After nine years of dividend drought, UPDC Plc is set to resume dividend payments, a decision that underscores its gradual financial recovery and signals a shift towards greater profitability and shareholder engagement.
The Chief Executive Officer of UPDC Plc, Odunayo Ojo, disclosed this at a recent press briefing in Lagos.
He said, “For the first time in about nine years, UPDC is proposing to our shareholders, when we meet at our Annual General Meeting, the payment of dividends. This has to be approved at the AGM, and that also means that, beyond doing well, we also want to delight our investors, people who have stayed with us through thick and thin, all these years.
“We believe that it is time for them to begin to reap the fruits of their investment, and if you also look at our share price, you would see that there is a significant uplift over the last year. Paying a dividend is a huge obligation, and what we wanted to do before now was to make sure that we stabilised the business.
“We didn’t want to start something we couldn’t sustain, so the business became profitable in 2022. UPDC has been paying dividends in the past, and we paid every year, but then we got into our own challenging period and were unable to pay. So, what we tried to do is to retain a lot of our earnings to grow the business, even now that we are paying, it is more symbolic to let the market know that we have not forgotten our shareholders, and it is better now than ever.
“Hopefully, now that we have started, we will see growth even in dividend payment. One of the issues that UPDC had in the past was the financing cost. However, our financing cost has significantly increased, to the point that we are now having a positive income rather than a negative one.”
Speaking on UPDC’s novel project, Brompton City, located at Lekki Scheme II in Lagos, the Head of Property Development, Tunde Jagun, disclosed that the master plan has been designed to be the new model for urban living in Nigeria and the West African region.
“Brompton City is a proposed 30-hectare mixed-use development that is strategically located along Ogombo Road, Lekki Scheme II, Lagos. The development has been conceptualised as an aspirational and eco-friendly city from which other neighborhoods in Nigeria and indeed West Africa can take inspiration. It will include modern residential and commercial zones that are interlinked in a manner that ensures that the commercial zones are vibrant and welcoming, while the residential areas remain private, serene, and secure.
“The residential zone will feature low, medium, and high-density areas with subscribers having the option to acquire serviced plots (land and infrastructure) to develop fully built residential units (condos/apartments, terraces, semi-detached, fully-detached, maisonettes, etc). Open green parks, modern recreational facilities, jogging and cycling paths, including artificial water bodies that take advantage of the natural topography, will form a key part of the city’s master plan.
“The commercial and public use zones will become the new model for smart workplace experience in the region, attracting leading companies of all sizes and from all industries. The city will partner with investors and developers in providing a selection of offices as well as retail offerings such as cafes, fine-dining restaurants, hotels, etc. Overall, UPDC is poised to raise the bar yet again with the development of Brompton City and by so doing, deepen the trust and respect the brand has earned in over 26 years of developing iconic and investment-grade real estate in Nigeria,” he stated.
