Dangote Cement hits N615.1bn full year revenue mark

…. Makes N186.6bn in profit, proposes N8.5 dividend.

Dangote Cement Plc, Africa’s leading cement producer reached a N615.1billion revenue mark in its full year 2016 results released Tuesday to investors and shareholders at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

Dangote Cement revenue increased by 25 percent to N615.10billion against N491.73billion revenue reported in 2015. Profit could have been more, except that the company’s production cost increased by 61 percent to N324 billion from N202 billion in 2015 driven mainly by the higher cost of doing business in Nigeria.

Even though Profit Before Tax (PBT) declined marginally to N181 billion from 2015 figure of N188 billion, Profit After Tax (PAT) grew by 2.92 percent to N187 billion from N181 billion in 2015.

“Given that Dangote Cement PBT of N181 bn was in line with consensus 2016 PBT forecast, we do not expect to see material revisions to consensus 2017 earnings forecast,” said analysts at FBNQuest in an investment note to clients.

“Dangote Cement shares have slightly outperformed the NSE index this year. They have shed -2.9 percent year-to-date (ytd) compared with the -5.6 percent return delivered by the NSE All Share Index (ASI). We rate the shares Outperform. Our estimates are under review”.

From N8 dividend paid in 2015, the board of directors of company proposed N8.5 dividend payable to shareholders on approval at its forthcoming annual general meeting. In the review year, report Earnings Per Share (EPS) grew by 4.49 percent to N11.34 from N10.86.

Dangote Cement is Nigeria’s largest listed company with a market value of N2.9 trillion. The company’s price closed at N168.99 on 28 February, unchanged from the previous day.

 

Iheanyi Nwachukwu