AFTER ACHIEVING a profit after tax of GH¢27.655 million for the year ending September 2011, the Produce Buying Company (PBC) Limited has proposed to pay a total of GH¢8.304 million to its shareholders as dividend for the year.

This translates into a dividend of GH¢0.0173 per share, and contributes 30 percent of after tax profit which is in line with corporate dividend policy.

At the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the company, Dr. John Frank Adu, PBC Board Chairman, said, “National cocoa purchases increased by 70.8 percent from 632,026 tonnes in 2009/10 to1,011,880 tonnes during the year under review due mainly to good weather, central government interventions in the provision of fertilizer and other inputs to farmers as well as the mass spraying programme.”

Similarly, he said, the company increased tonnage purchased by 56 percent from 238,967 tonnes in 2009/10 to 374,858 tonnes during the year and achieved a market share of 37 percent.

Dr. Adu said, “The company’s total revenue increased from GH¢632.902 million to GH¢1.302 billion, a significant increase of 105.7 percent mainly due to increase in the quantity of cocoa purchased, producer price paid to farmers, buyers margin to Licensed Buying Companies (LBCs) as well as the freight earnings from our secondary evacuation activities.”

He noted that correspondingly, the cost of sales grew by 109.6 percent from GH¢555.674 million of the previous year to GH¢1.167 billion due mainly to the increase in producer price and the jump in the quality of cocoa purchased.

According to the Board Chairman, the company’s balance sheet also showed a strong growth and resilient financial position as shareholder’s equity rose by 100.5 percent from GH¢23.625 million to GH¢47.374 million.

“Total Company Assets grew by 62 percent from GH¢169.031 million to GH¢274.338 million.

“This growth was mainly led by inventories, trade and other receivables as well as Property, Plant & Equipment which respectively grew by 21 per cent, 87 per cent, and 26 percent.”

He indicated that Basic Earning Per Share (EPS) increased by 95.9 percent from GH¢0.0294 in the previous year to GH¢0.0576 indicating an improvement of shareholders’ earnings arising out of the company’s activities during the year.

Dr. Adu announced that “in the coming year, the company intends to improve its operational activities, increase supervision of field staff and increase our storage facilities to help bolster our market share, become more competitive and continue to be the market leader in the industry.”

He added that the company would continue to motivate staff through training, competitive remuneration and other incentive schemes as motivation to sustain the current performance.

Shareholders voted unanimously to change the name of the company from “Produce Buying Company Ltd” to “PBC Ltd.”