By Dipo Olowookere
Dangote Cement generated revenue of N1.0 trillion in the 2020 financial year, the results released by the board to the stock have revealed.
This was despite the challenges recorded in the year. In the previous financial year, the earnings stood at N891.7 billion.
A significant part of the Dangote Cement revenue came from sales of cement and clinker (N1.0 trillion versus N889.4 billion in 2019), while sales of other products accounted for just N1.6 million, lower than N2.3 million a year earlier.
In the analysis of the company’s earnings by Business Post, it was observed that the gross profit went up to N596.2 billion from N511.7 billion.
Administrative expenses rose to N60.3 billion from N54.1 billion due to an increase in the salaries and related staff costs (N16.1 billion from N12.9 billion), corporate social responsibility (N3.8 billion from N2.6 billion), bank charges (N2.3 billion from N2.0 billion), security expenses (N2.0 billion from N1.5 billion), impairment of non-financial assets (N2.8 billion versus N71.0 million) and management fee (N5.3 billion against N4.0 billion).
In the year under review, Dangote Cement said its selling and distribution expenses reduced to N153.7 billion from N160.8 billion, while the other income jumped to N4.8 billion from N3.0 billion, while the profit from operating activities increased to N386.7 billion from N299.9 billion, with the finance income rising to N29.8 billion from N7.6 billion and the finance costs going down to N44.0 billion from N57.7 billion.
With a profit before tax of N373.3 billion, higher than N250.5 billion in the prior year, and the payment of N97.2 billion as income tax, higher than the N50.0 billion paid in 2019, Dangote Cement closed the year under review with a profit after tax of N276.1 billion in contrast to N200.5 billion of the preceding year.
In the year, the earnings per share (EPS) grew to N16.14 from N11.79 and the board has decided to reward shareholders for their loyalty with a dividend of N16, the same amount paid for the 2019 fiscal year.
