Dangote Cement announces unaudited results

The financials released on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange indicated that the increase in sales volume showed a growing capture of Pan-African market as Dangote Cement continues to gain grounds.

Revenues from operations in Nigeria increased by 34.5% to ?291.4 billion while Pan-Africa revenue increased by 63.7% to ?124.4B from ?76.0B, mainly as a result of increased volumes and foreign exchange gains when converting the sales from country local currency into Naira.

Analysis of the half year result revealed that sales volumes of African operations increased by 12.6% to 4.7 million t with Sierra Leone making a 53 000 t maiden contribution.

Record of sales from its operations scattered around the African continent revealed that a total of 1.1 million t of cement was sold in Ethiopia, almost 0.7 million t sold in Senegal, 0.6 million t sold in Cameroon, and 0.5 t in Ghana.

Also, 0.4 million t of cement was sold in Tanzania and 0.3 million t in Zambia. Sales volumes from Nigerian operations fell from 8.8 milliont to 6.9 million t, occasioned by the onset of rains which stalled many construction projects.

Reflecting on the half year results, Dangote Cement’s Chief Executive Officer, Onne van der Weijde expressed satisfaction that the company’s revenues have continued to grow despite low sales from the Nigerian operations noting that the revenues grew on the strength of sales from other African operations.

He said: “Our revenues have continued to grow despite the lower volumes seen in Nigeria, especially because of the recent heavy rains. Our margins have improved significantly, helped by improved efficiencies and a much better fuel mix in Nigeria.

“We are using much more gas and increasing our use of coal mined in Nigeria, thus reducing our need for foreign currency and supporting Nigerian jobs.

”Our Pan-African operations are growing well and increasing market share. We saw our the first sales from Sierra Leone in the first quarter and our new plant in the Republic of Congo will be in production at the end of July, further increasing our footprint across Africa and strengthening our position as its leading manufacturer of cement.”

“As a result of the slower market, our Nigeria operation sold nearly 6.9 million t of cement, down 21.8% on the 8.8 million t sold in 1H16. We estimate our market share to have been about 64.5% during the first six months of 2017.

Dangote Cement is a high-growth, low-debt, internationally diversified company that has just paid a dividend amounting to nearly 75% of 2016 net profits to shareholders. The recent publication of our credit ratings highlights the financial strength we have achieved through our unwavering focus on the profitable expansion of the business, underpinned by our belief that we must remain prudent in our financial management,” Mr. Weijde stated.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/africa-middle-east/31072017/dangote-cement-announces-unaudited-results/