The unaudited results released to the Nigerian Stock Exchange indicated that the increase in sales volume showed a growing capture of pan-African market.
Revenues from operations in Nigeria increased by 34.5% to ₦291.4bn (£684m) while Pan-Africa revenue increased by 63.7% to ₦124.4B from ₦76.0B mainly as a result of increased volumes and foreign exchange gains when converting the sales from country local currency into Naira.
Analysis of the half year result revealed that sales volumes of African operations increased by 12.6% to 4.7 million tonnes with Sierra Leone making a 53,000t maiden contribution.
Record of sales from its operations scattered around the African continent showed sales of 1.1 million tonnes of cement in Ethiopia, almost 0.7 million tonnes in Senegal, 0.6 million tonnes sold in Cameroon, and 0.5 tonnes in Ghana. The company also sold 0.4 million tonnes of cement was sold in Tanzania and 0.3 million tonnes in Zambia.
Sales volumes from Nigerian operations fell from 8.8Mt to 6.9Mt; the onset of rains stalled many construction projects.
Dangote Cement chief executive officer Onne van der Weijde expressed satisfaction that the company’s revenues have continued to grow despite low sales from the Nigerian operations. “Our margins have improved significantly, helped by improved efficiencies and a much better fuel mix in Nigeria. We are using much more gas and increasing our use of coal mined in Nigeria, thus reducing our need for foreign currency and supporting Nigerian jobs.”
He added that pan-African operations are growing well and increasing market share. The first sales from Sierra Leone took place in the first quarter of the year and a new plant in the Republic of Congo began production at the end of July.”
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