For the year ending in December 2023, Lafarge Africa’s Board of Directors has proposed a dividend of N1.90 per unit of its shares, or N30.60 billion.
Compared to the N32.22 billion dividend it gave out the year before, this was less.
According to a corporate notice submitted on Thursday to the Nigerian Exchange Limited, shareholders must first approve the proposed dividend at the company’s next annual general meeting.
“A final dividend of 190 kobo per unit of 50 Kobo ordinary share, payable from the Pioneer Reserve, will be paid to shareholders whose names are in the register of members as at the close of business on Thursday, 28th March 2024,” part of the notice stated.
The cement producer, meanwhile, reported in its financial statement for the year ending December 2023 that its sales increased by around 8.6% to N405 billion from N373 billion the year before.
Nonetheless, the depreciation of the naira caused the post-tax earnings to decrease by 4.7% to N51.14 billion.
In addition, the company’s effective tax rate increased the previous year as a result of the Pioneer Status Incentive expiring in 2022.
Speaking, the Chief Executive Officer of Lafarge Africa, Lolu Alade-Akinyemi, said, “The fundamentals of our business remain strong. In spite of extremely challenging macroeconomic headwinds, we grew the top line by 8.6 per cent and improved the operating margin from 22.6 per cent to 25.3 per cent in FY 2023.
“In the face of very material FX devaluation losses and higher effective tax rate, profit after tax declined YoY by 4.7 per cent. Our performance was largely impacted by spiralling inflation and unprecedented naira devaluation, with the attendant pressure on energy and supply chain costs.
“Despite these challenges, we continue to maintain a strong free cash flow position and a strong balance sheet, positioning us for sustainable growth over the medium to long term. We are committed to delivering sustainable value to all stakeholders in the coming years, as we have done historically. I would like to thank all employees and stakeholders of Lafarge Africa for their commitment over the years.”
The company maintained a positive outlook for the year 2024, saying, “The Nigerian infrastructure and construction sector is expected to continue growing despite inflationary pressure and currency depreciation affecting the economy.As a result, we maintain our positive outlook, expecting increased demand in 2024 as the economy picks up.
“We will continue to maximise volume opportunities across our markets and actively manage our costs. The company remains committed to its sustainability ambitions and strategy of ‘Accelerating Green Growth’ through innovative building solutions and delivering stakeholder value.”
The issued and fully paid-up Share Capital of the Company as of December 31, 2023, was 16,107,795,721 ordinary shares of 50kobo each (31 December 2022: 16,107,795,721 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each).
More than 5% of the issued capital of the firm was held by two companies: CariCement BV and Associated International Cement Limited (AIC UK).
International investor Holcim Limited holds its shares in the names of two of its subsidiaries: CariCement BV (56.04 percent) and AIC UK (27.77 percent).
As of December 31, 2023, Holcim Limited owned 83.81 percent of the company’s shares.
Other people and organizations held the remaining 16.19 percent of the issued shares.