Lafarge Africa Plc profit declined by 17 percent to ₦29.350 billion in June 2024 from ₦35.476 billion in June of 2023.
This is derived from the unaudited financial statement for the first half of the year.
Lafarge revenue rose by 49.5% year on year to ₦295.58 billion from ₦197.68 billion in the prior period.
Its cement sales jumped up by 49.6% to ₦287.01 billion, aggregate and concrete sales, increased by 47.25% to ₦8.23 billion, while other products line surged by 79.59% to ₦335 billion. The broad-based increase in revenue items line drove the topline growth in H1 2024, analysts said.
The company’s adjusted cost of sales increased by 66.4% year on year to ₦134.81 billion in H1 2024 from ₦81.02 billion in H1 2023, CSL Stockbrokers Limited said in its review note.
“We attribute the rise in cost to the impact of the steep devaluation of the currency, elevated inflationary pressures, and rising energy costs”, the investment firm said.
Despite the increase in cost of sales, Lafarge Africa’s gross profit grew by 37.8% year on year to ₦160.76 billion in H1 2024. However, the gross margin declined by 4.6 percentage points to 54.39% in H1 2024, down from 59.01% in H1 2023.
Analysts explained that the rise in OPEX was driven by a 33.2% increase in selling & distribution expenses adjusted for depreciation, which reached ₦53.65 billion, and a 49.1% rise in administrative expenses totaling ₦16.20 billion.
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