Lafarge Africa sees net profit rise 157% in 1Q20

Lafarge Africa has reported a 9.8 per cent increase in net sales to NGN63.97bn (US$178.93m) in its unaudited results for the first quarter of 2020, compared to NGN58.02bn in the year-ago period. Net profit surged 156.5 per cent YoY to NGN8.07bn from NGN3.15bn in the 1Q19.

"I am proud of the plan Lafarge Africa has implemented to protect the health of our people while supporting our partners and communities. The first quarter results confirm that our turn around initiatives are effective and our strong balance sheet is mitigating the risks borne by the pandemic that has started hitting our country in March," said Khaled El Dokani, group CEO.

The positive results were driven by the company’s cement segment, which saw sales advance 11 per cent YoY to NGN62.3bn in the 1Q20. This offset a 21 per cent fall in sales for aggregates and concrete to NGN1.4bn.

However, the company notes that the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic are likely to be felt in the second quarter of the year.

"We expect revenue growth to slow in 2Q, owing to subdued activities in the construction sector caused by the lockdown measures implemented across the country, reduced fiscal spending on capital projects as well as reduced private investments in capital formation due to frail macro-conditions," said Mr Dokani.

New appointment
The chairman of the company, Mobolaji Balogun, also announced his voluntary retirement from the role and as a member of the board of directors effective from 4 June 2020. Adebode Adefioye will succeed Mr Balogun as chairman.