BUA Cement reports its full year 2023 audited financial statements and accounts, posting a strong revenue growth of 27.4 per cent to NGN460bn (US$282m) compared to NGN361bn in 2022, resulting from an increasing market share. However, with the devaluation of the naira last June and its continued depreciation, as well as growing inflation, the company faced increasing price pressures which impacted production costs, as these increased by 39.5 per cent to NGN276bn (2022: NGN197.9bn).
In addition, a net foreign exchange loss of NGN70bn (2022: NGN5.5bn) was recorded; with NGN52.5bn attributed to finance costs, associated with the construction of the additional 3Mta lines at Obu and Sokoto (include other ancillary activities) and the sum of NGN17.5bn attributed to foreign trade payables. Nevertheless, the company reported a net profit after tax of NGN69.5bn.
According to the MD and CEO, Yusuf Binji: “Clearly, the operating environment in 2023 was challenging, given the different headwinds confronted with at the start of the year and especially with the devaluation of the Naira. During the year, we launched the maiden edition of the BUA Cement Scratch and Win promo., among other initiatives, which saw BUA Cement further increase its share of the market and resulted to a 27.4 per cent rise in revenues to NGN460bn from NGN361bn in the prior year.
In addition, BUA cold commissioned the new 3Mta lines at the Sokoto and Obu plants, activated a new 70MW gas power plant in Sokoto and eagerly await the activation of the 70MW gas power plant at Obu during the first quarter of 2024. Apart from these, BUA Cement took delivery of over 500 trucks to support its distribution activities, which further deepened the company’s market presence.
On the financial performance, CFO, Jacques Piekarski, said: “Our financial performance in 2023 was indeed resilient given the economic environment, led by the devaluation of the naira. But despite the reported foreign exchange loss, EBITDA increased by 9.6 per cent to NGN169.3bn from NGN154.5bn in 2022. We are confident about the business, together with the evolving strategy to thrive.”
