Vision Group holds 24th AGM, announces new board chairperson

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Vision Group on Thursday held its 24th Annual General Meeting (AGM) at its head offices in the Industrial Area, Kampala.

The AGM kicked off at 2:00pm, with shareholders arriving at the company premises to receive updates from the Board and executive committee on the company’s performance in the 2024/2025 financial year.

Vision Group is a public limited liability company whose shares are traded on the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE). The Government of Uganda is the majority shareholder with a 53.3% stake, while the remaining 46.7% shares are held by the public, both institutional and individual investors.

The meeting opened with the Uganda and East African anthems, followed by a prayer and opening remarks from the outgoing Board chairperson, Patrick Ayota, who has served on the Board for nine years. Ayota is also the Managing Director of the National Social Security Fund (NSSF).

“The Financial Year 2024/2025 was the first year of our new five-year strategic plan (FY2024/25–FY2028/29). Coming from immense economic challenges both locally and globally, our thrust has been to rise from the performance of the previous year. This required addressing liquidity challenges and bottlenecks in media revenue growth,” Ayota noted in his speech.

He thanked the Government, the majority shareholder, for helping to address liquidity pressures through the acquisition of preferential shares. The funds, he said, are supporting revenue-generation capacity, including the near-complete printing factory at Namanve.

Ayota assured shareholders that these investments are long-term and will bear fruit in the coming years. He, however, emphasised the need for the company to innovate new revenue streams through media agency services, courier operations, and outdoor advertising.

Due to the company’s loss position, the Board did not recommend the payment of dividends. Ayota nevertheless reassured shareholders that ongoing efforts to return to profitability would enable future dividend payouts.

On behalf of the Board, he presented Dr Edward Damulira Sengonzi as the incoming Board chairperson.

“Sengonzi has been on the New Vision Board since 2023, where he has served with diligence, distinction and passion. I have no doubt that he will confidently steer the company forward,” Ayota said.

Sengonzi is currently the Under Secretary and Accounting Officer at the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.

New strategies for the company

In his remarks, Vision Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer Don Wanyama said the company was implementing a new strategy anchored on ten key strategic objectives.

He reported a 4% improvement in revenue performance, driven largely by strategic cost management and improved performance in select business areas.

“In the financial year 2024/25, our revenue was sh80.5b—representing 92% of the target we had set,” Wanyama said.

He added that print advertising remains the company’s largest revenue contributor, generating sh23b in the year ended June 2025, followed by commercial printing at sh16.6b, and then television advertising.

Looking ahead to FY2025/26, he said management is working to raise revenue by 14% to sh99.3b, with key drivers expected to include advertising revenue from native content and supplements.

Agm 7

‘Honoured and humbled’

In his acceptance speech, Sengonzi said he was honoured and humbled to take on the role of Board chairperson.

“I take over from Mr Patrick Ayota, who has provided strong leadership over the last nine years. His tenure also faced the challenging period when the world was hit by COVID-19, which heavily affected the company’s business,” he said.

He acknowledged that Vision Group, like many other businesses worldwide, is still experiencing the after-effects of the pandemic.

“I am only too aware of the immense task ahead. Having served as chairperson of the Finance and Investment Committee, I understand the work required to turn around the company’s profitability and improve our share price. I also recognise the challenges facing the media industry, especially with the emergence of social media as a real-time news source,” he added.

Sengonzi thanked the outgoing chairperson and the Board for their confidence in him and pledged to serve to the best of his abilities.