Nigerian billionaire businessman and telecom magnate Mike Adenuga is poised to receive a substantial windfall of N1.29 billion ($1.65 million) in dividends from his holdings in Conoil Plc, one of Nigeria’s foremost petroleum marketing companies.
His $1.65-million dividend, constituting the lion’s share of the total N1.73 billion ($2.2 million) final dividends approved by Conoil’s shareholders during the 53rd Annual General Meeting held on Sept. 22, 2023, in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, will be paid into Adenuga’s account on Sept. 29, 2023.
The remarkable dividend payout mirrors Conoil’s exceptional financial performance throughout its 2022 fiscal year. Furthermore, the company has demonstrated remarkable financial resilience recently, with first-quarter 2023 profits skyrocketing by a staggering 440 percent, surging from $1.21 million in the first quarter of 2022 to a staggering $6.5 million.
Led by the visionary Adenuga, Conoil has firmly established its dominance in Nigeria’s petroleum marketing arena. The company is celebrated for its proficiency in the sale of diesel, kerosene, aviation fuel, gasoline, and a range of lubricants marketed under the “Quarto” brand.
Adenuga, a distinguished telecom mogul and one of Africa’s wealthiest billionaires, owns a 74.4-percent majority stake in Conoil, or 516,298,603 shares, in the oil marketing enterprise. This reinforces his standing as a prominent player in Africa’s oil sector.
Despite confronting myriad challenges and a demanding operational landscape, Conoil’s pre-tax profits, under Adenuga’s leadership, have soared impressively by 60.1 percent to N6.13 billion ($7.84 million) in 2022, up from N3.83 billion ($4.9 million) in 2021.
Concurrently, post-tax profits witnessed an equally impressive 60 percent surge, rising from N3.08 billion ($3.94 million) to N4.96 billion ($6.35 million) during the same timeframe.
The petroleum-marketing subsector’s enhanced profitability has propelled Conoil’s earnings per share to N7.14 ($0.0091), representing a remarkable 60.8 percent increase compared to the N4.44 ($0.00568) earned in 2021.
This outstanding performance prompted the company’s board of directors to approve a final dividend of $2.2 million, translating to a total final dividend of N2.5 ($0.00319) per share.
