Shareholders of TotalEnergies Marketing Nigeria Plc have approved the proposed final dividend of N8.49 billion, amounting to N25.00 per share, for the financial year ended December 31, 2023.
They gave the approval at the company's 46th Annual General Meeting, AGM, in Lagos and commended the Board and management for its consistency in dividend payout.
Addressing shareholders at the meeting, Jean-Phillipe Torres, Chairman, TotalEnergies Marketing Nigeria, noted that despite the challenging operating environment in the year, TotalEnergies remained consistent in delivering return on investments to shareholders.
"2023 was a very specially difficult and challenging year but we are paying a dividend of N25. The company places a high premium on its esteemed and valued shareholders and therefore ensures good returns on their investments each year.
"We also keep in mind that to continue to offer these returns, the business has to remain profitable," Torres said.
According to him, the effects of the country's security challenge, the naira redesign policy, removal of fuel subsidies, Naira floatation and inflation, among other economic policies, affected companies' overall operations and turnover.
He, however, stated that despite the myriad of challenges, the company posted good results with its turnover increasing by 32 percent to N635.95 billion in 2023 from N482.47 billion in 2022.
He revealed that in 2023, TotalEnergies like other marketers did not import PMS within the year due to the unavailability of foreign exchange, while explaining that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, maintained the role of sole importer of PMS, while TotalEnergies and other marketers purchased PMS and AGO from NNPC.
"During the year, there were several outages of PMS, which slowed activities in our stations across the country. AGO and Jet A1 remain fully deregulated but access to foreign exchange by marketers continues to be a challenge, inhibiting imports.
While noting that the frequent fluctuations in the official exchange rate negatively impacted lubricant margins, he said that TotalEnergies continued to grow its lubricants' market share as it rose to 16 percent.
He added that the company has a positively eventful year in its lubricant business with the launch of several products designed for hybrid vehicles and to improve fuel consumption and engine life."
