*The company says its share buy-back programme reflects Dangote Cement’s commitment to finding opportunities beyond dividend to return cash to shareholders

Isola Moses | 绿帽献妻

In the first quarter of the 2022 financial year, Dangote Cement has disclosed it recorded a 24.2 percent increase in the company’s revenue and 18 percent increase in its Profit After Tax (PAT) for the same period.

Dangote Group stated the unaudited results for three months ended 31st March, 2022, showed revenue of N413.2billion and a PAT of 鈧�105.9 billion.

Further analysis of the cement giant鈥檚 three months results indicated that Dangote Cement sold a total volume of 7.2Mt of cement across the group with Nigerian operations, accounting for 4.8Mt while the rest of Africa did the balance of 2.4Mt.

In his remarks 9n the development, Michel Puchercos, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dangote Cement, said that the company started the first quarter on a positive note despite the new uncertainties brought by a very volatile global environment.

Puchercos stated that increases recorded in revenue and profitability drove strong cash generation across the Group.

According to the CEO, Profit After Tax rose to 鈧�105.9 billion, up 18 percent, compared to last year while Group EBITDA rose to聽 鈧�211.0 billion, by 18.6 percent with an EBITDA margin of 51.1 percent.

鈥淥n the operational side, we are ramping up production at our Okpella plant and are progressing well to deploy grinding plants in Ghana and Cote d鈥橧voire.

“Demand remained strong across all markets, and we remain confident that Dangote Cement is positioned to meet customers鈥� expectations despite these temporary challenges,” Puchercos stated.

He also noted in the company’s continuing efforts at delivering shareholder value, Dangote Cement completed the second tranche of its buyback programme.

Following the completion of both tranches, Dangote Cement has now bought back 0.98% of its shares outstanding.

Puchercos said: “This share buy-back programme reflects the Company鈥檚 commitment to finding opportunities beyond dividend to return cash to shareholders.

“The volatile international context is strengthening our efforts to ramp up the usage of alternative fuels and execution of our export-to-import strategy. “Reducing our dependence on imported inputs and making our markets self-sufficient has never been more relevant from a regional perspective.”

He added: “Our continuous focus on efficiency, meeting strong market demand and maintaining our costs leadership drives our ability to consistently deliver superior profitability and value to all shareholders.鈥�

Dangote Cement is Africa’s leading cement producer with nearly 51.6Mta capacity across Africa.

A fully integrated quarry-to-customer producer, it has a production capacity of 35.25Mta in its home market, Nigeria.

The Obajana plant in Kogi State, Nigeria, is the largest in Africa with 16.25Mta of capacity across five lines.

Ibese plant in Ogun State has four cement lines with a combined installed capacity of 12Mta while Gboko plant in Benue State has 4Mta; and聽 Okpella plant in Edo State has 3Mta.

Dangote Group noted through recent investments, Dangote Cement has eliminated Nigeria’s dependence on imported cement and has transformed the country into an exporter of cement serving neighbouring countries.