Africa’s largest cement producer, Dangote Cement Plc, made a major contribution to the Nigerian economy with a tax charge of N97 billion for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, despite a proposed dividend of N16 per share.
According to the company’s audited results, published on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the tax burden represents a 95 percent increase over the N50 billion recorded in 2019.
The Nigerian business sold 15.9 million t in the reporting period compared to 14.1 million t in 2019. This includes both cement and clinker sales, which corresponds to growth of 12.9 percent for 2020 as a whole.
Based on domestic sales alone, the Nigerian company sold 15.6 million tons, an increase of 14.3 percent compared to the previous year, which led to an increase in market share.
Sales at Nigerian operations rose 18 percent to N 720 billion due to domestic demand. Volume growth was driven by successful, innovative national consumer advertising, “Bag of Goodies – Season 2”, and lower rainfall in the third quarter compared to last year supported.
The cement group also posted a record high in Pan-Africa of N 71.3 billion, an increase of 49 percent. In the reporting period, the company put its gas-fired power plant in Tanzania into operation. Consolidated earnings per share rose by 36.9 percent to 16.14 thousand euros.
Dangote Cement posted a strong performance not only in the upper but also in the lower range due to cost-saving measures. Despite inflationary pressures and currency volatility, disciplined cost control measures allowed the company to maintain the relatively low cost of cash per ton. The cost control measures include improved plant efficiency, a better fuel mix and general overhead optimization
The Chief Executive Officer, Michel Puchercos, said in his comments on the results: “2020 was a good year for Dangote Cement across the board. Several innovations made 2020 a productive year, such as our first clinker shipment, the first bond issue and the successful buyback program. In Nigeria, we increased our capacity by 3 million t, put our two export terminals into operation and put our gas-fired power plant in Tanzania into operation. All of this was achieved while we focused on protecting our employees, customers and communities from the effects of the pandemic. “
“Dangote Cement had strong sales growth supported by strong cement demand. Profitability was further boosted by our disciplined cost control measures in what we consider to be a highly inflationary and volatile year. These measures led to an increase in earnings after taxes of 37.7 percent to 276.1 billion euros. “
He continued, “I am pleased to announce that Dangote Cement had the strongest year in terms of EBITDA and the strongest year in terms of volume. Despite a challenging environment, the group volume rose by 8.6 percent over the course of the year and the group EBITDA by 20.9 percent.
“Looking ahead, we have strengthened our alternative fuels initiative, which focuses on leveraging the circular economy business model and reducing the risk of our cost base for currency fluctuations. We continue to integrate Dangote Cement’s seven pillars of sustainability into every aspect of our operations and culture.
“We continue to advocate the safety of our employees and communities by fully adhering to health and safety measures in all of our areas of operation. We focus on adapting to the rapidly evolving markets in which we operate. “
The company is Africa’s largest cement producer south of the Sahara with an installed capacity of 45.6 million tonnes in 10 African countries and operates a fully integrated “quarry-to-customer” business with activities in the areas of manufacturing, sales and distribution of cement .
The company has long-term credit ratings of AA + from GCR and Aa2.ng from Moody’s due to its market leadership position, significant operating scale and strong financial profile, as evidenced by the company’s robust operating and net profit margins compared to regional and global competitors Working capital, satisfactory cash flow and low leverage.
Dangote Cement is a subsidiary of Dangote Industries Limited, a diversified and fully integrated conglomerate and a leading brand across Africa in companies such as cement, sugar, salt, beverage and real estate oil and gas, petrochemicals, fertilizers and agriculture.
