Tony Elumelu’s Transcorp delivers big returns: Shareholders to receive $4.41-million dividend payout

Feyisayo Ajayi -

Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (Transcorp), a publicly traded diversified conglomerate led by Nigerian businessman Tony Elumelu, recorded a double-digit decline in earnings at the end of the 2022 fiscal year.

Despite the decline in its earnings, the board of directors approved a dividend payment of N2.03 billion ($4.41 million) for the year, up from last year’s N813 million ($1.76 million), resulting in a dividend payout of N0.05 ($0.000108) per share on the group’s outstanding ordinary shares of 40,647,990,293 shares for the year ended Dec. 31, 2022.

The group’s profit for the 2022 fiscal year declined by 29.3 percent from N23.83 billion ($51.7 million) in the 2021 fiscal year to N16.84 billion ($36.6 million), despite a rise in revenue from N111.22 billion ($242 million) to N134.72 billion ($292.6 million).

The decline in profit can be attributed to a surge in direct costs, higher administrative expenses, and an increase in finance costs, which exceeded N16.5 billion ($35.8 million) during the same period.

The group’s earnings were significantly impacted not only by a surge in operating expenses, but also by an increase in impairment loss on financial assets, which rose from N182.8 million ($397,100) to N672.98 million ($1.46 million) during the year.

Transcorp is a leading conglomerate focused on acquiring and managing strategic businesses that create long-term value for shareholders while delivering a positive socio-economic impact to the country.

Elumelu, the chairman of Heirs Holdings, the United Bank for Africa, and Transcorp, as well as the founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, holds a total of 840,632,956 ordinary shares in Transcorp, including both direct and indirect stakes.

Under Elumelu’s leadership, Transcorp Energy Limited, the group’s energy subsidiary, is in the process of building Nigeria’s first nuclear power plants to strengthen the group’s integrated energy strategy while providing an alternative energy source to improve access to electricity.