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Tag: Dangote Cement

  • Global rating agencies rate Dangote Cement high

    Global rating agencies rate Dangote Cement high

    Two global rating agencies-Moody’s Investors Service and Global Credit Ratings (GCR), have rated Dangote Cement high for its financial strength and corporate outlook. In Rating reports published yesterday, both global rating agencies described the outlook of the Africa’s largest cement producer as stable.

    Moody’s assigned three respective high ratings to the cement company including a first time Ba3 Local Currency Corporate Family Rating (CFR), Ba3-PD Probability of Default Rating and Aaa.ng National Scale Rating (NSR).

    Global Credit Ratings assigned long-term and short-term national scale issuer ratings of AA+ (NG) and A1+ (NG) respectively to Dangote Cement.

    Dangote Cement’s share price rose by N1.93 per share to close at N203.94 as the news filtered to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

    Assistant Vice President and Lead Analyst for Dangote Cement at Moody’s, Douglas Rowlings, said the ratings reflect Dangote Cement’s “strong standalone credit profile and track record of demonstrated financial support from a larger and more diversified parent Dangote Industries Limited”.

    Chief Executive Officer, Dangote Cement Plc, Onne van der Weijde noted that the ratings highlight the financial strength the company had achieved through unwavering focus on the profitable expansion of its business.

  • Dangote cement hands over drivers to Customs for carrying contrabands

    The transport section of Dangote Cement Ibese Plant has intercepted one of the company’s truck loaded with contrabands in Ibadan.

    The drivers were arrested and handed over the Nigerian customs for further investigations and prosecutions.

    The arrest was effected by a crack team of the company’s security personnel led by its Chief Security Officer, who acted on intelligence, bordering on misconduct by some of its drivers.

    Handing over the drivers and his motorboy to the Customs authorities, Assistant General Manager, in charge of Security Services, CSP Ali Garba, explained that the company has a surveillance section that monitors its trucks and drivers’ activities.

    He said: “On June 7, 2017 at about 1820 hours, intelligence information received by Dangote’s senior drivers in Ibese led to the interception of Dantrans truck No KMC 38 XR / ICT-13A-083 driven by a former and dismissed driver Ismaila Abubakar. The truck was loaded with frozen Turkey allegedly loaded at Iyana Isolo, Lagos State heading to Benin City, Edo State”

    He revealed that while Nasiru H. Ahmed 284393 is the bonafide driver to truck KMC 38 XR / ICT-13A-083, their preliminary investigation revealed that on  June 2,  2017, Ahmed loaded 900 bags of cement for Benin Depot.

    “At Kara Garage in Benin City, Nasiru H. Ahmed dropped from the vehicle and travelled to Birnin Gwari in Kaduna State, leaving the truck in the care of his motorboys –  BilyaminuAbdullahi and Bashiru – with the dismissed driver IsmailaAbubakar.”

    Unfortunately for the bonafide driver, IsmailaAbubakar drove the truck from Kara to Benin Depot for offloading the cement after removing truck tracking system and left it in Benin City.

    He said: “Investigation revealed further that instead of driving straight to the plant, they decided to go to Iyana-Isolo in Lagos State to lift frozen turkey to Benin City at the cost of N350,000, of which only N70,000 was paid as part-payment.”

     

     

  • NSE market capitalisation increases further by N76bn

    NSE market capitalisation increases further by N76bn

    The upward trend continued on the Nigerian Stock Exchange  (NSE) on Wednesday for the second consecutive day with the market capitalisation increasing by N76 billion.

    The News Agency of Nigeria  (NAN) reports that the market capitalisation which opened at N10.121 trillion, rose by N76 billion or 0.75 per cent, to close at N10.197 trillion.

    In the same vein, the All-Share Index inched 221.72 points or 0.76 per cent, to close at 29,498.31, compared with the 29,276.59 recorded on Tuesday due to price gains by some blue chips.

    An analysis of the price movement indicated that Dangote Cement led the gainers’ table with a gain of N7.90, to close at N175 per share.

    It was followed by Nestlé with a gain of N5.01 to close at N875.01 and Total  garnered N5 to close at N265 per share.

    Nigerian Breweries advanced by N3.50 to close at N149.50, while Unilever increased by N1.74, to close at N37.49 per share.

    On the other hand, Seplat topped the losers’ chart, dropping by N81.51 to close at N351.99 per share.

    7UP trailed with a loss of N4.98 to close at N94.77 and Guaranty Trust Bank shed N1.78 to close at N34.01 per share.

    Stanbic IBTC lost 75k to close at N26, while Zenith International Bank declined by 55k to close at N18.95 per share.

    NAN reports that the banking equities maintained leadership as the most sought after, with FBN Holdings recording the highest volume, trading 62.19 million shares worth N318.89 million.

    It was followed by Diamond Bank with an exchange of 41.86 million shares valued at N40.38 million and Fidelity Bank traded 38.78 million shares worth  N40.72 million.

    United Bank for Africa exchanged 34.95 million shares valued at N264.76 million, while Zenith International Bank sold 26.57 million shares worth N506.29 million.

    In all, the volume of shares traded dropped by 58.78 per cent, with a turnover of 343.19 million shares valued at N3.34 billion transacted in 4,905 deals.

    This was in contrast with the 832.52 million shares worth N7.59 billion transacted in 6,259 deals on Tuesday.

  • NSE market capitalization grows by N117 bn in one day

    The nation’s equity market on Tuesday maintained a bullish trend for the eighth consecutive day with the indices appreciating by 1.28 per cent and the volume by 101.48 per cent.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the market capitalization increased by N117 billion or 1.28 per cent to close at N9.249 trillion against N9.132 trillion on Monday.

    Also, the All-Share Index which opened at 26,418.33 rose by 337.88 points or 1.28 per cent to close at 26,756.21 due to huge gains posted by some highly capitalised stocks.

    A breakdown of the price movement chart indicated that Dangote Cement led the gainers’ table, gaining N2.50 to close at N162 per share.

    Nigerian Breweries followed with a gain of N2 to close at N132 and Oando increased by 80k to close at N8.69 per share.

    Okomuoil gained 72k to close at N48.52, while PZ Industries appreciated by 70k to close at N15.70 per share.

    Mr Ambrose Omordion, the Chief Operating Officer, InvestData Ltd. , attributed the growth to investors and traders renewed confidence to impressive earnings of first quarter of 2017 released by some companies.

    Omordion stated that the current uptrend was the longest streak since the beginning of the year.

    He added that investors were taking advantage of low valuation of equities to reposition and increase their stake in the market.

    Omordion said that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) new foreign exchange policy contributed to the market trend.

    On the other hand, Total topped the losers’ chart, dropping by N6 to close at N249 per share.

    7UP Bottling Company trailed with a loss of N1.89 to close at N102 and Lafarge Africa dipped N1.10 to close at N48.50 per share.

    Dangote Sugar declined by 24k to close at N6.46, while Presco shed 10k to close at N46.90 per share.

    NAN also reports that FCMB Group drove the activity chart, accounting for 243.86 million shares valued at N239.40 million.

    Zenith International Bank followed with 52.29 million shares worth N856.16 million, while United Bank for Africa traded 42.53 million shares valued at N274.51 million.

    Diamond Bank sold 33.94 million shares worth N29.02 million and FBN Holdings exchanged 22.81 million shares valued at N81.35 million.

    In all, a total of 539.23 million shares worth N2.82 billion were transacted by investors in 4,519 deals, representing an increase of 101.48 per cent.

    This was in contrast with a turnover of 267.64 million valued at N3.26 billion traded in 3,907 deals.

     

  • Dangote Cement gives distributors N2.4b bonus

    Dangote Cement gives distributors N2.4b bonus

    Dangote Cement Plc has rewarded its distributors with N2.4 billion as sales bonus and for their continuous loyalty.
    The firm assured them that another N5billion had been set aside to assist the distributors in enhancing their sales.
    Its Chairman Aliko Dangote gave out the cheques ranging from N30 million to N182.9 million to distributors at a ceremony in Lagos at the weekend.
    He hailed them for their long standing commitment, devotion, loyalty and valuable contribution to the distribution and sale of Dangote Cement in 2016.
    Dangote said the firm remained the undisputed leader in the Nigerian cement market because of the loyalty of distributors and customers despite the increasingly intense competition in the industry.
    He said: “Our success story would not have been possible without you, our distributors, who work tirelessly to ensure that the product gets to our customers in every nooks and crannies of the country. We can never thank you enough! You have been an integral and vital part of our business over the years.
    “We are here to explore ways of further cementing our existing cordial relationship in order to create more value for all stakeholders. In fact, our ultimate desire is to create a win-win situation for our stakeholders at all levels down the value chain. This is in line with the triple bottom-line principle: people, planet and profits, which we have embraced here at the Dangote Group.”
    According to him, any organisation that aspired to be ahead of the competition these days, must explore ways of not only knowing the expectations of its customers, but also how to exceed them.
    Dangote said the company had set aside N5 billion to support the cement marketing activities and making sales easier for its distributors.
    He said: “We will continue to create the right environment for our distributors to sell more in 2017. We will double our effort to serve our customers better with massive trade support for the distributors and other innovations that will ensure we maintain our leadership position in the industry.”
    Honorary Adviser to Aliko Dangote Mr. Joseph Makoju said the company was thankful to the distributors and customers for their loyalty and for making the public see the uniqueness of the Dangote Cement brand.
    Makoju promised that the Dangote Cement would continue to show appreciation to them and urged them to strive to sell more this year, with a promise that they would also be rewarded more saying: “One good turn deserves another”.
    Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Oare Ojeikere said this year would be better for the company and its stakeholders.

  • Dangote Cement is a good stock to buy, says Exotix

    Dangote Cement’s share price could rise to N192 and the firm has strong potential to improve its performance in the medium to long term, Exotix Partners has stated.

    In its latest analyst’s report on Dangote Cement, Exotix Partners, upgraded its recommendation for Dangote Cement to buy, underlining the attractiveness of the shares of the cement company at the prevailing market price.

    Exotix is a major global finance and investment company with considerable imprints in world and Africa’s commercial centres. It coordinates its global operations through five major offices in London, New York, Lagos, Dubai and Nairobi.

    According to the report, Dangote Cement has relatively strong earnings growth outlook, with a projected earnings per share growth of 13 per cent per annum over the medium term, considerably above other cement companies in the Sub Saharan Africa (SSA), which has average growth of 10 per cent.

    Exotix said Dangote Cement, Nigeria’s most capitalised quoted company, has the “best-in-class operating model in SSA”, noting that even as profit margins approach a new, though weaker, normal level, Dangote Cement’s profitability will remain superior to both local and other SSA peers.

    The report pointed out that the relative higher profitability of Dangote Cement reflects its ability to consolidate market share in key markets and its proactive cost management and foreign exchange risk mitigation in Nigeria.

    The buy recommendation was also supported by the attractive valuation of the cement company as its current trading multiples represent a low premium relative to SSA peers and its five-year historical average.

    “We also take note of the improving corporate governance and management quality,” Exotix stated.

    The report outlined that Dangote Cement’s medium-term earnings outlook remains robust compared to that of SSA peers over a four-year period between 2016 and 2019.

    Exotix stated that its positive outlook on the cement company’s earnings over the medium-term was based on expectation that volume growth will hold up, averaging 13 per cent per year over a four-year period due to contributions from new markets in spite of fiscal challenges while a sharp selling price correction, on account of price increases in Nigeria and positive currency translation effect on non-Nigerian businesses will support the overall performance of the company.

    “A focused cost-management strategy, we expect an average decline of three per cent per annum in cash costs per ton over the medium term as management switches to cheaper fuels; and management’s commitment to de-risk the business by prioritising capital projects and managing debt should reduce the interest burden over the medium term,” Exotix said.

    Key extracts of the audited report and accounts of Dangote Cement for the year ended December 31, 2015 showed that turnover rose by 25.56 per cent from N391.6 billion in 2014 to N491.72 billion in 2015. Gross profit increased by 16.63 per cent to N289.92 billion in 2015 as against N248.58 billion in 2014. Profit before tax inched up to N188.29 billion compared with N184.69 billion in the previous year. After taxes, net profit rose by 13.68 per cent from N159.50 billion in 2014 to N181.32 billion. Earnings per share thus increased by 15.2 per cent from N9.42 in 2014 to N10.86 in 2015.

    Dangote Cement grew its total assets to N1.11 trillion in 2015, 12.82 per cent above N984.72 billion recorded in 2014. Total liabilities however rose by 18.68 per cent from N392.84 billion to N466.22 billion. Shareholders’ funds also grew by 8.9 per cent from N591.9 billion to N644.7 billion.

    Half-year results of the Cement Group for the period ended June 30, 2016 showed that turnover rose to N292.19 billion in first half 2016 as against N242.22 billion recorded in comparable period of 2015. Profit before tax however dropped to N124.89 billion in first half 2016 as against N128.73 billion recorded in comparable period of 2015. After taxes, net profit declined from N121.81 billion to N103.42 billion.

     

  • Dangote Cement, others lift equities to N22b gain

    Nigerian equities remained under a delicate balance of profit-taking and bargain-hunting yesterday at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) as investors simultaneously sought to lock in profits from the recent rallies by oil stocks while taking positions in leading manufacturing companies and banks.

    With 20 decliners to 19 advancers, a 1.16 per cent rise in the share price of Dangote Cement Plc helped the overall market situation to a positive close with a net capital gain of N22 billion. Dangote Cement, Nigeria’s most capitalised stock, rose by N1.84 to close at N160, offsetting significant losses recorded in major oil and gas companies. Dangote Cement accounts for nearly one-third of the total market capitalisation of all quoted companies at the stock market.

    Aggregate market value of all quoted companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) rose from its opening value of N8.834 trillion to close at N8.856 trillion. The All Share Index (ASI), the benchmark index that tracks share prices at the NSE, also rose by 0.25 per cent from 25,673.80 points to close at 25,739.18 points. The average year-to-date return, though still negative, improved to -10.14 per cent.

    Most sectoral indices closed on the upside. The NSE Industrial Goods Index rode on the back of gains by Dangote Cement to close with a day-on-day return of 0.7 per cent. The NSE Banking Index appreciated by 0.4 per cent while the NSE Insurance Index inched up by 0.3 per cent. However, the NSE Oil & Gas Index depreciated by 0.6 per cent while the NSE Consumer Goods Index declined by 0.5 per cent.

    Forte Oil led the rally with a gain of N8.95 to close at N96.37. UAC of Nigeria followed Dangote Cement with a gain of 40 kobo to close at N16.50. Zenith Bank rose by 25 kobo to close at N14.50 while Flour Mills of Nigeria added 19 kobo to close at N18.49 per share.

    Total turnover stood at 165.99 million shares valued at N1.27 billion in 2,485 deals. The most active stock was Diamond Bank with a turnover of 80.27 million shares valued at N64.29 million.

    “As market performance remains driven by bargain hunting, we expect some end of the week profit taking by investors in the trading session ahead,” Afrinvest Securities stated.

    On the negative side, Total Nigeria topped the losers list with a loss of N27.56 to close at N276.05. Mobil Oil Nigeria followed with a loss of N16.16 to close at N307.15. Unilever Nigeria declined by N2 to close at N46. International Breweries lost 95 kobo to close at N18.05 while Guinness Nigeria dropped by 84 kobo to close at N77.90 per share.

  • Tanzania, Nigeria’s Dangote Cement haggle over price of natural gas

    Tanzania, Nigeria’s Dangote Cement haggle over price of natural gas

    Talks are going on between Nigeria’s Dangote Cement and Tanzania as regards the supply of natural gas to a manufacturing plant for building material, but negotiations are held up over prices, said  government body.

    The 500 million dollars cement factory in the south-eastern Tanzanian town of Mtwara, set up last year with an annual capacity of three million tonnes, runs on expensive diesel generators and has sought government support to reduce costs.

    The company, whose majority owner and Chairman is Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, halted production at the plant last week over technical issues.

    State-run Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) said talks were expected to conclude in January, with price disagreements yet to be resolved.

    “Dangote has held protracted talks with TPDC on the pricing of natural gas.

    The Dangote Cement factory has asked for gas supply at below market prices, equivalent to the price of raw natural gas from producing wells,’’ TPDC said in a statement.

    “TPDC cannot sell natural gas to final consumers on at-the-well price because there are additional costs incurred in processing and transporting the gas,” it said.

    Tanzania announced in February that it had discovered an additional 2.17 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of possible natural gas deposits in an onshore field, raising its total estimated recoverable natural gas reserves to more than 57 tcf.

    Dangote has an annual production capacity of 43.6 million tonnes and targets output of between 74 million and 77 million tonnes by the end of 2019 and 100 million tonnes of capacity by 2020.

    It is Africa’s biggest cement producer.

    The company plans to roll out plants across Africa. In Tanzania, Dangote seeks to double the country’s annual output of cement to six million tonnes.

  • Skye Bank shares drop further by 8.42%

    Skye Bank shares drop further by 8.42%

    Skye Bank’s shares on Friday on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) dropped further by 8.42 per cent following investors continued reaction to removal of the bank’s board and executive management.

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) removed the board and management of the bank on Monday, and replaced them with another, a measure it said, was to redirect the bank.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the trading on Friday, the bank lost 8k to close at 87k per share.

    The bank’s shares had depreciated by 9.5 per cent on Monday, forcing it to close at 95k per share.

    A breakdown of the activity chart on the Exchange showed that investors sold 21.59 million shares of Skye Bank valued at N18.79 million.

    Alhaji Rasheed Yussuf, immediate past President, Association of Stockbroking Houses of Nigeria (ASHON), said that the shares of the bank were on offer but nobody was buying.

    Yussuf urged the new management of the bank to map out strategies to assure and reassure shareholders and investors.

    Further analysis of the losers’ table showed that Forte Oil lost N8.93 to close at N171.90 per share, while Beta Glass dipped N4.17 to close at N38.66 per share.

    Lafarge Wapco shed N3.35 to close at N63.65 per share and GlaxosmithKline dropped N2.24 to close at N20.78 per share.

    Consequently, the All-Share Index shed 147.08 points or 0.51 per cent to close at 28,854.98 compared with 29,002.06 achieved on Monday.

    Also, the market capitalisation which opened at N9.96 trillion lost N50 billion to close at N9.91 trillion.

    On the other hand, Stanbic IBTC gained N1.54 to close at N16.60 per share.

    Oando gained 68k to close at N8.05 per share, while Dangote Cement garnered 50k to close at N191.50 per share.

    Guinness improved by 49k to close at N99.99 and Zenith International Bank gained 33k to close at N15.45 per share.

    NAN reports that GT Bank recorded the highest volume of activities, exchanging 32.47 million shares worth N750.33 million.

    FBN Holding came second with an exchange of 26.35 million shares valued at N100.52 million, while Oando sold 25.52 million shares worth N204.52 million.

    Access Bank accounted for 23.17 million shares worth N132.02 million.

    In all, a total of 234.96 million shares valued at N2.29 billion were traded by investors in 4,145 deals.

    This was in contrast with 142.84 million shares worth N1.35 billion exchanged in 3,321 deals on Monday.