Lagos — First indigenous computer company to be quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Omatek, has declared its intention to pay N174 million dividend to shareholders of the company for the year ended June 31, 2008.

Speaking at its first "Facts Behind the Figures," since the company was listed in June 2008, Managing Director, Mrs. Florence Seriki, disclosed that the company would be announcing the payment of its first dividend payment to shareholders at its financial Annual General Meeting, coming up soon.She said the company made a turnover of almost N2 billion and N356 million profits after tax in the same period.

According to Seriki, "The company has continued to make steady strides, having entrenched its footprints on the sands of time. In the course of the year, Omatek has made in-roads to other diversified business interests. Omatek is known for its introduction of innovative products/solutions and should be commended for the way it has continued to manage growth over the years.

She said that apart from laptops, desktops and home entertainment products, the company has also diversified into power products(24-hour Solar Power Inverter hybrid solutions) and has also introduced its e-learning initiative, launched in Abuja this year by the Minister of Education, Dr. Sam Egwu, to provide a platform to ensure that information and communication technology tools are deployed to schools under a carefully structured learning environment.

Meanwhile, activities on the NSE continued on a sloppy side as market capitalisation of listed equities dropped by N45 billion to close at N5.072 trillion from N5.117 trillion, representing 0.9 per cent decrease.

The all share index dropped by the same margin to close at 21,322.66 points from Monday's 21,508.59 points.Glaxosmithkline and UAC-Prop led the pack by N1 to close at N22.50k and N19.17k per share respectively, followed by Nigerian Breweries with 99k loss to close at N53 per share. G Cappa went down by 80k to close at N28, while United Bank for Africa (UBA), that was the least on top five losers' table, shed 76k to close at N14.46k per share.

On the other hand, Benue Cement Company (BCC), led the gainers' pack by 50k to close at N42.50k per share, followed by DangFlour with 32k increase to close at N6.82k per share. Dang Sugar garnered 30k to close at N14.65k; RT Briscoe appreciated 28k to close at N6.3k, while Costain that was the least on top five gainers' chart chalked up by 18k to close at N3.88k per share.

The banking sub-sector dominated activity on the sectoral chart, trading 208.4 million shares worth N1.8 billion, exchanged by investors in 3,293 deals. The insurance sub-sector ranked second, with traded volume of 48.8 million shares valued at N40.7 million in 524 deals.On the whole, a total turnover of 422.7 million shares worth N2.9 billion was recorded in 6,305 deals.