- Shareholders approve N10.50 dividend per share
(Sundiata Post) – Shareholders of Dangote Cement Plc applauded the management after approving the dividend payout of N10.50 per share for the financial year ended December 31, 2017.
The company said the dividend declared represented 90 per cent of net profit and an increase of 23.5 per cent on the N8.5 per share paid last year. The shareholders described Dangote Cement as a very reliable company that has consistently demonstrated its love for the shareholders.
President of Progressives Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Boniface Okezie, said for the company pay a robust dividend despite the recession in the economy, which also affected their operations shows the doggedness and the fighting entrepreneurial spirit of the Management.
Another shareholders’ association leader, Dr. Umar Farouk, urged the regulators to adequately compensate the Management of the Dangote Cement with an award as it has consistently kept faith with its shareholders. He expressed optimism on the pan African plants, especially now that the Plants are contributing significantly to the turnover of the company.
Chairman of Dangote Cement, Aliko Dangote however attributed the 31 per cent increase in the company’s revenue of N805.6 billion to its pan African operations growth which also recorded a significant increase in revenue from N195 billion to N258.4 billion in 2017.
He said, “Pan African operations increased volumes by 8.4 per cent, with Ethiopia, Senegal, Cameroon and South Africa all performing strongly and close to their operating capacity.”
He noted that the company experienced some challenges in operating in sub-Saharan Africa, saying that “the Management responded in robust fashion and benefited from the diversity we have created across our business and because of our local knowledge and attitudes towards doing business in neighbouring countries in Africa.”
Explaining the rationale behind the success recorded by the Dangote Cement’s revenue, the acting Group chief executive of Dangote Cement, Joseph Makoju said “the increase was helped by our decision to increase our use of local coal in Nigeria and that also helped to improve our fuel security, maintain production uptime and it reduced our need for foreign currency.
“We source coal from our parent company, Dangote Industries and from another Nigerian supplier, and we are very happy with the way this has worked out for us because it has enabled us to phase out the use of expensive low pour fuel oil in our kilns and also to reduce our use of imported coal.”
On the future growth plans for the Group, Makoju said “as it stands, we will focus on building new grinding plants along the coast of West Africa, and ensure we have clinker export facilities in Nigeria. We are looking at the possibility of two new lines in Nigeria, perhaps by the end of 2020 and its likely these will be in Edo state and Obajana, with a combined capacity of 6Mta.”