Shareholders of NICO Holdings Limited plc have approved a final dividend of K2,086 billion, equivalent to K2 per share, based on the 2023 profits.

This brings the total dividend for the year ended 31st December 2023 to K10 billion, representing K10 per share.

The 2023 financial year proved to be highly successful for NICO Holdings, with a remarkable 60% increase in profit after tax, reaching K59.1 billion.

The group’s outgoing Chairman, Gaffar Hassam, said the exceptional financial results in 2023 are a testament to the group’s collective dedication and strategic focus on exponential growth.

"The group has laid solid foundations for growth during the past years by diligently investing in people, technology, and customer service," Hassam stated.

"As you have seen, our profits grew by 60% to 59.1 billion kwacha. Additionally, in terms of rewarding our shareholders, we increased our dividends to 10.2 billion in terms of the dividend that has been paid to our shareholders. So, it was really a fantastic year."

He commended the management teams and staff, attributing the group's performance to the high-quality service provided to their clients. "We have very passionate and dedicated staff within the whole NICO Holdings Group. You are talking of NBS Bank, the insurance companies, Eris Properties, ICON, and all the companies in the NICO Group family, which have performed well to ensure this is a good result for 2023."

Addressing concerns about the underperformance of their Zambian subsidiary, Hassam noted, "The performance for Zambia, as you quite rightly noted, was not a good one, and we have already put measures in place to assist them."

"There were some internal issues, and we have made management changes and provided support from the holdings level. We do hope that 2024 will be a good year for them."

In response to a question about the challenges posed by the volatile exchange rate and the uncertainty of foreign exchange availability, Hassam commented, "Economically, it's a very tough environment. However, given those economic challenges, we at NICO are very confident in the strategy that we have. We aim to grow higher, and we believe that 2024 and beyond will also be very good years. It will not be easy, but we have very dedicated staff members who will go out of their way to ensure this company succeeds."

One of the group shareholders, Frank Harawa, called on the group to reassess the dividend payout, stating, "The dividend payout is minimal compared to the profits the group is registering. There needs to be a reworking of the dividend strategy to better reward shareholders."