Shareholders of Dangote Cement were full of praise for the board, management and staff of the company after approving the dividend payout of N144.8 billion, (N8.50 kobo/share compared with N8/share paid in 2015).
At the AGM, President of Amiable Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Festus Akano, said for the company to pay a robust dividend despite the recession, which also affected their operations, shows the doggedness and the fighting entrepreneurial spirit of management.
Chairman of the company, Aliko Dangote, said the company’s strategy in every country of operations is to be the leader on costs, quality and service.
“Looking back at the 2016 financial year, I am pleased to report that our cement sales volumes increased by 25% to nearly 23.6Mt. Of this, almost 14.8Mt was sold in the Nigerian market. Revenues increased by 25.1% to 615.1B, of which 68.3% was generated in Nigeria (excluding eliminations) and 31.7% from Pan-African operations. Our earnings before
interest, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) decreased only slightly, to 257.2 billion, with Pan-African operations contributing 26.5 billion, excluding central costs. Earnings per share increased by 4.5% to 11.34.
Group CEO, Onne van der Weijde, revealed that the expansion strategy of the company yielded fruit last year when Nigeria was in recession as the plants across Africa contributed significantly to the company’s turnover.
Furthermore, those Pan-African operations are helping to generate foreign currency for the group, so this shows how a long-term decision to diversify can help with a short-term pressure like an illiquid currency market in Nigeria.”
