Work Begins on Second Niger Bridge – Official

Preliminary works have commenced on the construction of the long awaited Second River Niger Bridge in Anambra, according to the Chairman of Julius Berger, who secured the contract for the project.
Retired Air Vice Marshall Nurudeen Imam revealed this in Abuja during the company’s Annual General Meeting on Thursday.



Imam said the company successfully entered the Public Private Partnership (PPP) market and was selected as preferred bidder for the second River Niger Bridge project.
Other projects the company secured include the Lekki-Ikoyi (Admiralty-Alexander) Link Bridge, West Africa’s first cable bridge; Procter and Gamble’s Baby Care Expansion Facility; CBN’s branch office in Lagos; Bonny River’s Terminal Airstrip, and the Lagos Oando Jetty.

“We have also completed the Uyo-Abak road and several phases of the Uyo Government House as a direct result of our positive performance and partnership, he said, explaining that the lifespan of some of the projects have been prolonged through award of extensions.
Imam told shareholders that the company was diversifying and delving into other business areas as a deliberate policy objective, with business potentials in the power, oil and gas, and other private sector areas currently undergoing due diligence.
He added that nurturing the development of the Julius Berger group of companies to support the provision of integrated construction solutions was a major goal of 2013.
To this end, Prime Tech Design and Engineering and Julius Berger Medical Services, both in initial years of existence, have made progress in their structural and recruitment processes”, he said.
The chairman also announced that group turnover rose by 5.5 per cent from N201.6 billion to N212.7 billion, reflecting the financial and strategic progress of Julius Berger and its subsidiaries.
Imam said the group also recorded 31.4 per cent increase in profit before tax from N12.3 billion to N16.2 billion for the trading year while the company’s Board of Directors recommended an increased dividend of N2. 70k per ordinary share, resulting in gross dividend payment of N3. 24billion. This represents a significant improvement over the dividend of 2012 which was N2.50 per ordinary share.
“The board is also pleased to recommend a bonus issue of one new ordinary share for every 10 existing ordinary shares already held”, Imam added.