Economy
Dangote Cement Pays N144.8b Dividend to Shareholders
By Dipo Olowookere
At the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Dangote Cement Plc, the pay-out of N144.8 billion dividend to its shareholders was approved, which represented N8.50k per share in contrast to N8 per share paid to them in the corresponding period of 2015.
This excited the shareholders, who could not hide their joy and were full of praise for the board, management and staff of Dangote Cement Plc for giving them good returns for the investments.
“We are very happy and pleased with this result. The year 2016 was very tough with the recession and fluctuation in the foreign exchange market which the Chairman also said affected their operations, but despite all these challenges, the company was still able to pay us a very good dividend, better than last year, and even gave us hope of better returns on our investments in the years to come. This is very commendable and it is only a company like Dangote Cement that can achieve this laudable feat,” President of Amiable Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Mr Festus Akano, enthused.
Also at the meeting held in Lagos, another shareholder, Mr Akin Akinwumi, from the Progressive Shareholders Association urged the management to give a bonus and a better dividend in 2017.
He appealed to the company to do all within its power to give bonus issue.
“We thank the management for giving us this dividend but we are appealing so strongly that bonus issue should also be considered. For some of us, we prefer a bonus to this dividend and we know it can be done,” Mr Akinwunmi said.
He expressed optimism on the pan African plants, especially now that the plants were contributing significantly to the turnover of the company.
“It is a statement of fact that we are lucky to be shareholders of this great company. If you see what our subsidiaries across Africa are contributing to the turnover, then you will understand what I am talking about. I am very happy and our members are upbeat for the future, knowing fully well that it will only get better,” he remarked.
On his part, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Cement, Mr Onne van der Weijde, revealed that the expansion strategy of the company yielded fruits last year when Nigeria was in recession as the plants across Africa contributed significantly to the company’s turnover.
“We can see how that strategy has helped us in a time that our main market of Nigeria is facing a recession, high inflation, lower consumer spending and a shortage of foreign currency to fund essential imports.
“But outside of Nigeria we’ve had operations that have now been running for more than a year and they are experiencing good growth and improving profitability, so we have managed to offset some of those topline pressures in Nigeria with revenue streams from countries in very different parts of the continent.
“Furthermore, those Pan-African operations are helping to generate foreign currency for the Group, so this shows how a long-term decision to diversify can help with a short-term pressure like an illiquid currency market in Nigeria,” he said.
During the meeting, it was disclosed that company’s strategy in every country of operations was to be the leader on costs, quality and service.
It was further revealed that Dangote Cement, during the period under review, built large, modern, highly efficient plants that combine the latest equipment from Europe, China and beyond to enable it make higher-quality cement at lower costs, thereby giving it strong competitive advantages.
Also, in the 2016 financial year, the cement sales volumes of the firm increased by 25.0 percent to nearly 23.6Mt. Of this, almost 14.8Mt was sold in the Nigerian market. Revenues increased by 25.1 per cent to N615.1B, of which 68.3 percent was generated in Nigeria (excluding eliminations) and 31.7 percent from Pan-African operations.
The firm’s earnings before interest, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) decreased only slightly, to N257.2 billion, with Pan-African operations contributing N26.5 billion, excluding central costs, while earnings per share increased by 4.5 percent to N11.34.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The additional shares sold by Morison Industries Plc through private placement have been listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.
The additional equities were brought to Customs Street last week, according to a circular issued by the Head of Issuer Regulation Department of the NGX, Mr Godstime Iwenekhai.
The company listed a total of 266,838,125 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N1.50 per unit, amounting to N400.3 million, Business Post reports.
The listing of these new stocks of Morison Industries has increased the fully paid-up shares of the organisation to 1,256,000,000 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each from 989,161,875 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each.
“Trading licence holders are hereby notified that additional 266,838,125 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each of Morison Industries Plc were (on) Tuesday, January 13, 2026, listed on the daily official list of Nigerian Exchange Limited.
The additional shares listed on NGX arose from the company’s private placement of 266,838,125 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N1.50 per share.
“With the listing of the additional shares, the total issued and fully paid-up shares of Morison Industries Plc have now increased from 989,161,875 to 1,256,000,000 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each,” the disclosure disclosed.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) has projected a single-digit inflation rate for Nigeria at 9.84 per cent in its wider optimistic forecast for this year.
In its 12th National Economic Outlook and Its Implication for Businesses in 2026, the bankers group saw a better metric compared to those of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The CBN and the IMF respectively see Nigeria’s economy growing at 4.49 per cent and 4.2 per cent, and the inflation rate dropping to 14.45 per cent and 18 per cent while the foreign reserves rise to N45.78 billion and $43 billion respectively this year.
However, in the outlook presentation by Professor Biodun Adedipe, the CIBN projects a 4.51 per cent GDP growth rate and a 9.84 per cent inflation rate. It forecast the exchange rate stabilizing at N1,420/$1 and the foreign reserves hitting $50.8 billion.
Business Post reports that Professor Adedipe, corporate finance scholar and founder of B. Adedipe Associates Ltd, has been presenting the national economic outlook since 12 years ago, with the firm claiming to initiate the trend in Nigeria, before even the CBN and others caught on with it.
Last week, after a revised approach Nigeria’s headline inflation eased to 15.5 per cent year-on-year in December 2025, down from 17.33 per cent in the preceding month. On a month-on-month basis, headline inflation slowed to 0.54 per cent in December, compared to 1.22 per cent in November.
Ahead of the data release, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) had cautioned that the rebasing exercise could result in a temporary “artificial spike” in the December inflation figures.
Mr Adeyemi Adeniran, the statistician-general of the federation, said the adjustment in the reference period, known as the base year, would affect the headline number.
“This artificial spike is a result of the base effect of December 2024, which is equated to 100, following the rebasing exercise,” Mr Adeniran said.
By Dipo Olowookere
Eighty equities appreciated on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited last week compared with the 84 equities recorded in the previous week, as 17 equities depreciated versus 22 equities in the preceding week, while 50 equities remained unchanged versus 42 equities of the earlier week.
NCR Nigeria gained 60.79 per cent to finish at N128.55, SCOA Nigeria grew by 59.36 per cent to N14.90, Deap Capital expanded by 48.67 per cent to N4.46, Jaiz Bank soared by 45.73 per cent to N8.19, and Omatek surged by 38.28 per cent to N1.77.
At the other end, Ikeja Hotel lost 12.38 per cent to settle at N35.05, Austin Laz declined by 9.20 per cent to N3.75, Eterna crashed by 7.71 per cent to N32.30, Universal Insurance went down by 7.69 per cent to N1.20, and Eunisell retreated by 7.57 per cent to N156.95.
The bourse remained bullish in the week, with the All-Share Index (ASI) up by 2.36 per cent to 166,129.50, and the market capitalisation up by 2.48 per cent to N106.354 trillion.
Similarly, all other indices finished higher apart from the AFR Div Yield index, which depreciated by 0.15 per cent.
In the five-day trading week, investors traded 4.607 billion shares worth N130.636 billion in 263,439 deals, in contrast to the 4.164 billion shares valued at N94.026 billion transacted in 248,254 deals a week earlier.
Further analysis showed that financial stocks led the activity chart with 3.126 billion units worth N47.225 billion traded in 94,186 deals, contributing 67.84 per cent and 36.15 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively.
Services equities followed with 353.436 million units sold for N5.096 billion in 17,764 deals, while ICT shares exchanged 277.263 million equities valued at N18.009 billion in 28,525 deals.
Sovereign Trust Insurance, Access Holdings, and Linkage Assurance were the busiest stocks last week, trading 1.406 billion units valued at N9.735 billion in 11,732 deals, contributing 30.52 per cent and 7.45 per cent to the total trading volume and value apiece.
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