Economy
Dangote Cement Resumes Clinker Exports as Local Prices Stabilise
By Dipo Olowookere
One of the leading cement makers in Africa, Dangote Cement Plc, has resumed clinker exports to neighbouring nations on the continent.
Over three months ago, the company said it suspended the export of clinker as the rising demand for cement in Nigeria was pushing the price and it needed to ramp up production to stabilise the situation.
“We took the strategic decision to pause our clinker exports to ensure we meet the rapid volume growth in the Nigerian domestic market.
“We are improving the output of our existing and new assets and aim to recommence clinker exports in the second quarter,” the GMD/Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Cement, Mr Michel Puchercos, had said.
A few days ago, the cement maker released its half-year results and Mr Puchercos confirmed that in the second quarter of this year, the exportation of the commodity was restarted, with two shipments, one each from Apapa and Onne terminals.
“We recommenced clinker exports in the second quarter after taking the strategic decision to pause our clinker exports. This was to ensure we met the historic volume growth in the Nigerian domestic market since mid-2020,” the company’s chief said in a statement made available to Business Post.
In the first six months of 2021, Dangote Cement grew sales volumes to 15.3Mt, with its local market accounting for 9.87 Mt and pan-African markets contributing 5.5Mt.
This increase was attributed to rising activities in the housing infrastructure and commercial construction and it boosted the post-tax profit to N191.6 billion
For Mr Puchercos, “Our performance reflects the strong demand across the group, with increases in revenue and profitability, compared to the same period last year.
“This strong intrinsic performance is magnified by the lower Q2 2020 results because of COVID-19. The growth trend continues, and we are focused on meeting the strong market demand across all our countries of operation.”
He further said, “We are improving the output of our existing and new assets and I am happy to announce that our 3 Mt Okpella Plant, Edo State, is on track to come on stream in the next quarter.”
Mr Puchercos also stated that the company’s alternative fuel project which focuses on leveraging waste management solutions, reducing CO2 emissions and sourcing material locally was at an advanced stage while procurement and installation of the necessary equipment across all plants was ongoing.
On the steps taken to protect the stakeholders, he said, “We also continue to maintain a strong focus on health and safety measures in all our engagements with stakeholders.
“We have learned a lot over the past year on how to mitigate risks associated with COVID-19. We remain committed to protecting our team members and communities by being fully compliant with local laws and regulations.”
On sound governance, he disclosed that, “We are leading the way with our commitment to sustainability and best practices. We are driven by the goal of achieving the highest level of governance and building a sustainable brand for all stakeholders. Transparency and consistency are at the core of every part of our business culture.”
Dangote Cement became the first Nigerian listed company to report its financial results using XBRL format with the IFRS taxonomy.
Adopting the XBRL reporting format will strongly benefit Dangote Cement’s existing and potential investors. It represents another step in continuing efforts to modernize and enhance the transparency of, and access to, companies’ disclosures.
Dangote Cement Plc is Sub-Saharan Africa’s largest cement producer with an installed capacity of 45.6Mta capacity across 10 African countries and operates a fully integrated “quarry-to-customer” business with activities covering manufacturing, sales, and distribution of cement.
It has a production capacity of 32.3Mta in its home market, Nigeria. It has three cement plants in Nigeria, the Obajana plant in Kogi state, with 16.3Mta of capacity across four lines; the Ibese plant in Ogun State has four cement lines with a combined installed capacity of 12Mta and Gboko plant in Benue state has 4Mta.
Through recent investments, Dangote Cement has eliminated Nigeria’s dependence on imported cement and has transformed the nation into an exporter of cement serving neighbouring countries.
In addition, Dangote Cement has operations in Cameroon (1.5Mta clinker grinding), Congo (1.5Mta), Ghana (1.5Mta import), Ethiopia (2.5Mta), Senegal (1.5Mta), Sierra Leone (0.5Mta import), South Africa (2.8Mta), Tanzania (3.0Mta), Zambia (1.5Mta).
Dangote Cement has a long-term credit rating of AAA(NG+) by GCR and Aa2.ng by Moody’s due to its market-leading position, significant operational scale and strong financial profile evidenced by the company’s robust operating and net profit margins relative to regional and global peers, adequate working capital, satisfactory cash flow and low leverage.
Dangote Cement is a subsidiary of Dangote Industries Limited, a diversified and fully integrated conglomerate as well as a leading brand across Africa in businesses such as cement, sugar, salt, pasta, beverages, and real estate, with new multi-billion-dollar projects underway in the oil and gas, petrochemical, fertilizer and agricultural sectors.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited is seeking review of the controversial Capital Gains Tax increase, fearing it will chase away foreign investors from the country’s capital market.
Nigeria’s new tax regime, which takes effect from January 1, 2026, represents one of the most significant changes to Nigeria’s tax system in recent years.
Under the new rules, the flat 10 per cent Capital Gains Tax rate has been replaced by progressive income tax rates ranging from zero to 30 per cent, depending on an investor’s overall income or profit level while large corporate investors will see the top rate reduced to 25 per cent as part of a wider corporate tax reform.
The chief executive of NGX, Mr Jude Chiemeka, said in a Bloomberg interview in Kigali, Rwanda that there should be a “removal of the capital gains tax completely, or perhaps deferring it for five years.”
According to him, Nigeria, having a higher Capital Gains Tax, will make investors redirect asset allocation to frontier markets and “countries that have less tax.”
“From a capital flow perspective, we should be concerned because all these international portfolio managers that invest across frontier markets will certainly go to where the cost of investing is not so burdensome,” the CEO said, as per Bloomberg. “That is really the angle one will look at it from.”
Meanwhile, the policy has been defended by the chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, who noted that the new tax will make investing in the capital market more attractive by reducing risks, promoting fairness, and simplifying compliance.
He noted that the framework allows investors to deduct legitimate costs such as brokerage fees, regulatory charges, realised capital losses, margin interest, and foreign exchange losses directly tied to investments, thereby ensuring that they are not taxed when operating at a loss.
Mr Oyedele also said the reforms introduced a more inclusive approach to taxation by exempting several categories of investors and transactions.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Food Concepts Plc neutralized the gains recorded by three securities, returning the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange into the negative territory with a 0.27 per cent loss on Thursday, December 4.
Yesterday, the share price of the parent company of Chicken Republic and PieXpress declined by 34 Kobo to sell at N3.15 per unit compared with the previous day’s N3.49 per unit.
This shrank the market capitalisation of the OTC bourse by N5.72 billion to N2.136 billion from N2.142 trillion and weakened the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 9.57 points to 3,571.53 points from 3,581.10 points.
Business Post reports that Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went down by 50 Kobo to N38.50 per share from N38.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc gained 29 Kobo to sell at N55.79 per unit versus N55.50 per unit, and Geo-Fluids Plc added 5 Kobo to close at N4.60 per share compared with Wednesday’s closing price of N4.55 per share.
Trading data indicated that the volume of securities recorded at the session surged by 6,885.3 per cent to 4.3 million units from the 61,570 units posted a day earlier, the value of securities increased by 10,301.7 per cent to N947.2 million from N3.3 million, and the number of deals went up by 146.7 per cent to 37 deals from the 15 deals achieved in the previous trading session.
At the close of business, Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 5.8 billion units for N16.4 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 170.4 million units worth N8.0 billion, and Air Liquide Plc with 507.5 million units valued at N4.2 billion.
InfraCredit Plc also finished the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units transacted for N16.4 billion, followed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.2 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units traded for N524.9 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The upward trend witnessed at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited in recent sessions continued on Thursday as it further improved by 0.10 per cent.
This was despite investor sentiment turning bearish after the local equity market ended with 23 price gainers and 28 price gainers, indicating a negative market breadth index.
UAC Nigeria gained 10.00 per cent to finish at N88.00, Morison Industries appreciated by 9.94 per cent to N3.54, Ecobank rose by 8.53 per cent to N36.90, and Coronation Insurance grew by 8.47 per cent to N2.56.
On the flip side, Ellah Lakes depreciated by 10.00 per cent to N13.14, Eunisell Nigeria also shed 10.00 per cent to finish at N72.90, Transcorp Hotels slipped by 9.95 per cent to N157.50, Omatek shrank by 9.23 per cent to N1.18, and Guinea Insurance dipped by 8.46 per cent to N1.19.
Yesterday, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 152.28 points to 145,476.15 points from 145,323.87 points and the market capitalisation chalked up N97 billion to finish at N92.726 trillion compared with the previous day’s N92.629 trillion.
Customs Street was bubbling with activities on Thursday, though the trading volume and value slightly went down, according to data.
A total of 1.9 billion stocks worth N19.2 billion exchanged hands in 23,369 deals during the session versus the N2.3 billion valued at N21.0 billion traded in 21,513 deals a day earlier.
This showed that the number of deals increased by 8.63 per cent, the volume of transactions depleted by 17.39 per cent, and the value of trades decreased by 8.57 per cent.
For another trading day, eTranzact led the activity chart with 1.6 billion units sold for N6.4 billion, Fidelity Bank traded 31.0 million units worth N589.3 million, GTCO exchanged 28.3 million units valued at N2.5 billion, Zenith Bank transacted 27.1 million units for N1.6 billion, and Ecobank traded 21.9 million units worth N744.3 million.
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