Industrial giant Dangote Cement posted almost a third growth in its bottom line for 2021, supported by record turnover, advancing to N1.4 trillion from the N1 trillion reported for the previous fiscal year.
The largest cement manufacturer in Africa it increased production volume from 24.7 million to 28.5 million in the period under review to strengthen performance, according to its audited financial statements released on Monday.
It also took advantage of the high price of cement in the Nigerian market, where the product is sold 240 percent higher than the world averageAccording to industry data, despite the fact that the country’s production capacity was 47.8 million last April, at the same time the annual demand was about 20.7 million.
Rival Lafarge Africa, which also benefited largely from high prices, announced a 66.1 percent rise in profit for the same period on Tuesday.
Dangote Cement’s pre-tax profit rose to N538.4 billion from N373.3 billion, while its after-tax profit stood at N364.4 billion, up 32 percent from a year earlier.
Controlled by the richest man in Africa aliko dangoteThe cement maker received a ten-year tax incentive from the Nigerian government in 2017 in exchange for helping some of the country’s highways and interstates, with tax credits for the company reaching 22.3 billion naira as of April last year.
“The ₦162 billion book value that the company’s investment in subsidiaries represents is significant,” independent auditor KPMG said in its report.
“Some of the subsidiaries are currently making losses and are relying on financial support mainly in the form of loans and advances from the parent company for their ongoing operations,” the consultancy added, raising fears about how much of the sum is recoverable.
Nigeria contributed about 72 percent of Dangote Cement’s sales last year, according to its earnings report. The remainder came from its pan-African operations.