Lafarge Africa Offers N1 Dividend as Net Sales Drop 2.2%

By Dipo Olowookere

The board of Lafarge Africa Plc said the cement firm reported net sales of N213.0 billion in the 2019 financial year compared with the N217.8 billion made in the prior year, indicating about 2.2 percent decline.

Also, in the year under review, the cost of sales increased to N157.1 billion from N150.7 billion, while selling and marketing expenses gulped N5.1 billion in contrast to N3.9 billion a year earlier.

In the financial statements of the company for the year ended December 31, 2019 released on Monday, it was stated that the management trimmed the administrative costs to N17.6 billion in FY19 from N25.0 billion just as the other operating expenses were cut to N764.3 million from N1.1 billion.

In the year under review, the company’s gross profit reduced to N56.0 billion from N67.1 billion, while other income increased to N2.4 billion from N1.4 billion, with operating profit going down to N34.9 billion from N38.5 billion.

According to Lafarge Africa, there was a rise in the finance income to N3.2 billion from N1.5 billion, while the finance costs reduced to N20.2 billion from N41.6 billion.

It was disclosed in the financial status of the organisation that in FY 2019, there was a profit before tax of N17.9 billion compared with the loss before tax of N1.6 billion in FY 2018, and a profit after tax of N115.1 billion in contrast to the loss after tax of N8.8 billion reported in FY 2018.

On the balance sheet, there was a decline in the total assets to N497.2 billion in the period under consideration from N540.7 billion achieved in the prior year, while the total liabilities dropped to N152.2 billion from N406.2 billion.

The major reason for the decline in the company’s total liabilities was the huge cut in the borrowings, which stood at N11.5 billion as against N93.8 billion in the 2018 financial year.

It was also revealed in the results that the retained earnings increased to N155.8 billion from N138.3 billion.

Meanwhile, the board has proposed the payment of N1 dividend to shareholders of the company. In the previous financial year, no cash reward was made to investors.

If approved by shareholders at the company’s forthcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM), the total amount of the dividend to be paid would be N16.1 billion.

The AGM has been fixed for Tuesday, May 26, 2020, which is also the dividend payment date, while the qualification date is Thursday, April 30, 2020, with the closure of the register of shareholders set for Monday, May 4, 2020 to Friday, May 8, 2020 (both dates inclusive.

Shareholders who are yet to complete the e-dividend registration have been advised to download the registrar’s E-dividend Mandate Activation Form available on www.cardinalstoneregistrars.com, complete and submit to the registrar or their respective banks.

Also, shareholders with dividend warrants and share certificates that have remained unclaimed or are yet to be presented for payment or returned for validation have been advised to complete the e-dividend registration or contact the registrar.