Shareholders Hail Dangote Over Cement’s N272.6bn Dividend
African News, Business News, Featured, Latest Headlines, News, Press Releases Thursday, May 27th, 2021
(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – Shareholders of Dangote Cement Plc on Wednesday commended theManagement of the company for an impressive performance despite the economicchallenges in the year under review.
Unanimously, theshareholders approved N272.6 billion as dividend, translating to N16 per sharefor the year ended December 31, 2020. The 16 per cent increase in the company’srevenue led to a 36 per cent increase in its earnings per share of N16.14 asagainst N11.29 in 2019.
The shareholders at the virtual 12th Annual General Meeting(AGM) held in Lagos commended the management for the full disclosure providedfor the year, share buyback process and the various donations made at COVID-19pandemic.
Speakingon behalf of shareholders, the founder, Independent Shareholders Association ofNigeria, Sir Sunny Nwosu commended the company for attaining a trillion-nairarevenue growth, saying that the Company is moving in the best way of corporategovernance.
Heappealed to the Company to prevail on its numerous distributors who arbitrarilysell cement at very high costs as against the real factory price, therebymaking so much profit for themselves.
Also,a shareholder, Non Awoh applauded the board for the consistency in dividendpayout, urging the board to consider payment of dividend twice a year.
Speakingto shareholders, Chairman of Dangote Cement Plc, Aliko Dangote assured theshareholders of better returns always, noting that the company is doingeverything possible to create wealth for its shareholders and otherstakeholders. He further said despite the challenging year surrounding byCOVID-19 pandemic, 2020 was a record year for us across board.
“DangoteCement hit the N1 trillion mark in term of revenue. Group revenues were up 16per cent compared to 2019. We record Group cement sales of 25.7 million tonnes(Mt) and revenues of N1.034 trillion. Most notably was our record high EBITDAof N478.1 billion, up 20.9 per cent compared to 2019…”
Dangotesaid that the board maintains the 2019 dividend of N16 per share, reinforcingits commitment to maximising shareholder value.
Also,the chairman said, “In 2020, we commissioned our Apapa and Onne exportterminals in Nigeria and commenced clinker exports to West and Central Africa.The vision for our exporter strategy is to make West and Central Africa cementand clinker self-sufficient, with Nigeria as the main supplier and exporter. Wealso remain focused on meeting the demand in Nigeria and as such, we increasedour capacity by three metric tonnes (MT) on Obajana and we commissioned ourgas-fired power plant in Tanzania.
“OurNigerian domestic operations sold 15.6Mt, up 14.3 per cent year-on-year,growing ahead the market. This strong volume growth was enhanced by oursuccessful innovative national consumer promotion ‘Bag of Goodies- Season 2’,lower rains in the Q3 compared to the previous year and the low interest rateenvironment driving strong demand for real estate assets and supporting theconstruction sector.
“Pan-Africavolumes were up by 4.4 per cent to 10.0Mt despite the various lock-downs andrestrictions in 2020. The Pan-African region achieved a record high EBITDA ofN71.3 billion, up 49.0 per cent, notably supported by strong performance inEthiopia and Senegal.”
Onoutlook for 2021, Dangote said the Company remains optimistic about the future,saying that the board is considering all strategic and financial options forthe company. “We will continue to improve our efforts in sustainability byapplying ‘The Dangote Way’ to the seven Sustainability Pillars of our businessculture and operations. We are also focused on increasing capacity in theNigerian market and building grinding plants across West and Central Africa tobe fed clinker from Nigeria.”
Henoted further that, “We welcome the Africa Free Trade Agreement which supportsour export strategy and long-term growth in Africa. Dangote Cement is wellpositioned to capture demand driven by the economic recovery in 2021, as theregion recovers from the impact of the pandemic and all our countries ofoperation return to growth.”
Also,the Group Managing Director/CEO of Dangote Cement Plc, Michel Puchercos saidthat despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 was a record year forDangote Cement across board.
Onshare buyback, he stated that Dangote Cement is constantly exploring ways ofcreating value for its shareholders, in addition to its consistent dividend andcapital appreciation. He said: “The company has also been pursuing severaloptions such as the share buyback programme to return cash to itsshareholders.”
Headded that, “Our strategy is to make the company more attractive to investorsin the near term and for future long-term growth.”
Puchercossaid that, “The outlook for the company is very positive as we are focused onmeeting the demand locally and across Africa. We look forward to the AfricanContinental Free Trade Agreement supporting our export strategy to West andCentral Africa.”
Short URL: https://www.africanexaminer.com/?p=63409
