Dangote Cement has earned nearly N1tn from its Nigerian operations in the first nine months of this year as it recorded N933.08bn compared to N890.65bn in the same period in 2022, representing a 4.76 per cent appreciation.

This was revealed in the unaudited interim financial statements for the nine months ended September 2023 filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited.

It was revealed that for the period under review, Dangote Cement earned N588.24bn from its Pan-African operations, which marked a 103.89 per cent appreciation over the 2022 figure of N288.51bn recorded in revenue.

Expectedly, profit from Dangote Cement’s Nigerian operations rose to N856.45bn at the end of September 2023 from N336.25bn in 2022. However, its Pan-African operations moderated to a loss of N54.35bn from the N127.67bn loss recorded in 2022.

The cement group which has operations in several African countries reported a 28.63 per cent rise in its revenue for the period ended September 2023 to N1.51tn from N1.18tn in September 2022.

With a finance cost of N20.67bn, loss on foreign-denominated transactions coming in at N99.02bn and an income tax expense of N127.34bn, the group’s profit for the period under review stood at N277.55bn, a 30.24 per cent appreciation from N213.10bn recorded in 2022.

For the three-month period or third quarter, Dangote Cement recorded revenue of N563.77bn compared to N369.22 reported in Q3 2022. Its profit for Q3 2023 rose to N98.95bn from N40.99, which is about 141 per cent increase.

Its earnings per share went up by 29.6 per cent at N16.08 and its Net debt stood at N507.7bn.

In the notes accompanying the reports, Dangote Cement said that its net exchange loss on foreign-denominated transactions is due to material devaluation of the Nigerian Naira in June 2023 as the Naira moved from N465 per dollar at the end of May 2023 to close at N756/$ in June 2023 giving rise to a net exchange loss of N116.1bn from third party loans and payables in the Nigerian entities.

Its cash and cash equivalents include restricted cash of N4.77bn for Group and N3.92bn for Company (December 2022 N5.38bn for Group and N4.93 billion for Company) on unclaimed dividend held in a separate bank account, letters of credit for the acquisition of inventories, property, plant and equipment as well as debt service reserve account.

As of September 2023, Dangote’s publicly issued bonds amount to N266bn with coupon rate of 11.25 per cent to 13.5 per cent. The tenure is between 3 to 10 years and its Commercial papers were issued under a programme with a face value of N170bn. The tenure is between 176 days and 267 days with discount ranging from 10 per cent to 13 per cent.

Speaking on the results, Chief Executive Officer, Arvind Pathak, said “This positive nine-month result is a combination of our strong value proposition, improved operational efficiency and a sustained drive to contain cost amidst an accelerating inflationary environment. We achieved double-digit growth in Group revenue at N1.514.6bn, while EBITDA rose to an all-time high of N662.8bn, up 28.5 per cent. Again, we continue to show the strength in the diversity of our operations. Our pan-African operations generated a record revenue and EBITDA growth of 103.9 per cent and 255.4 per cent, respectively, contributing 41.9 per cent to Group volumes. This unprecedented growth was driven by sustained demand across our countries of operation.

“We will continue to explore emerging opportunities and export strategies around the region to further consolidate the Group performance. Albeit the current inflationary environment and its impact on operating costs, we have flagged off the ‘distributors promo’ across various regions in Nigeria. This, we believe would support our customers by creating a positive income effect for purchasers of Dangote Cement.”

In terms of outlook, Pathak, said, “Looking ahead, we are at the final stage in the completion of our 1.5Mta grinding plant in Cote d’Ivoire, having commissioned our 0.45Mta Takoradi plant in the first half of the year. We are focused on improving our value proposition, anchored on our promise to deliver strong and superior cement to our unwavering customers. I am very pleased with the direction of our business and confident we will finish the year strong.”

Dangote Cement is Africa’s leading cement producer with 52.0Mta capacity across Africa.