By Franklin Alli

The shareholders of John Holt PLC have endorsed  the restructuring process put in place to revamp the company by the Board of Directors.

The action plans was presented to the shareholders by the board Chairman, Dr. Christopher Eze, during their annual general meeting held recently.

The chairman, took the shareholders through the turbulence business environment that has negatively impacted on the fortunes of the company and its inability to pay dividends over the years.

He told shareholders that the group had suffered substantial losses from its operations since the previous year, and these culminated in accumulated losses as at 30 September 2009 of N2.630 billion (2008:N486 million), working capital deficiency of N2.887 billion (2008:N802 million) and a negative cash flows of N3.033 billion (2008: N3.328 billion).
However, he expressed hope that the on-going re-organization /re-restructuring will reverse the trend; and support of creditors and lenders will continue in the immediate future.

“The Directors have also taken cognizance of revaluation reserve of N5.378 billion (2008:N4.241billion)”
We have released figures for the first half of 2009/10 which indicated that during the difficult period of reorganization the company has achieved a break-even position. We look to 2010/11 to build on this and develop a platform for robust profitability in the best interest of all stakeholders,” he said.