The board of Dangote Cement Plc, on Monday released its audited financials for the year ended December 31, 2022, highlights of which included a marginal 4.9% rise in profit after tax, which was helped by the N32.236bn or 18.53% decline in income tax expense for the period from N172.927bn in the corresponding period of 2021 to N141.691bn.
According to details of the results, revenue for the period rose by N234.686bn or 16.96% from N1.383tr to N1.618tr, a breakdown of which showed that domestic sales in Nigeria amounted to N1.172tr from N956.96bn; revenue from export therefrom fell slightly from N36.439bn to N32.536bn; while sale of the group’s various plants across Africa yielded N414.83bn from N397.329bn, of which N25.742bn was derived from export sales, down from N28.07bn in the same period of 2021. Production cost of sales increased by N111.871bn or 20.3% from N551.019bn to N662.89bn, the bulk of which was the N266.486bn spent on fuel and power consumed, up from N196.634bn; followed by the N196.517bn material consumed, up from N175.367bn; among others. Gross profit, therefore rose to N955.433bn, up by N122.815bn or 14.75% from N832.618bn.
Administrative expenses rose from N64.349bn to N79.879bn, driven by salaries and related staff costs of N25.118bn, an increase from N15.933bn; selling and distribution expenses soared by N103.576bn or 54.04% to N296.234bn, compared to the previous year’s N191.658bn, with haulage expenses accounting for the lion’s share of N242.457bn, up from N147.495bn. Other income dropped to N5.333bn from N6.221bn, boosted by other miscellaneous income of N2.745bn, down from N4.992bn (including N383.07m derived from the sale of electricity and N2.15bn, compared to N1.18bn in 2021, from the sale of raw materials to subsidiaries recognized in the company. It followed by insurance claims of N2.024bn, up from N501m; following which profit from operating activities, therefore, stood at N585.878bn from N582.491bn.
Finance income jumped to N38.715bn from N20.765bn, representing a growth of N17.95bn or 86.44%, being interest income. Finance costs, however, grew by a faster N64.663bn or 98.41% from N65.707bn in the corresponding period of 2021 to N130.37bn. A further breakdown of the figure revealed that while interest expenses amounted to N75.242bn, from N57.173bn; foreign exchange loss soared from N8.766bn in the previous year to N53.929bn; while other finance cost rose from N616m to N1.199bn. The group recorded N29.022bn gain on monetary assets; resulting in profit before tax of N52.002bn, a decline when compared to the previous N538.366bn.
Profit after tax stood at N382.311bn, compared to previous year’s N364.439bn, which translates to Earnings Per Share of N22.27 each, up from N21.24 each.