The board of directors of Geregu Power Plc’s proposed N20bn dividend has been approved by shareholders.
The approval was given at the last annual general meeting of the firm, which was held in Lagos on Thursday.
The chairman of the energy firm, Femi Otedola, informed the gathering that the company’s chief financial officer had told him that the dividend had been paid.
Otedola, who holds 1,245 units directly and 1,965.979,283 indirectly through Amperion Power Distribution Limited, raked in about N15.28bn in dividends.
The Chairman of the Trusted Shareholders’ Association, Mukhtar Mukhtar, hailed Otedola as one who had brought benefits to minority shareholders in the Nigerian capital market.
He stated, “They know that anywhere that they see your hand, there will be value, benefits and good things to come. Mr chairman, you told us years ago that you were going to list Geregu on the stock exchange and you fulfilled it. Look at the tremendous value you have brought to shareholders. Because of that, other companies have now decided that they want to follow.”
Mukhtar also expressed appreciation for the dividends being paid to shareholders as well as the capital appreciation recorded in the shares of the company.
Geregu shares were priced at N1,000 per unit at the close of Thursday’s trading with a market capitalisation worth N2.5tn.
Addressing some concerns raised by shareholders on the power sector at the meeting, the Chief Executive Officer of Geregu Power, Akin Akinfemiwa, said, “With respect to power infrastructure and improvement in power supply, I will make reference to the efforts of the Presidential Power Initiative, which is being executed through the FGN Power Company. The immediate aim of these entities is to ramp up power infrastructure in terms of transmission and distribution to about 8,000 to 9,000 megawatts.
“Today, I’m sure that you are aware that generation in terms of capacity is in excess of grid constraints that we have. However, once this is being ramped up, we believe that before the end of the year, there will be adequate power supply and improvement in the overall infrastructure.”
He noted that the firm was being cautious about the West African Power Pool, which is a cooperation of the national electricity companies in Western Africa under the auspices of the Economic Community of West African States.
Akinfemiwa asserted, “In terms of the West African Power Pool, it is highly beneficial to us because it affords us the opportunity to earn in USD. However, we also need to consider that most of the nations in the West African territory are also having their own economic challenges.
“One of the things that we are doing at Geregu is to ensure that we evaluate our risks in terms of receivables so that we do not get into contracts where we do not get paid at the end of the day. We are looking at the market pool; we are participants but we are managing our risks carefully.”
He added that the dilapidated gas infrastructure, which was being worked on by the NNPCL and the Nigerian gas infrastructure company, posed a challenge to power generation.
“I also need to tell you that the Federal Government has established the midstream gas infrastructure fund, which is expected to facilitate the development of gas for power and industries in Nigeria. We believe all these initiatives will improve the gas supply that is required for generation,” he assured the shareholders.
The firm’s Deputy Chief Executive, Julius Omodayo-Owotuga, added that the firm was looking to diversify its customer base.
“We are diversifying our customer base. As against selling everything to NBET in which case we continue to have huge receivables, we are looking at all the laws and considering the options of having bilateral transactions with companies that are consuming anything greater than one megawatt in line with the extant laws,” he remarked.
He reassured shareholders of a positive outing in the first quarter of the year.
“The Q1 numbers are looking good. We have improved generation; we have improved turnover earnings, and earnings per share would be materially better than what it was in 2023. Improved cash flow and we expect to release the accounts to the exchange on April 10 after the approval of the board,” Omodayo-Owotuga enthused.
SOURCE: PUNCHNG
