Company Annual Report

Chairman's Report

To the Stakeholders at the 2010 Annual General Meeting (AGM)

Fellow Shareholders Eminent Ladies and Gentlemen, It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the 32nd Annual General Meeting of your Company. I now wish to present to you the Annual Reports and Accounts for the year ended 31st March,2010.

GLOBAL ECONOMY

The global economic crisis of 2008 expectedly had its negative impact on the business environment in 2009.The developed economies experienced more bank failures, weak global demand, low oil prices and credit contraction resulting in global economies contraction. Major developed nations experienced negative GDP growth rate with Russia recording 7.9%,Japan 5.7%,European Union - 4% and USA - 2.4%,while in contrast emerging nations such as china +8.4%,India +6.1% and Indonesia +4.4% .However according to the World Bank ,global real GDP declined by 2.2 %.Major matters were not helped by the policy of major banks in Europe and the United States to drastically reduce credit availability and therefore any hope for economic recovery.

Various governments have employed stimulus packages to encourage demand and reduce uncertainty and systematic risks in their economies. These measures yielded significant results especially in the last quarter of 2009.The prolonged decline in the world economy abated with some major economies recording notable improvement.

NIGERIAN ECONOMY

The Nigerian economy depends mainly on oil. The oil sector was however thrown into crisis by the crash in oil prices ,sharp decline in global demand for oil and the Niger-Delta crisis with resultant reduction in oil production. These indices however improved towards the end of the year as the Federal Government introduced the amnesty programme for the militants. There has been relative peace in the Niger Delta. Nigeria was only able to meet her OPEC Quota by December 2009.Oil prices improved and there was a little increase in the demand for oil. There was however another crisis in the downstream sector towards the end of the year as the downstream operators stopped the importation of refined petroleum products. Queues returned to filling stations all over the country. There was chaos which had a resultant effect on the economy.

The Federal Government's target of 6,000MW of power generation for the year could not be met .Inadequate power supply posed the greatest challenge in every sector of the Nigerian Economy .It discouraged both local and foreign investment in the country .There was low capacity utilization in various sectors ,increase in the level of unemployment and general low demand for goods and services.

Reforms were introduced in the banking sector in the second quarter of the year to stem the tide of distress and bring sanity and good corporate governance into play .Desirable as that may be, it brought about a period of economic stress as there was low credit availability and many workers were laid off especially in the banking sector .There was not much respite in the capital market either .There is still a low level of confidence in the capital market due to smoky uncertain macroeconomic enviroment, crisis in the banking industry and the resultant credit freeze ,low foreign portfolio investment and capital plight.

This stormy economic environment of the country in the year ended 31st March,2010 was quite challenging but your Company has again shown a high level of resilience. I am happy to announce that we have again weathered the storm and come out better and stronger.

OPERATING RESULT

Distinguished Stakeholders ,Ladies and Gentlemen, I am pleased to report in spite of the harsh economic environment, your Company continued to manifest its leadership positions as it recorded significant growth in all its key indices for the year ended 31st March,2010.

The turnover increased by 19% from =N=1.614 billion in 2009 to =N=1.924 billion in 2010,while the profit before tax increased to =N=410.4m from =N=336.4m from 2009, the profit after tax increased from =N=241.4 million in 2009 to =N=276.8m in 2010.This impressive performance was driven by significant improvement in our sales ,while administrative expenses were controlled appropriately.

With this brilliant performance, I want to quickly assure you that our Company is no longer the sleeping giant, but a force to be reckoned with in the publishing industry. Having attained the long awaited billion turnover, we would not rest on our oars but would continue to strive harder to deliver sustainable growth and provide adequate returns to our Stakeholders.

DIVIDEND / BONUS

The Board is pleased to propose a dividend of 40k per ordinary share for the year ended 31st March,2010.The proposed dividend amounts to =N=143.8 million which translates to 20% increase over the 2009 total dividend paid out. This is due to increase in issued-share capital as a result of the 2009 bonus issue.

In addition, the Board is proposing a bonus of one (1) ordinary share for every five (5) shares held by the existing shareholders.

CAPITAL EXPENDITURE

A sum of N100 million was spent on the acquisition of fixed assets during the period under review. This was spent on the purchase of motor vehicles for fieldsmen, acquisition of computer/computer accessories and other office equipment.

HUMAN RESOURCES

Our Staff continue to remain our pillar of strength as it is through them that we have been able to weather many storms. I wish to express my sincere gratitude to our Management and Staff for their untiring contributions and loyalty to the course of the Company .I believe that despite the harsh economic environment ,with the commitment and diligence of our staff; UPPLC will continue to deliver value to all its stakeholders in the years ahead.

DIRECTORS

It is important that I bring to your attantion, major Board changes which occurred during the period. Mr Oluseyi Osho and Mr Tunde Durosinmi-Etti representing Nadina Industries Ltd and Ibile Holdings Ltd respectively left the Board. We thank both of them for their contributions to the success of the Company while on Board and wish them well in their future endeavors.

Recently also, Chief M.O Akinyele, the pioneer Managing Director of UPPLC, retired from the Board after a long meritorious service. On behalf of the Board and the Company ,we wish to express our sincere gratitude and appreciation to him for his contributions to the growth of the Company. We truly value his commitments. We pray that God will continue to strengthen him and keep him healthy.

Furthermore, to ensure that the composition of the Board of Directors is in compliance with the best corporate practices, the following new directors :Mr Obafunso Ogunkeye, Arc. Ayodeji Olorunda and Mr. Aremu Adewusi were appointed in March 2010 and May 2010 respectively in accordance with the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the Company. All the new Directors have vast accumulated experiences in various fields of endeavors and we expect that they would bring their wealth of experience to bear at Board deliberations.

FUTURE OUTLOOK

While we expect the challenges facing the Nigerian economy to persist, piracy the bane of publishing industry also poses a great threat to the industry . In spite of these, the Board and Management are confident that your company is well positioned to meet the challenges of the future and come out stronger through its aggressive marketing strategies ,a formidable workforce, churning out of good quality products and technologically advanced systems.

CONCLUSION

Distinguished Stakeholders, on behalf of the Board, I wish to express our sincere appreciation to you for your relentless support and confidence reposed in us to continue to serve you. I also wish to thank all our esteemed customers for their support and loyalty to the Company. To the Management and Staff of UPPLC, we appreciate the expertise and skill demonstrated in the performance of your job which has gotten us to where we are today.

And to the Entire Board, I want to express my gratitude to you for your support and cooperation through the year.Finally to our External Auditors, Messers BDO Professional Services, we appreciate your diligence.

Signed:

Dr Lekan Are

Chairman.