Lafarge Cement WAPCO Nigeria Plc has paid out a total of N3.602billion as dividend following unanimous approval by the company’s shareholders at its 54th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos last Tuesday.
The company recorded a 41 per cent increase in its turnover from N62.502billion in 2011 to N87.965billion for the year ended December 31, 2012. Its profit after tax (PAT) also rose by 70 percent from N8.6billion the previous year to N14.712billion in 2012, while its operating profit rose by 98 per cent from N13.252billion the year before to N26.264billion in the year under consideration. The company’s financials also showed that the volume of cement dispatched for the year was 2.9 metric tonnes, up by 35 per cent in 2011.
The N3.602billion total dividend payout by the company translates into a dividend payout of N1.20k per share, and represents an increase of 60 per cent over 75 kobo dividend paid the previous year.
Olusegun Osunkeye, Chairman, Lafarge Cement WAPCO Nigeria said, “In order to maximise the return to our shareholders, we have as much as cash flow requirements will allow, accelerated the repayment of some of our bank loans in order to minimise interest expense.
No additional loans were taken in 2012 and the increase in finance from N1.7billion in 2011 to N5.4billion in 2012 arose principally from the cessation of capitalisation of financing cost of the new cement and power plant following its inauguration for production at the end of 2011.”
