Displaying items by tag: Nigeria
Nigeria: Dangote Cement has announced a gross profit of US$375m for the three months that ended on 31 March 2015, a 10.5% increase over the US$340m recorded in the same period of 2014. Its revenues rose to US$576m from US$520m in the corresponding quarter of 2014. The improvement was buoyed by maiden contributions from non-Nigerian plants. Net profit was up by 44.1% to US$345m.
Group cement sales volumes were up by 3.4% to 3.8Mt, driven by contributions from South Africa, Senegal, Cameroon and new lines in Nigeria. The margins from Nigeria increased due to pricing, improved gas supply and more use of coal. Dangote's newly-operational cement plants in Zambia and Ethiopia are expected to impact positively on its future financial situation.
"Our African projects are now beginning to deliver revenue growth for the group and even at this early stage we are seeing good potential in all the countries into which we are expanding," said company CEO Onne van der Weijde. "Senegal has made an excellent start, Cameroon is poised for a strong entry into an exciting growth market and Sephaku Cement is shaking up the South African market as the first new entrant in many years. Although sales fell in Nigeria, we improved both revenues and margins thanks to pricing actions in December 2014 following the collapse of the oil price and currency devaluation. We are making a significant investment to improve our logistical capabilities and I am pleased to report a much more favourable fuel supply in the first quarter of 2015. We have invested for growth in Africa and each new plant that opens will generate good returns for shareholders as we deliver on our promise to become Africa's leading cement company."
Nigeria: Dangote Cement has appointed Douraid Zaghouani as a non-executive director with effect from 29 April 2015. Zaghouani holds a degree in Civil Engineering from École Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'État in France and is also a graduate in Business Administration from the École Supérieure des Sciences Commerciales business school in Paris.
Zaghouani is presently the Chief Operating Officer of the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD). In this role, he supports the CEO's Office in corporate strategy development and is responsible for the efficient operational management of the organization.
Nigeria: The chairman of Ashaka Cement, Mallam Suleiman Yahyah, has said that the performance of the company in 2014 showed the resilience of the management and commitment of its parent firm, Lafarge Africa, to sustenance of investment in the north eastern part of the country. Despite losing US$7.54m to insurgents attack in 2014, Ashaka Cement ended the year with a profit after tax of US$22.9m, up from US$14.2m in 2013.
"We have embarked on the expansion of our cement production capacity to 4Mt/yr. The expansion will comprise debottlenecking of the existing line and installation of new line," said Yahyah. He added that Ashaka Cement's target is to achieve 95% coal substitution and to introduce a major corporate social responsibility (CSR) schemes that will help the community with agricultural development.
Nigeria: In November 2013, FLSmidth signed a number of contracts with Dangote Cement for operation and maintenance of production lines at its Ibese and Obajana cement plants in Nigeria for five years. Due to changes to market conditions, Dangote and FLSmidth have reached an agreement to end the operation and maintenance collaboration at the two plants.
The discontinuation of the operation and maintenance contracts will have no impact on FLSmidth's Group guidance for 2015. However, the demobilisation in Nigeria will have a negative impact on earnings before interest, taxes and amortisation (EBITA) in the customer services division in the first quarter in 2015 of US$11.1m. Additionally, the order backlog was reduced by US$102m at the end of the first quarter of 2015 as a consequence of the agreement.
Ota pozzalana cement plant to be commissioned says Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute
29 April 2015Nigeria: A pozzalana cement pilot plant in Ota, Ogun State is to be commissioned following the installation of the plant. The plant is the first of its kind in Nigeria that can process pozzolana and it is being run by the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NBBRI).
The NBBRI has coordinated with the Director of Building and Road Research in Ghana on the project through exchange programmes. Two pozzalana cement plants are being built in Nigeria, in Ota, Ogun and Bokkos, Plateau respectively.
Ashaka Cement announces resignations and new directors
01 April 2015Nigeria: Seven directors have resigned their appointments from the Board of Ashaka Cement with effect from 10 March 2015. Umaru Kwairanga (chairman), John William Stull (vice chairman), Sen. Muhammed A. Muhammed, Kolawole Babalola Jamodu, Abubakar Ali Gombe, Lamido Abba Tukur and Hamra Imam have all resigned.
The board has appointed Mallam Suleiman Yahyah as the new board chairman with effect from 12 March 2015. They also appointed three as non-executive directors, Anders Kristiansson, Edith Onwuchekwa and Rabiu Abdullahi Umar, with effect from 12 March 2015.
Ashaka Cement’s pre-tax profit rose by 84.5% in 2014
01 April 2015Nigeria: Lafarge Africa's Ashaka Cement's 2014 pre-tax profit rose by 84.5% year-on-year to US$26m. However, its revenue declined by 2.58% year-on-year to US$106m.
Dangote results take a dive in 2014
27 March 2015Nigeria: Dangote Cement's pretax profit fell by 3.2% to US$928m in 2014 due to a gas shortage at its plants and low demand after prolonged wet weather. The company, Africa's biggest cement company, said that sales volumes in its main Nigerian market fell by 3.2% to 12.87Mt, weaker than the decline in the overall market of 0.8% to 21Mt. It expected market growth in Nigeria to be muted in 2015 owing to election and currency worries, worsened by the fall in government revenues that have triggered by the plunge in world oil prices.
Dangote's full-year revenues for 2014 climbed to US$1.97bn during the 12 months to 31 December 2014, up from US$1.97bn in 2013, due to growth from Dangote's other African operations. It said that unreliable gas supplies to its Obajana plant constrained production, while prolonged rainfall in the second half of last year led to a slowdown in construction. Dangote is increasingly turning its attention from Nigeria to elsewhere in Africa. In 2015 it expects to commission new cement plants in Cameroon, Zambia, Ethiopia and Tanzania.
Dangote to build world’s biggest oil refinery
23 March 2015Nigeria: Aliko Dangote, president of Nigeria's largest cement producer Dangote Group, has announced that he is increasing his refinery's capacity to 650,000b/day. The move, according to petroleum industry analysts, will see Nigeria listed as having the largest petroleum refinery in the world.
Dangote said that the initial plan was to have 450,000b/day refining capacity, but that he has since opted for a bigger plant because he believes that Nigeria, as a leading producer of crude oil, should also be credited with local refining capacity. Currently, Nigeria produces crude oil, but has to buy refined products from abroad. Dangote Group executive director Devakumar Edwin said that the Dangote refinery was ready to reverse the trend. The refiner is expected to be fully operational by 2017.
Nigeria: Dangote Cement has announced the appointment of Onne Van der Weijde as its new managing director. According to Dangote, the appointment is in furtherance of the implementation of strategies put in place to drive operational efficiency, support its ambitious growth strategies and delivering shareholder value.
Van der Weijde, who has a wealth of experience from working as the managing director of India's Ambuja Cement, will ensure that strategic, operational and brand synergies are maintained, while underlining renewed management focus on all customer segments. He worked to improve the profit and consolidation of the business and was also responsible for the acquisition and growth in marketing and sales.
As a director and business planning manager of Holcim (Australia), he developed a business presence in southeast Asia through joint ventures and acquisitions, providing support in the management of existing operations in the region. In addition to his role as manager, he was also the COO of India's ACC and a member of the senior management team of Holcim. He also became the CFO of Holcim (Indonesia). He was responsible for treasury, reporting, business planning, accounts and procurements. Van der Weijde represented Holcim in Switzerland as the senior vice president. He managed the international tax, audit, marketing and IT functions of Holcim (Asia).