Dangote Cement proposes ₦6 dividend

Dangote Cement Plc has proposed a dividend of N6 per share for the financial year ended December 31, 2014.

The dividend proposal is expected to be presented to the company’s shareholders for approval at its Annual General Meeting, which is scheduled to take place on April 29.

According to the company, the closure date of the dividend is April 20, while the payment date is the day after the AGM, which is scheduled to take place in Lagos.

The dividend was proposed following a year in which the company reported a profit after tax of N159.5bn.

The cement giant had ended 2014 with revenue of N392bn, compared with the N386bn revenue it generated in 2013.

Its administrative expenses, however, rose from N25.9bn to N274bn, while sales/distribution expenses increased from 35.6bn to N37.4bn and finance cost jumped from N13.7bn to N32.9bn.

Consequently, profit was N184.7bn for 2014, compared with N191bn the previous year, while its profit after tax declined from N201bn to N159.5bn.

The dividend payment proposed by the company’s Board of Directors, translates to a dividend yield of 3.9 per cent and a payout ratio of 63.5 per cent.

The Executive Director, Dangote Cement, Mr. Devakumar Edwin, was quoted as saying that the dividend was proposed after the company overcame challenges in its operating environment.

He said, “Despite the challenging conditions of the erratic fuel supply and prolonged rainy season that affected revenues and profitability in Nigeria, the fact that we have increased our dividend payout ratio is a clear sign of confidence in our future.”

The dividend payout ratio increased from 59.1 per cent to 63.7 per cent.

Meanwhile, the company had said that its expansion in Africa is underway with plants opening in South Africa and Senegal, Cameroon recently operational and plants readying for production in Zambia and Ethiopia.

Edwin was quoted as saying of the expansion, “We commissioned nine million tons of new capacity at our Obajana and Ibese plants and this puts them amongst the biggest cement plants in the world.

“Outside Nigeria, we opened up new factories in South Africa and Senegal in 2014 and our grinding plant in Cameroon has just become operational.

“We have started commissioning our plants in Zambia and Ethiopia and are on track to open more factories in Africa in the coming years. The success of our expansion is evidence that we are delivering on our strategy to become e a much larger, more international company.”