Nigerian telecom and oil billionaire Mike Adenuga received N1.29 billion ($3.1 million) in dividends from his stake in Conoil Plc, a Lagos-based petroleum marketing company, on Fri., Oct. 28.
Adenuga, the founder of Globacom Limited, Nigeria’s second-largest telecom services provider, owns 74.4 percent of Conoil through one of his companies, Conpetro Limited.
The petroleum marketing company, which manufactures and sells lubricants under the “Quarto” brand, as well as gasoline, kerosene, diesel, aviation fuel, and low-pour fuel, has seen its stock rise by more than 19 percent since the year began.
The $3.1-million dividend, which was paid electronically into Adenuga’s bank account on Friday, was drawn from the group’s retained earnings of N17.62 billion ($42.4 million) as part of the cash distribution approved by the board of directors.
The dividend payment, which is a 66.7-percent increase over the $1.86-million dividend that he received in 2020, was made possible by the petroleum marketing company’s strong financial performance in 2021.
At the end of 2021, Conoil posted a 114-percent increase in its profit from N1.44 billion ($3.46 million) in 2020 to N3.08 billion ($7.41 million) thanks to a combination of cost-cutting tactics used by management.
The triple-digit percent increase in earnings was supported by a 7.9-percent increase in revenue from N117.47 billion ($282.6 million) in 2020 to N126.73 billion ($304.9 million), as the oil marketing firm was able to capitalize on the year’s increase in petroleum product demand.
The board of directors approved a dividend to shareholders of N2.5 ($0.00601) per share as a result of the strong performance, an increase from the N1.5 ($0.00361) dividend paid last year.
Aside from the $3.1-million dividend from the group, the market value of Adenuga’s stake in Conoil has risen by more than $5 million thanks to a 19.1-percent increase in the company’s share price on the Nigerian Exchange.
