Lafarge Africa Plc has recorded revenues of N80.6 billion for the first quarter (Q1) 2018, 1 percent less than the N81 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2017, after volume effects in Nigeria and South Africa.
Recurring Earnings Before Income, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) margin in Nigeria stood at 29 percent, thanks to strong operational performance.
According to Michel Puchercos, CEO of Lafarge Africa, “We continued to deliver strong margins in our Nigerian business as a result of our commercial and energy strategies. At the same time, our results were affected by timing of inventory movements and performance in South Africa.
“Lafarge Africa’s commercial, logistic and industrial operations in Q1 2018 continued to improve strongly despite inflation. The energy improvement plan outperform with increased use of Alternative Fuel and Coal while logistic and commercial initiatives helped to sustain market share during the quarter.”
Its South African operations are more stable following turnaround measures including price adjustment and cost reduction initiatives.
Meanwhile, full-year outlook for the Nigerian cement market remains favourable with positive signs of recovery in March. Analysts say the firm’s business turnaround actions would likely be consolidated further in 2018 through energy optimisation as well as commercial and logistic improvement.
Also, the South African economy is expected to grow in 2018, and the turnaround plan of the South African operations is focused on cost containment, commercial transformation and industrial stabilisation.
However, the overall goal is to create value for shareholders through an attractive growth profile and good margins, Puchercos said.
Combining its operations in Nigeria – Ewekoro and Sagamu plants in Ogun State, Ashakacem in Gombe State, Mfamosing in Cross River State, Atlas Cement in Rivers State and Ready-Mix Nigeria with its varied operations in South Africa, Lafarge Africa has a current installed cement capacity of 14.1Mtpa. This is in addition to market leading positions in Aggregates, Ready mix concrete and Fly Ash.
Lafarge Africa is a leading sub-Saharan Africa building materials company, and a subsidiary of LafargeHolcim, listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange with a presence in Africa’s two largest economies, Nigeria and South Africa.
