Shareholders of Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc (nacho aviance), a company listed on The Nigerian Exchange with ticker symbol NAHCO, has approved the payment of N203.027 million as dividend for the 2020 financial year ended 31 December 2020.
The approval was given at the 40th Annual General Meeting of the company held on 30 July, 2021 at 11:00am at Providence Hotel, Mantis Oba Akinjobi Crescent Ikeja GRA Lagos.
The details of the resolutions passed at the AGM was published by NAHCO on the Nigerian Exchange in a corporate action dated 3rd August, 2021.
The N203.027 million will amount to a dividend of 12.5 kobo per ordinary share payable in respect of the year ended 31st December 2020 to all shareholders registered in the Company’s books as at 13th day of July 2021. The dividend was paid on 30th July, 2021.
It is estimated that ground handing companies in Nigeria lost at least N7 billion to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, thereby limiting their performances.
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NAHCO reported a profit of N302.13 million for the 2020 financial year, significantly lower than the N717.19 million reported as profit for the preceding year.
Just as the profit halved in the year 2020, so did the company reduce the dividend paid to shareholders by similar margin from 30 kobo to 12.5 kobo.
Dr. Seinde Fadeni, the Chairman of the Group said at the meeting that the company would continue to be the leading ground handling companies in Africa in terms of market share, client base, revenue and profitability.
He regretted that the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, which crippled activities in the last financial year affected its performance and approval of higher divided to its shareholders, but expressed optimism that the company would return to the verge of high profit in the 2021 financial year.
He stated that the company closely monitored the global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the aviation industry, stressing that before the pandemic hit in 2020, aviation contributed an estimated $1.7 billion (about N646 billion) to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and supported 241,000 jobs.
Fadeni decried that the ground handlers in Nigeria lost about N7 billion to the pandemic in 2020, which resulted in the below performance of handling companies in the country.
He added: “We lost half of the year to the pandemic, as during the initial
lockdown, the airspace was shut and limited to emergency cargo and evacuation flights.
“Still in 2020, the Nigerian economy shrunk by 3 per cent while inflation rose from 11.4 per cent in 2019 to 12.4 per cent, leading the country into a recession. Also, the uncertainties towards the build-up to the United States election in quarter four and the unabating Covid-19 pandemic propelled drops in the world economy with far-reaching implications on Nigeria’s oil exports.”
About the company
Nigerian Aviation Handling Company PLC is a company domiciled in Nigeria with its registered office at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.
The Group is primarily involved in provision of services including aircraft handling, cargo handling, passenger handling, passenger profiling, crew transportation, energy and power distribution and leasing of ground handling equipment.
NAHCO has 1.624 billion outstanding shares and a market capitalization of N3.995 billion. At the end of trading on Tuesday, the share price of the company was N2.46.
The 52 week high price of the stock is N2.60, while the 52 week low is N1.90.
Nnamdi Maduakor is a Writer, Investor and Entrepreneur
