NIGERIA – Dangote Sugar, the Nigerian refined sugar manufacturer grew its revenue by 20.44% to US$568.28 million in its full year ended December 31, 2017 attributed to high prices of refined sugar.
The company posted a profit before tax of US$149m, a 173% increase from US$54.52million recorded in the corresponding period of last year.
According to the firm, gross profit increased for the period by 121.8% to US$141.75m from US$63.91m recorded last year due to cost saving strategies put in place by the management.
“We are very pleased with the 2017 business year, with an increased revenue growth of 20.4% over US$466.2m recorded during the same period in 2016, and US$77.84m gross profit increase of 121.8%, the best recorded in the history of the company,” said Abdullahi Sule, acting group managing director.
The Group liquidity position improved from US$97.3 million to US$114 million as at December 31, 2017 despite loses of about US$5.56 million to the perennial traffic gridlocks on Apapa port roads in Lagos every month.
The company attributed the loss to its inability to lift products from its depot at the port as a result of the traffic congestion.
Dangote sugar’s profit after taxation for the year increased by 176.3 per cent to US$110. million compared to US$40 million in 2016, while its earnings per share rose to US$9.71 from US$3.33 in 2016.
The management of the company proposed a final dividend of US$3.47 per share, bring the total dividend for the 2017 business year to US$4.88 per share.
In 2018, the company remains committed to its Backward Integration Programme (BIP) plan with focus to achieve 1.08 million metric tonnes sugar from its manufacturing facilities in the next 6 years.
The sugar refiner is leveraging its strengths in increasing the company’s market share and creates sustainable value for all stakeholders.
