Biggest stock (by market capitalization) on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Dangote Cement Plc, on Friday, became the first to submit an audited result for the half-year ended June 30, 2018, well ahead of the 60-day timeline granted for such.
That may just be about all of the good news, going by highlights of the financials, were the slow growth in revenue, a 78.25% drop in finance income, versus 23.93% rise in cost. The biggest drawback however was the N24.755bn loss suffered by the group’s Pan-African operations in the three months between April and June 2018, which left the half-year loss at N26.047bn, straining the N160.69bn net profit from the Nigerian business. This left total net profit for the entire business at N113.164bn, managing to better the previous half-year’s N109.71bn by 3.1%.
Specifically, revenue for the giant cement maker rose by 16.91% from N412.68bn to N482.44bn; production cost notched 11.29% to N197.6bn from N177.55bn, N100.243bn of which was recorded between April and June; the bulk of this was the N67.093bn fuel and power consumed, up from N58.863bn; followed by the N61.802bn cost of material consumed, up from N57.686bn. Gross profit therefore stood at N284.844bn, up from N235.127bn
Administrative expenses rose to N24.71bn, up by 17.97% from the N20.95bn reported in the corresponding half year of 2017, boosted by the N6.539bn spent on salaries and related staff costs, up from N6.218bn; which came behind the N8.099bn spent on “others,” from N5.96bn in 2017.
Selling and distribution expenses climbed 19.77% up from N51.89bn to N62.15bn, the lion’s share of which was the N41.807bn haulage expenses, as against the N34.859bn in prior half year; followed by N10.64bn depreciation, compared to N 9.13bn; just as salaries and related staff costs rose to N6.941bn from N5.037bn.
Finance income dropped to N3.59bn from N16.49bn, after it slipped into N11.512bn negative between April and June, 2018, arising from N15.441bn foreign exchange loss during the three-month period, as against N2.965bn; compared to the N10.846bn earned in the corresponding period of 2017. This paled the N6.55bn interest income, , up from N5.277bn.
Finance cost dropped also to N18.57bn from N24.4bn, N8.083bn in the three months to June, 2018, being interest expenses, down from N12.832bn.
Profit before ta therefore rose 19.25% from N155.58bn to N185.54bn; while profit after tax translated to Earnings Per Share of N6.60, a marginal increase from the N6.41 recorded in the preceding half year.