Shareholders of Dangote Cement approve N102 billion dividend payout

Shareholders of Dangote Cement Plc on Wednesday approved N102 billion dividend recommended by the board for the 2014 financial year.

The dividend payout translates into N6 per share and payout ratio of 63.5 percent.

The shareholders, who gave the approval at the sixth annual general meeting (AGM) of the company in Lagos, also commended the board and management for the performance of the company amid the challenging operating environment.

Dangote Cement ended 2014 with a revenue of N392 billion up from N386 billion in 2013. Administrative expenses rose from N25.9 billion to N274 billion, while sales/distribution expenses increased from 35.6 billion to N37.4 billion. Finance cost soared by 140 percent from N13.7 billion to N32.9 billion. Profit before tax stood at N184.7 billion, compared with N191 billion.

But the company paid an income tax of N25.2 billion in 2014, as against a tax credit of N10.5 billion 2013. The N25 billion tax charge resulted from the expirations of the tax exemptions on some lines of the company’s business. Consequently, the company ended the year with a PAT of N159.5 billion, compared with N201 billion in 2013.

Shareholders have a bright future in the company given the massive expansion project being embarked upon by the company in 16 African countries, outside Nigeria. Returns from the African projects are expected to start reflecting on the company’s account from this 2015 financial year.

Already, the company’s new plants in Senegal and Cameroon have commenced operations. The cement plants in Ethiopia and Zambia are also expected to start production next month.

The new Senegalese plant, located in Pout district, about 75 kilometers from Dakar, the country’s capital, is expected to create more than 1,000 jobs, with a total production capacity of 1.5 million tons annually. With the new plant, the company hopes to improve the country’s cement production capacity with an additional 1.5 million tons, while serving an export market demand of two million tons along the Mali axis.

The country head of Dangote Industries, Senegal, Luk Haelterman, disclosed that the Group has invested about $300 million in the cement plant, adding that actual production and sales started on January 10, 2015.

He said “in this country, Dangote will not only stop at producing cement, we also have helped beyond cement -which is the idea of the owner to become a pan-African enterprise. Senegal is a market with over-capacity of cement, because it had two cement factories before now. But today, Dangote has become the biggest and best because we have and produce the 42.5R only, which is better than what we met on ground, which is the 32.5R”.