DANGOTE CEMENT’S EARNINGS DOWN IN FIRST QUARTER OF 2019

Dangote Cement’s earnings have fallen due to elections and price cuts in Nigeria and competition in the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) dropped by 11.2% year-on-year to US$312m in the first quarter of 2019 from US$351m in the same period in 2018.

Sales revenue fell slightly to US$670m, due to declines in Nigeria. Cement sales volumes grew slightly to 3.99Mt in Nigeria and by 4.8% to 2.35Mt in the rest of Africa. Despite this Dangote Cement noted that its sales volumes in Nigeria were its third-highest quarterly volume ever.

“It was a challenging quarter with delays to the Nigerian elections that impacted sales, increased discounting in Nigeria and tougher market conditions in South Africa and other Pan-African markets. In addition, our variable costs were hit by foreign exchange effects, as well as higher fuel and distribution costs,” said Joe Makoju, group CEO of Dangote Cement. http://www.globalcement.com/news/item/9191-dangote-cement-s-earnings-down-in-first-quarter-of-2019