red Star Express Plc has recommended the payment of N324 million to shareholders of the company as a dividend for the financial year ended March 31, 2020.
The cash reward, amounting to 35 kobo per unit, would be paid to those whose names appear in the register of members as at the close of business on September 18, 2020, a disclosure from the organisation stated.
Thereafter, the register of shareholders will be closed from September 21 to 25, 2020, it added, noting that on October 15, 2020, the dividends will be paid electronically to the beneficiaries, especially those who have completed the e-dividend registration and have mandated the registrar, United Securities Limited, to pay their dividends directly into their bank accounts.
Shareholders who are yet to complete the e-dividend mandate form have been advised to download the form from the registrar’s website and should be completed and submitted to the registrar or their respective banks for processing.
On October 8, 2020, Red Star Express said it will have its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Ikeja, Lagos at 11am. At the gathering, the proposed dividend payment will be presented to shareholders for approval.
Meanwhile, Red Star Express has released its financial statement for the year ended March 31, 2020, and from the analysis by Business Post, the company recorded a slight growth across the key performance indices.
For instance, the revenue generated by the firm increased in the accounting year to N10.6 billion from N10.1 billion recorded a year ago and this was mainly from its core business operations, courier services, which contributed N6.3 billion to the total turnover in contrast to N5.9 billion contributed in 2019.
However, the contribution of its mail management services to the total group’s revenue in the period under review dropped to N1.1 billion from N1.4 billion 12 months earlier and the reduction was patched up by the contribution of its freight services, which accounted for N1.3 billion versus N872.1 million in 2019.
It was observed that the contribution of logistics to the turnover in 2020 slightly reduced to N1.5 billion from N1.6 billion, while support services contributed N440.4 million to the turnover, higher than the N286.3 million in the prior fiscal year.
In the year under consideration, the cost of sales rose to N7.9 billion from N7.3 billion, while the gross profit reduced to N2.7 billion from N2.8 billion a year earlier, with administrative costs marginally rising to N2.2 billion from N2.1 billion due to increase in amortisation of intangible assets, bank charges, exchange loss, hotel accommodation and entertainment, power and water, printing and stationery, publicity and promotion, repairs and maintenance, write off of property, plant and equipment as well as security expenses.
According to the results released to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Friday, Red Star Express said it had an other operating income of N272.2 million in 2020 compared with N119.4 million in 2019, while its total operating profit stood at N792.8 million as at March 31, 2020, as against N764.6 million as at March 31, 2019.
The finance income, according to the financial document, improved to N17.8 million from N12.8 million, while the finance cost jumped to N60.5 million from N33.9 million because of the rise in the interest on lease and short term loan.
Business Post reports that the pre-tax profit for the period was N750.1 million, higher than the N743.5 million of the prior year, while the post-tax profit increased to N469.0 million from N466.3 million in 2019. However, the earnings per share (EPS) reduced to 70 kobo in the period under consideration as against 76 kobo of the comparative year, 2019.
Adedapo Adesanya 
Modupe Gbadeyanka