Dangote cement increases dividend by 23.5% to N178.9bn

Shareholders of Dangote Cement Plc are surely in for a good deal as the company’s directors have recommended an increase of 23.5 per cent in the dividend payout to the shareholders, for the year ended on 31st December 2017.
The amount will translate to N178.9 billion as against a dividend of N8.70 kobo per share that was paid in the corresponding period of 2016.
The company’s group revenue grew by 31 per cent, from N615.1 billion in 2016   to ₦805.6 billion, while its net profit   rose by 43 per cent, from N142.86 billion to N204.25 billion. Earnings per share rose to N11.65 compared to N8.78 at the previous year indicating an increase of 32.7 per cent.
A breakdown of 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 percent while that from Pan-African operations rose by 32.5 percent.
Though group sales volumes were lower by seven percent due to depressed Nigerian market, Pan-African sales volumes went up by 8.4 percent to 9.4Mt with strong volume increases in Senegal, Ethiopia and Cameroon and new capacities of 1.5Mta in Congo, 0.5Mta in Sierra Leone.
Acting Group Chief Executive Officer, Dangote Cement, Joe Makoju, speaking on the results said: “Dangote Cement turned in a record year with revenues up 31.0 percent to ₦805.6B and EBITDA up by 50.9 percent to ₦388.1B. Although Nigerian volumes were lower in 2017, our Pan-African operations increased volumes by 8.4% and now make up 42% of the Group’s total cement sales, demonstrating the robust diversification of our 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.”
Dangote Cement is Africa’s leading cement producer with nearly 46Mta capacity across Africa. A fully integrated quarry-to-customer producer, with a production capacity of 29.25Mta in its home market, Nigeria.  Obajana plant in Kogi state, Nigeria, is the largest in Africa with 13.25Mta of capacity across four lines;  Ibese plant in Ogun State has four cement lines with a combined installed capacity of 12Mta and  Gboko plant in Benue State has 4Mta.
 Through recent investments, Dangote Cement has eliminated Nigeria’s dependence on imported cement and has transformed the nation into an exporter of cement serving neighbouring countries. In addition, Dangote Cement have operations in Cameroon (1.5Mta clinker grinding), Congo (1.5Mta), Ghana (1.5Mta import), Ethiopia (2.5Mta), Senegal (1.5Mta), Sierra Leone (0.5Mta import), South Africa (2.8Mta), Tanzania (3.0Mta), Zambia (1.5Mta).