United Capital to Pay 50 Kobo Dividend, Declares N5bn Profit

By Dipo Olowookere

On Tuesday, United Capital Plc released its financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2019, declaring a post-tax profit of N5.0 billion compared with the N4.3 billion announced in the same period of 2018.

In the results checked by Business Post, the firm also posted a pre-tax profit of N5.0 billion in contrast to the N6.2 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2018. In the fiscal year under review, United Capital enjoyed a tax credit of N23.7 million compared with the N1.9 billion tax it paid to the government in the 2018 full year.

A look at the top-line of the results showed that gross earnings reduced to N8.6 billion from N9.3 billion, with investment income going down to N5.0 billion from N5.2 billion, while fee and commission income slightly moved to N2.0 billion from N1.9 billion, just as net trading income dropped to N78.7 million from N126.5 million.

For the operating income, this marginally went down to N7.1 billion from N7.2 billion, while other income fell to N1.6 billion from N2.0 billion, while there was a net loss on financial assets of N10.8 million compared with a net gain of N6.2 million.

United Capital said it spent N1.6 billion on personnel expenses, the same amount expended in the same period of 2018, while other operating expensing gulped N1.8 billion compared with N1.6 billion used in the 2018 financial year, with total expenses rising to N3.6 billion from N3.0 billion.

The earnings per share (EPS) of United Capital grew to 83 kobo from 72 kobo, while the board proposed a payment of dividend of 50 kobo (vs 30 kobo in FY 2018) to its shareholders for the fiscal year, amounting to N3 billion.

In a notice to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) today, the firm said this cash reward would be paid subject to appropriate withholding tax and approval at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) fixed for Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja on Tuesday, March 24, 2020 at 10am.

It said the payment would be made to shareholders whose names appear in the register of members as at the close of business on March 6, 2020, while the register would be closed from March 9 to 13, 2020 (both dates inclusive).

According to the disclosure, on March 6, 2020, dividends will be paid electronically to beneficiaries, especially those who have completed the e-dividend registration and mandated the registrar, Africa Prudential, to pay their cash reward directly into their bank accounts.

The company therefore, asked shareholders who are yet to complete the e-dividend registration to download the E-Dividend Mandate Activation Form, complete and submit to the registrar and their respective banks.