(Business in Cameroon) - For the financial year ending December 31, 2020, the African Agricultural Forestry Company of Cameroon (SAFACAM) will distribute a little over 1 billion CFAF dividend to its shareholders (XAF806 dividend per share). The information is revealed in the draft net profit allocation report recently published by the BVMAC-listed company.

To distribute such dividends, the rubber and palm oil producer will dig into its reserves because its 2020 net profit is only XAF679 million, down by 15.6% compared with the XAF806.54 million recorded in 2019. According to the company, this decline was due to the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on operations, in the rubber segment notably.

"2020 was marked by the coronavirus pandemic, which affected our rubber business. Indeed, the strong uncertainties on the evolution of global rubber demand forced us to reduce our production for six months because of the dropping selling prices we observed at the time and also in anticipation of possible sales problems," SAFACAM explains in its 2020 activity report.  It also adds that its oil palm segment was not affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

BRM