The Chief Executive officer of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp), Mr. Obinna Ufudo, yesterday disclosed that the company was targeting a profit before tax of N30 billion.
Ufudo stated this while responding to questions by the shareholders at the 8th Annual General Meeting of company held in Lagos. Transcorp recorded a profit before tax of N9 billion for 2013 and recommended dividend of about N5 billion for the first time since its existence.
The CEO said though the N30 billion profit target which was set by the board is ambitious, he assured shareholders that the management would deliver, saying the the company is now in the phase two of its turnaround.
“The first phase was essentially to grow our business lines. As you know, in our first two years, what we tried to do is stabilise the enterprise. We made investment in power plant and others. Our vision is for Transcorp is to be leading Nigerian conglomerate in key sectors that can contribute to growth of the economy. We have chosen those sectors to be hospitality, energy and agriculture,” he said.
Ufudo said in the power business, the company will focus on concluding the rehabilitation of a number of identified turbines in toe to improve generating output at Ughelli plat to 700 megawatts.
“Our oil and gas business will witness a speedy take-off as we expect to finalise negotiations of the production sharing contract of OPL281 with the Department of Petroleum Resources. We will embark on aggressive drilling camping for commercial production before the end of 2014,” he said.
In the area of hospitality business, he said, construction of Transcorp Hilton, Ikoyi, will commence this month (April).
In his address, Chairman of Transcorp, Mr. Tony Elumelu, said the past year was outstanding. “We have launched new businesses and projects and have expanded existing ones. The fruits of our efforts have become visible and are rightly being acknowledged by different stakeholders including the investing public,” he said.
According to him, the company looks forward to 2014 with a high degree of confidence, adding “As Nigeria’s only vehicle for mass participation in key growth sectors, we feel a special responsibility in what we do and how we do it. We look forward to continuing to reward our stakeholders,” Elumelu declared.
