DANGOTE CEMENT RAISES N50BN VIA CP TO SUPPORT SHORT-TERM FUNDING

Dangote Cement Plc is raising N50
billion in the fifth, sixth and seventh series of its N150 billion Commercial
Paper (CP) programme.

The series 5 is for 93 days tenor
with effective yield of 12.38%, while series 6 is for 178 days and has
effective yield of 13.08%. On the other hand, series 7 is for 269 days and has
a yield of 13.16%.

The offer opened last Wednesday
and will close today. Minimum subscription is for each series is N5 million and
multiples of N1,000 thereafter.

According to Dangote Cement Plc,
the proceeds of the CP would be used to support its short term financial
requirements.

The leading cement manufacturing
firm, last year recorded a revenue of N901.21 billion, with Nigerian operations
accounting for N618.30 billion, representing an increase of 11.9% over N552.36
billion in 2017.

Pan-African operations recorded
revenues of N263.26 billion, an increase of 9.6% 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% 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.

The company sold a total of 23.54
MT of cement across Africa indicating an increase of 7.4% over 21.92 MT sold in
2017. Nigerian operations accounted for 14.18 MT representing an increase of
11.4% 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.

Commenting on the results, Group CEO,
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.” https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2019/05/24/dangote-cement-raises-n50bn-via-cp-to-support-short-term-funding/