Menu Close

Dangote Sugar pays shareholders N18.22bn dividends, to produce 170,000 tonnes next season

L-R: Temitope Hassan, Company Secretary/Legal Adviser, Dangote Sugar Refinery (DSR) Plc; Aliko Dangote, Chairman; Ravindra Singh Singhvi Group Managing Director/CEO; and Abdu Dantata, Non-Executive Director, at the Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc 17th AGM, in Lagos    Photo: Dangote Group

*Aliko Dangote, Chairman of Dangote Sugars Refinery Plc, attributes the company’s remarkable performance to the pragmatic approach the Management deployed, focusing on continued cost and process optimisation, improved efficiencies in operations, and service delivery to consumers

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

The Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc (DSR), despite the economic headwinds that characterised 2022, has disclosed the company will pay N18.22 billion as dividends to shareholders for the year ended December 31, 2022.

ConsumerConnect reports the conglomerate, which stated this at its 17th Annual General Meeting (AGM), held Friday, April 14, 2023, in Lagos, said it also targeted production of over 170,000 tonnes of sugar for the market next season.

The conglomerate also noted the dividend payout would translate into N1.50 kobo per share held by shareholders of the company.

Speaking at the event, Aliko Dangote, Chairman of Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, said: “The shareholders are very happy with the way we have been running their company, and also in re-investing the profit in the Backward Integration Programme (BIP) for the sugar industry.

“We are going to play our part in ensuring that Nigeria becomes self-sufficient in sugar within a very short period.”

Dangote also stated: “We are not the only players, but we will surely play our part.

“We should be able to produce over 170,000 tonnes which are by far, in the history of Nigeria, the highest to be produced locally.”

How DSR achieved impressive turnover of N403 billion -Chairman

Dangote Sugar announced the company recorded an impressive turnover of N403 billion, a 46 percent increase over N276 billion recorded during the same period in the year before, and posted a Profit before Tax (PBT) of N82 billion.

The Chairman of the company attributed its remarkable performance to the pragmatic approach the management deployed by focusing on continued cost and process optimisation, improved efficiencies in every area of operations, and service delivery to consumers.

Dangote further assured the shareholders that the Management would continue to implement strategic actions to sustain the performance with the support of all stakeholders with complete adherence to the tenets of the Federal Government’s Sugar Master Plan (SMP).

Part of the success recorded by Dangote Sugar, he noted, was made possible by the company Management’s continued implementation of the Dangote Sugar Development Master Plan with the rehabilitation and upgrade of the Dangote Sugar Refinery’s Numan operations, facilities and land development.

It as well would focus on the development of Nasarawa Sugar Company Limited, the greenfield sugar project, and Tunga in Nasarawa State, said he.

Dangote stated: “Concerted efforts were made during the year to rise above the various challenges that came about due to the COVID-19 lockdown which affected project timelines considerably and continued to generally impact economic activities due to its spill-over effect.

He observed the situation also led to the lack of Foreign Exchange (Forex) to finance most of the project deliverables.

On activating Nigerian Government’s Sugar Development Master Plan

“We, however, continued to surge ahead supported by the various stakeholders in the industry and government parastatals, with the resolve to ensure that the goals of the Nigeria Sugar Development Master Plan are achieved, Dangote stated.

The Chairman disclosed that during the year under review, the first phase of the SMP implementation period came to an end, and the Federal Government approved the second phase over the next 10 years.

Dangote said: “This extension came on the back of the review of the first phase by the National Sugar Development Council and other government parastatals with cognisance of the challenges and several circumstances that were unforeseen which riddled the first phase of the programme.”

According to him, the Board of Directors and Management were, however, focused on the achievement of the goals of the strategic initiative, and thus considerable progress was recorded in the project development, despite the numerous challenges faced in the economy.

Not minding the obstacles ahead, however, Dangote promised the Management would continue to create sustainable value for all stakeholders through an inclusive approach to growth and development, with continuous engagement with all parties.

He noted this is important to enable the company to make a positive impact, support poverty eradication and food security, infrastructure development, empowerment for members of the immediate communities, and the society at large.

In her remarks on the occasion, Mrs. Adebisi Bakare, Coordinator of the Pragmatic Shareholders Association, expressed the shareholders’ satisfaction with the performance of the company.

Mrs. Bakare noted that despite all the challenges in the sugar sub-sector of the Nigerian economy, the company still performed far and above the previous year.

She urged the Board and Management of Dangote Sugar to continue in the direction they have taken to get the company to the current winning.

Bakare also assured that the Management have the support of the shareholders to post even better performance in the coming years.

Kindly Share This Story

Kindly share this story