Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc claims Nigeria can earn $ 700 million in foreign exchange per year through the implementation of the Upstream Integration Policy (BIP) of sugar production.
Dangote Sugar Refinery Chairman Aliko Dangote said this at the company’s 15th annual general meeting on Thursday in Lagos.
Dangote said factoring in the distortions as part of the sugar master plan would undermine the nation’s goal of achieving self-sufficiency as planned.
He said the policy would not only reduce imports of raw sugar, but save nations huge currencies used for importing.
Expressing satisfaction with the BIP, Dangote noted, however, that if Nigeria’s sugar master plan was fully implemented and actors strictly abided by the rules, Nigeria would save between $ 600 million and $ 700 million per year in currencies.
“The upstream integration policy of the Dangote sugar refinery is making significant progress and we will remain committed to this policy,” he said.
Speaking to shareholders, he said, despite the economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the company announced an increase in production volume which rose 13.7% to 743,858 tonnes in the during the period under review, from 654,071 tonnes in 2019.
Dangote noted that the company had a group turnover of 214.3 billion naira compared to 161.1 billion naira in 2019.
He added that the sugar group recorded a 6.9% increase in sales volume, from 684,487 tonnes in 2019 to 731,701 tonnes in 2020.
Therefore, the board of directors of the company declared a total dividend payment of 18.22 billion Naira to shareholders, amounting to 1.50 Naira per common share of 50k each.
He explained that the improvements were due to the strategy to optimize operations despite the disruption caused by civil unrest in the last quarter of the year.
“Our growth continued to benefit from continued efforts to drive customer expansion and from several business initiatives and investments”.
“Gross profit rose 40.4% to 53.75 billion naira from 38.29 billion naira in 2019, while group profit after tax for the year increased 33.2% to 26 , 70 billion naira against 22.36 billion naira in 2019, reflecting management’s relentless goal. to deliver consistent value to shareholders, ”he said.
Dangote said the company revised its sugar production target to 550,000 metric tonnes achievable by 2024, in line with the federal government’s revised PIF plan.
Group Managing Director / CEO Mr. Ravindra Singhvi, speaking on the results, said the sugar group continued to grow with a commitment to improve performance and generate value for all stakeholders.
Singhvi explained that this was reflected in the delivered sales volume of 731,701 tonnes and production of 743,858 tonnes, an increase in volumes of 6.9% and 13.7% compared to the comparative year 2019.
“Our upstream integration goal is to become a global force in sugar production, producing 1.5M MT / PA of refined sugar from locally grown sugar cane for national and export markets.
“Our focus on implementing our key strategies in the face of the many challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the peculiarities of the traffic situation in Apapa, among others.
Singhvi noted that one of the key highlights of the year was the successful completion of the plan of arrangement – merger of Dangote Sugar Refinery and Savannah Sugar Company Ltd with effect from September 1, 2020, to operate under a single entity. unified.
He said: “We are convinced that the merger will allow us to achieve operational, administrative and governance efficiency gains resulting in increased shareholder value.
“We will continue to pursue our upstream integration projects and other key initiatives to increase our sales volumes, market share, optimize costs and operational efficiency.
Also speaking, Dr Farouk Umar, President of the Association for the Advancement of Nigerian Shareholders’ Rights, congratulated management on the impressive performance of the company despite the hiccups of the year 2020.
Umar said that “shareholders expect more robust results next year as the economy is already picking up and they have performed extremely well under the pandemic.”
(NAN)
