Dangote nine month profit rises 13.5 per cent

Nigeria's Dangote Cement said on Thursday its pretax profit for the nine months to September rose 13.5 per cent to NGN105.8bn (US$673.63m), compared with NGN93bn in the same period last year.

Revenue for the nine month period hit NGN208.3bn, compared with NGN173bn in the same period of 2011.

Dangote said heavy rains and flooding affected sales in the third quarter, but profit margins remained strong at 63 per cent owing to the effect of gas supplies which returned to normal to cut energy costs.

For the full year the company forecast annual profit of NGN146bn (US$932.6m) from a year earlier. The Lagos-based company estimates revenue for the fourth quarter will reach NGN37.7bn from NGN32.7bn, while earnings per share is forecast to rise to 2.22 naira, it said in an e-mailed presentation.

Dangote Cement currently has a capacity of 19.25Mta, which will increase to 21.5 Mta by year-end, CEO Devakumar Edwin said in August. The company plans to raise output to 46.3Mt by 2015 as it expands across Africa.