Chairman, Board of Directors of the Cutix Plc, Nnewi, Anambra State, Ambassador Okwudili Nwosu has described the high exchange rate in the country as very challenging and an obstacle to steady industrial growth in Nigeria.
Nwosu who spoke during the company’s 38th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Nnewi at the weekend, however, said as the microeconomic environment keep changing, his company had to adapt and change very rapidly too to increase the local content value of its products, adding that he had made Cutix remain competitive.
According to him, the company remained committed to sustaining the increasing value of the company’s assets by productivity improvements. He noted that this had led to higher profitability and better returns on equity to the shareholders.
He explained that the company had kept to its charter as set by the founder, Engineer Dr Ajulu UZodike and other early shareholders of the company.
“We have rigidly kept to all the guiding principles and have tried to live up to them. That is responsible for our good performance. We hope it will continue in future.
“One of the challenges is the high exchange rate and it is our expectation that government should find a way to subsidize the local manufacturers so that the costs of their products will be reduced. Part of the measures should be tax reduction, building infrastructure and giving grants. These are the ways they can help us, ” he said.
On quality assurance, the Chairman assured that the quality of Cutix products would never be compromised. He said that the company insisted on exclusive quality despite the odds.
He projected that in the next ten years, the company would grow about four times as fast as it had grown for the last ten years.
He announced that Cutix in the 2021 financial year had realized a turnover of over N6.7 billion and a profit before tax of over N899 million which represented growths of about 34 per cent and 54 per cent, respectively despite the difficult business environment.
The Board was pleased to recommend a dividend of 15k per share which represented a 20 per cent increase in the amount paid last year. He also said that the Board was proposing a bonus issue of one ordinary share for every ordinary share held to all existing shareholders, he noted.
The Chairman told the meeting held virtually at the Nnewi headquarters of the company that the Cutix had not relented in its social responsibilities. Some of the things done within the year in review, according to him, were financial support to approved vigilance groups, educational institutions, motherless babies homes and community projects.
He said others were spread across churches, scholarships, water and electricity supply from the factory facilities.
The company’s Chief Executive Officer, Mrs Ijeoma Oduonye in an interview said that the secret of the company’s growth could be attributed to being focused and determined.
She said that had enabled the company to meet up with its targets in terms of revenue and profits projections.
She, however, lamented the incessant molestation of touts to drivers on the highway. She said that the activities of touts who she said extorted so much money from drivers that delivered materials to the company had continued to be a source of concern to the company’s operations. She appealed to the government to look into that without further delay.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors, Nwosu was reelected for another tenure. Prince Orizu Charles Obianaefo was also elected as one of the Directors, among others.
The company’s Secretary, Mrs Chinwendu Nwokporo had earlier declared that the meeting was by proxy.
Source: independen
