Shareholders of Dangote Cement Plc will receive N178.9 billion as cash dividend for the 2017 business year as the cement company drew on increased sales and margins to grow net profit by 43 per cent to N204.25 billion.
The board of directors of the cement company yesterday indicated that shareholders will receive a dividend per share of N10.50, representing an increase of 23.5 per cent on a dividend per share of N8.50 paid for the 2016 business year.
Key extracts of the audited report and accounts for the year ended December 31, 2017 showed that the group turnover grew by 31 per cent from N615.1 billion in 2016 to N805.6 billion in 2017. Profit before tax increased from N180.93 billion in 2016 to N289.59 billion in 2017. Profit after tax rose from N142.86 billion in 2016 to N204.25 billion in 2017. Earnings per share consequently improved to N11.65 in 2017 compared with N8.78 in 2016.
The report indicated that while sales from the three plants in Nigeria contributed N552.36 billion to the group’s revenue, the balance of N258.44 billion was accounted for by plants in other African countries. Revenue attributable to Nigeria grew by 29.6 per cent while that from Pan-African operations rose by 32.5 per cent.
   Though group sales volumes were lower by seven percent due to depressed Nigerian market, Pan-African sales volumes went up by 8.4 per cent to 9.4 metric tonnes with strong volume increases in Senegal, Ethiopia and Cameroon and new capacities of 1.5 metric tonnes in Congo and 0.5 metric tonnes in Sierra Leone.
Acting Group Chief Executive Officer, Dangote Cement Plc, Joseph Makoju, said the company’s performance demonstrated the robust diversification of its business.
“We expanded our footprint from eight countries to ten with the opening of new facilities in the Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone, while our operations in Cameroon, Senegal and Ethiopia achieved strong sales growth during the year. With total sales volumes of nearly 22 million tonnes, we are by far the leading manufacturer of cement in Sub-Saharan Africa,” Makoju said.