Dangote Cement Plc has announced its unaudited results for the full-year 2017 period, which show a 31 per cent YoY increase in revenue to NGN805.6bn (US$2.24bn) from NGN615.1bn.

Revenue attributable to Nigeria grew by 29.6 per cent YoY, with the sales from the company’s three plants in the country contributing NGN552.36bn. The remaining NGN258.44bn was generated by plants in other African countries, with the revenue of Dangote’s pan-African operations rising 32.5 per cent.

Profit after tax increased 43 per cent to NGN204.2bn from NGN142.9bn, despite operating expenses also rising 23 per cent to NGN155.3bn (2016: NGN119.3bn).

As a result, the board has recommended a dividend of NGN10.50 per share, which translates to a total of NGN178.9bn.

"Dangote Cement turned in a record year with revenues up 31 per cent to NGN805.6 billion and EBITDA up by 50.9 per cent to NGN388.1bn. Although Nigerian volumes were lower in 2017, our pan-African operations increased volumes by 8.4 per cent and now make up 42 per cent of the Group’s total cement sales, demonstrating the robust diversification of our business," said Joseph Makoju, acting group CEO, Dangote Cement.

"We expanded our footprint from eight countries to ten with the opening of new facilities in the Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone, while our operations in Cameroon, Senegal and Ethiopia achieved strong sales growth during the year. With total sales volumes of nearly 22Mt, we are by far the leading manufacturer of cement in sub-Saharan Africa," said Mr Makoju.