Dangoe Cement Plc Wednesday February 27, 2019 announced its audited results for the year ended December 31, 2018, showing a revenue of N901.21 billion.

Its Nigerian operations accounted for N618.30 billion, representing an increase of 11.9 percent over N552.36 billion in 2017.

Pan-African operations recorded revenues of N263.26 billion, an increase of 9.6 percent over N258.44 billion posted in the corresponding period in 2017. Profit after tax stood at N390.32 billion, up from N204.25 billion while earnings per share rose from N11.65 to N22.83. The company directors are proposing a dividend of N16 per share.

A further analysis of the performance showed that Dangote Cement maintained its dominance of the Nigerian market, accounting for 65 percent of the total volume sold in the domestic cement sector in 2018. The company also exported 800,000 Metric Tonnes (MT) of cement to West African countries, strengthening Nigeria’s position as a cement exporting country, creating jobs in the economy, and earning foreign exchange.

Dangote sold a total of 23.54 MT of cement across Africa indicating an increase of 7.4 per cent over 21.92 MT sold in 2017. Nigerian operations accounted for 14.18 MT representing an increase of 11.4 per cent over the volume of 12.72 metric tonnes sold during the preceding year. The increase in the Nigerian volume is attributable to higher building activities as the economy recovered from recession.

The sales volume in Nigeria is quite significant given the turbulent marketsituation as the election period approached and people usually hedge in the construction industry during such periods.

Commenting on the results, Group Chief Executive Officer, Dangote Cement, Joe Makoju, said: “This is a record financial performance by Dangote Cement, driven by a strong increase in our home market, Nigeria, despite heavy rains and uncertainties about the election.

‘‘Although Pan-African volumes were unchanged in 2018, I am confident that we will see an increase in 2019, driven by higher volumes in Tanzania, Ethiopia, Congo and Sierra Leone. Now that we have gas turbines operating in Tanzania we will also see increased profitability in the Pan-Africa region and this will help to improve overall Group margins.”

Dangote Cement is Africa’s leading cement producer with nearly 46metric tonnes per annum (mtpa) capacity across Africa. It is a fully integrated quarry-to-customer producer, with a production capacity of 29.3mtpa in the home market, Nigeria. The Obajana plant in Kogi state, Nigeria, is the largest in Africa with 13.3 mpta of capacity across four lines; Ibese plant in Ogun State has four cement lines with a combined installed capacity of 12 mtpa, while Gboko plant in Benue state has 4mpta.