Shareholders of ‘The Initiates Plc’ who met in Port Harcourt at the weekend applauded the declaration of N1.3bn as the 2024 operational year profit, the highest in recent years compared with N348,227 in 2023 and N53,702 in 2022.
It was from the N1.3bn profit of 2024 the managers provisioned for debts that looked shaky to avoid future embarrassment, and also set aside N266m to reinvest in the company as part of the equities of the shareholders.
Shareholders were thus pleased to learn that the company made such size of profit in 2024 despite the economic situation in Nigeria. “Out of this N266m was set aside for stock reinvestment into their shares at N0.30 per share; while N88m was to be released as cash at N0.10, totaling N0.40 per share’”, officials explained.
The shareholders who seemed outspoken harped on what they considered huge profit despite Nigeria’s difficult business environment at the moment, and commended the board led by Joe Ogbonna Anosikeh and the management led by Rueben Ossai.
The shareholders including the onetime chairman, Tony Eze, made suggestions about how to position The Initiates Plc into more viable position including expansion, rights offer, merges, and attracting bigger funds from big entities.
One of the shareholders asked the management to cut down on expenses and unimportant costs. They said the management did very well to amass profit but should try not to rake up huge spending to gulp back the profit.
They said they saw evidence of hard work and meticulous operation system. One of the most vocal shareholders called the results of 2024 fantastic.
Anosikeh, the chairman, announced plans to shun loans from commercial banks because of skyrocketing interest rates but to resort to hybrid offer which he said would open soon to raise funds to execute the new base in Kwale, plus working capital boost.
At the end of the review of the annual report read by Olaide Adejobi, the company secretary, the shareholders gladly and unanimously approved all the propositions tabled before them including voting N266m for reinvestment as part of their shares to the tune of N0.30 per share.
At the annual meeting, it emerged that firms in the waste management industry seem to target a boost as new opportunities open in the face of local government autonomy in Nigeria, hints at the Initiates Plc have emerged. Expectation grew strong that the 774 LGAs in Nigeria which have the constitutional mandate to manage waste would soon take control and begin activities.
This is expected to cause a big boost in waste management jobs and procurements as their annual budgets would swell many times over to participate in waste matters. This is expected to boost the industry with more opportunities across the country.
Investors and stakeholders at the annual general meeting of ‘The Initiates’ in Port Harcourt reviewed the industry and agreed that the future of the sector is brighter following expectations in implementation of local government autonomy in Nigeria. The Supreme Court has recently re-asserted LGA autonomy while the Constitution mandates the LGAs to manage wastes.
Throwing some light, the managing director (Ossai), assured shareholders that the expected autonomy of local governments in Nigeria would open doors in waste management business and control. “We are watching and waiting to take advantage.”
So, the MD said, investors expect that the autonomy that is coming to the local councils would boost investment in the sector as it will boost the revenue of states and LGAs.
He said: “People may sound pessimistic, but I am telling you that with the developments that are coming today (recent developments), it is an industry to watch, an industry that may determine what happens in other sectors. So, it is a big sector.”
The managing director said The Initiates is even expanding outside Nigeria such as Uganda where the company has 35% stake in the firm there.
He said The Initiates means creating new things. “We are always creating new ideas, and we believe in innovation. In waste management and industrial cleaning, the problems come in different shapes and continue to change. This means you will continually innovate.
“For instance, a mere change of what you use to cook in your kitchen can change the waste situation around your home. As it changes, you may require new methods of waste disposal around you. Same in your factory. What we are designed to do is to continually innovate ideas to meet different situations and give topnotch service. So, Initiates Plc means new ideas all the time.
Our philosophy is: who taught the first teacher. (It means innovation taught the first teacher.)”
He said: “Waste industry is a living industry. This is because it survives on human activity. Any activity that man undertakes is expected to generate waste. What, even, is waste? It may be waste of time, waste of man hours, etc. We are imperfect humans created to be so. As we live our lives, there must be outcome, positive or negative. Waste must be created. It is the negative that we address as waste.”
