Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
The positive turnaround at Lafarge Africa lately seems to have been sustained going by the financial statements of the company for 2020 half-year released on Friday.
In the period ended June 30, 2020, the cement firm, which increased its turnover, embarked on some cost management strategies that supported the growth of its net profit.
According to the results, Lafarge Africa generated N120.5 billion as revenue in H1 2020 in contrast to N117.9 billion reported in H1 2019.
In the period also, the cost of sales increased marginally to N78.8 billion from N78.4 billion, while the gross profit jumped to N41.7 billion from N39.5 billion.
According to the half-year results, the selling and marketing expenses reduced to N1.6 billion from N1.7 billion, while the administrative costs went down to N7.8 billion from N11.3 billion, with the other income down to N554.0 million from N1.3 billion and the operating profit up to N32.8 billion from N27.9 billion.
In the first six months of this year, the finance income dropped to N377.1 million from N934.3 million, while the finance costs reduced to N4.4 billion from N13.3 billion.
However, the profit before tax increased to N28.8 billion from N15.5 billion, while the profit after tax jumped to N23.3 billion from N9.0 billion, with the earnings per share at N1.45 versus 98 kobo of H1 2019.
On the balance sheet, the total assets reduced year-to-date to N495.8 billion from N497.2 billion in FY 2019, while the total liabilities dropped year-to-date to N143.7 billion from N152.2 billion as at December 31, 2019.
