Nigerian billionaire TY Danjuma earns $500,000 dividend from pharma company

Mfonobong Nsehe -

Nigerian billionaire TY Danjuma and his family have received an N224 million ($480,000) dividend from their stake in May & Baker Plc (FBNH), one of Nigeria’s leading pharmaceutical companies.

Earlier in March, the company’s board of directors proposed a dividend payout of 30 kobo per share for the 2022 financial year ending Dec. 31, 2022, bringing the total dividend to N517.57 million.

Last Thursday, shareholders approved the dividend at the annual general meeting in Lagos.

Through his holding company, TY Holding, and a couple of other companies, TY Danjuma owns 746,841,302 shares which translates to a 43.28-percent stake in the company, making him the largest shareholder by a mile.

Danjuma is represented on the company’s board by his wife, Daisy Danjuma, who serves as the company’s chairman.

May & Baker Plc’s revenue rose by 20 percent to N14.3 billion ($30.6 million) in 2022 from N11.9 billion ($25.5 million) in 2021. The company’s gross profit dropped by 18 percent from N4.7 billion in 2021 to N3.9 billion in 2022.

May & Baker Nigeria is Nigeria’s oldest pharmaceutical company. It was founded on September 4, 1944.

It originates in England, the United Kingdom, where in 1834, three chemists founded Grimwade, May & Pickett, a firm for manufacturing chemicals for pharmaceutical products.

In 1839, Grimwade, May & Pickett transformed into May & Baker United Kingdom Limited following some changes in the ownership.

Through mergers and acquisitions, May & Baker UK Limited transformed into a mega European conglomerate.

Consequently, the company’s name has changed at different times, and today, only the Nigerian offshoot is known by its original name.

The company has been listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NGX) since November 10, 1994, and has a market capitalization of N 7.94 billion.

May & Baker is just one of the few publicly-traded stocks TY Danjuma and his family control in Nigeria.

Danjuma derives the bulk of his fortune in Nigerian oil giant South Atlantic Petroleum and owns stakes in fertilizer producer Notore Chemicals and Industrial and Medical Gases Nigeria Plc.