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| hairman, Dangote Cement Plc, Alhaji Aliko Dangote (left); Chief Executive Officer, Onne van der Weijde and Director, Olakunle Alake at the eighth annual meeting of the company in Lagos …yesterday. |
Shareholders of Dangote Cement yesterday lauded the board,
management and staff of the company for the dividend payout of N144.8 billion,
which translated to N8.50 kobo per share as against N8 per share paid in the
corresponding period of 2015.
Speaking at the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) in
Lagos, President of Amiable Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Festus Akano
said the shareholders were pleased with Aliko Dangote and his team.
He said for the company to pay a robust dividend despite the
economic recession, shows the management’s doggedness and the fighting
entrepreneurial spirit.
“We are very happy and pleased with the result. 2016 was
very tough with the recession and fluctuation in the foreign exchange market,
which the Chairman also said affected their operations. But despite the
challenges, the company was still able to pay us a very good dividend better
than last year and even gave us hope of better returns on our investments in
the years to come. This is very commendable and it is only a company like
Dangote Cement that can achieve this laudable feat,” he said.
While presenting the reports to the shareholders, Chairman
of the company, Aliko Dangote said the company’s strategy in every country of
operations was to be the leader on costs, quality and service.
He noted that the company builds large, modern, highly
efficient plants that combine the latest equipment from Europe, China and
beyond to enable it make higher-quality cement at lower costs, thereby giving
it strong competitive advantages.
“Looking back at the 2016 financial year, I am pleased to
report that the volume of our cement sales increased by 25.0 percent to nearly
23.6Mt. Of this, almost 14.8Mt was sold in the Nigerian market. Revenues
increased by 25.1 percent to ₦615.1 billion of which 68.3 percent was generated
in Nigeria (excluding eliminations) and 31.7 percent from Pan-African
operations.
“Our earnings before interest, depreciation and amortisation
(EBITDA) decreased only slightly to ₦257.2 billion, with Pan-African operations
contributing ₦26.5 billion, excluding central costs. Earnings per share
increased by 4.5 percent to ₦11.34.”
GUARDIAN
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