Bennett Oghifo

Julius Berger Plc., said it paid N5.2billion to its shareholders amounting to N3.25 per 50 kobo ordinary share.

This is as the shareholders, at the 55th Annual General Meeting, held at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja, expressed excitement at the assumption of duty of the Board Chairman, Engr. Goni Sheikh and the Managing Director of Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, Engr. Dr, Peer Lubasch, both of whom presided over their first AGM of the company since their appointments into their respective new offices.

The Managing Director said since he assumed office months ago, the company is successfully navigating the headwinds of challenges in its line of duty.

Lubasch said the broader socio-economic environment continues to present significant challenges shaped by a range of persistent and compounding pressures like currency devaluation, ongoing foreign exchange scarcity, escalating construction costs, surging inflation, increased fuel prices, high lending rates, global market uncertainties and domestic security concerns.

Stressing that the foregoing factors combined to create a tough and unpredictable business landscape, especially for the construction sector and Nigeria in particular, he added that in line with the company’s mission statement, “we continue to transform these challenges into tangible opportunities.

“As a company, we have continued to demonstrate resilience, navigating headwinds by adapting with an eye towards efficiency and sustainable growth.”

Lubasch added the company achieved record-high revenue, expanded its asset base and maintained stability across both new and ongoing projects within the reporting year.

He said the success of the company in the year under review stemmed from the well-established and forward-looking strategy which integrates core business strengths, the collaboration and contributions of the growing group of subsidiaries alongside a deliberate diversification policy which has largely defined the success story of the company.

On diversification, Lubasch said: “We are already taking significant steps forward with our regional diversification strategy, with two contracts in the Republic of Benin, and assured the excited shareholders of greater success “even in these hard times,” which he attributed to, “the well-disciplined execution of our strategy, our agile leadership, the dedication of our teams and the power of our fundamental values of excellence, responsibility, courage and collaboration.”

The Managing Director assured the company’s leadership remains poised to building a future defined by excellence, saying, “while the future holds many unknowns, we remain certain that no matter the challenge, Julius Berger will continue to be defined by the excellence and innovation and to operate in a sustainable manner that aligns with our ethos and values in line with global standards.”

The shareholders overwhelmingly passed all the resolutions of the Board such as, shareholders’ dividends, new Executive Directors, new non-Executive Director, re-election of some directors and the appointment of Goni as a Director of the company.

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