Dangote Cement has recorded a revenue of N140.5 billion in the first quarter ended March 31, 2016.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that this was against the N107.2 billion posted in the same period in 2015.
The figure is contained in the company’s unaudited result released on Tuesday in Lagos.
The report showed that the revenue increased by 22.5 per cent compared with the figure achieved in the same period of 2015.
The company stated that total sales during the period under review stood at 6.4 million tonnes (MT) against 3.8 MT posted in 2015, indicating an increase of 68.4 per cent.
Its operating profit margin, the report stated, stood at N56.1 billion against N58.44 billion posted in the first quarter of 2015, showing a decrease of four per cent.
Commenting on the result, Mr Onne van der Weijde, the company’s Chief Executive Officer, said that sales volume increased in all territories the company was operating.
He said sales in Nigeria increased by 45.4 per cent to 4.5 MT after a price reduction.
“As we forecast at the time of last September’s price cut, group operating profit margins were reduced by the impact of the lower price in our main market.
“That we are gaining substantial market shares so soon after launching operations across Africa is a testament to our business model of competing with higher quality products produced at lower costs”, Weijde said.
He explained that the company’s success in these markets would position it for even better performance in the coming years as economies begin to recover.
He said that the company had begun work on new plants to meet future needs in Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire.
The chief executive officer added that the company had signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the financing and construction of its next wave of plants in Nigeria and beyond to reinforce its position as a global cement company.
NAN reports that Dangote Cement is Africa’s leading cement producer with nearly 44 mt capacity in three plants it operates in Nigeria.
It recently opened factories in Cameroon, Ethiopia, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia. (NAN)
