By Moses Nosike

FTN Cocoa Processors Plc, witnessed growths in sales and profit in 2009 as turnover rose from N969.3 million in 2008 to N1.3 billion in 2009. Audited report of the company also showed that profit after tax moved to N259.7 million compared with N196.03 million recorded in 2008.

Speaking at the company’s AGM recently in Lagos, Chairman, FTN Cocoa Processors Plc, Chief Olusegun Osunkeye, said that the company posted a good result in 2009 despite the very competitive operating environment under which it operated.

“In the midst of the global financial and economic crisis that engulfed the world during the last part of 2009, the company has taken the opportunity to employ strategies that would better ensure that its operations are better footed.

“In the midst of the global financial and economic crisis, we have continued to put measures in place to ensure that our company is firmly footed to ride the storm. We have used this period of down-turn to embark on series of strategic initiatives to strengthen our operations and business model.

Based on the positive indices recorded in the year under review, N77 million was proposed by management and rectified by shareholders to be paid as dividends, representing a dividend of 3.5 kobo per share.

Osunkeye called on the Federal Government to put in place adequate policies to regulate the operations of Cocoa market in Nigeria, in order to put the market on the part of growth.

He said, lack of adequate policy to govern the cocoa market in the country remained the bane of the industry.
He added that cocoa industry suffered major setback in 2009 because of the inability of the Federal Government to go into mutually-beneficial pacts with other countries willing to do business with the country.