By Peter Egwuatu
Shareholders of Total Nigeria Plc have asked its Board of Directors to come up with a Right Issue that will enable them increase their stake, just as they commended the performance of the company for the financial year ended December 2009.

The shareholders at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on Wednesday in Lagos unanimously endorsed the company’s account for year ended 2009.

Speaking at the AGM, Chairman of the Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), who spoke the minds of shareholders present at the meeting said, “ We shareholders commend the performance of the company even though it recorded marginal growth in turnover.

We are also asking the Board to come up with Right Issue or bonus that will enable us increase our stake and be able to trade the shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). There are limited volume of shares in supply for us to trade at the stock market. We are also advising the government to quickly remove subsidy on petrol to enable oil companies sell at price that would be very competitive and make the product available.

Also the issue of unclaimed dividend would soon come up at a public hearing and I urged all the institutions quoted on the market to support the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) that states “ unclaimed dividend becomes statute barred after 12 years and be reverted back to the companies that declared it. We don’t want to allow people to reap where they did not sow.”

Speaking , Alhaji Gbadebo Olatokunbo former Publicity Secretary of Nigerian Shareholders Solidarity Association (NSSA) joined others to commend the company’s performance. The company has done well for surviving the harsh operating environment facing the industry. We also need Rights Issue .We thank you for the dividend being declared. The issue of subsidy suppose to have ended by now. Government should quickly remove the subsidy because Nigerians are not benefitting any thing.

Management should be careful with the operating expenses and amount of debtors which are on the high side. They should take actions to reduce them to be able to boost our bottom line.

Another shareholder, Mr. S.S. Adebayo also commended the performance, saying, “ It is commendable that past employees of the company are on the Board as non executive directors. This shows that the Board has confidence in them and the people still have something to contribute to the growth of the company.”

Speaking, Chairman of Total Nigeria Plc, Mr. Stanislas Mittelman commended the shareholders for their support and contribution towards the growth of the company.

According to him, “ We shall look at all the contributions made and take appropriate measures. Meanwhile, Total recorded marginal growth in turnover. Our turnover rose slightly from N1.393 billion in 2008 to N178.57 billion at the end of 2009.