AshakaCem Posts N4.6bn Profit Despite N1.5bn Loss to Insurgency
Goddy Egene and Eromosele Abiodun The Chairman of Ashaka Cement Plc, Mallam Suleiman Yahyah, has said the performance of the company in 2014 showed the resilience of the management and commitment of its parent firm, Lafarge Africa Plc to sustenance of investment in the north eastern part of the country.
Despite losing N1.5 billion to insurgents attack last year, Ashaka Cement ended the year with a profit after tax of N4.566 billion, up from N2.824 billion in 2013.
The company recommended a dividend of 45 kobo per share, which was approved by the shareholders last week at the company annual general meeting in Abuja.
Explaining the performance of the company, Yahyah told THISDAY that said “security challenges in the north-eastern part of the country led to two insurgency incidents in the company. Despite these unfortunate events, the company’s economic and social activities have continued,” he said.
Yahyah said the company is putting various strategies in place to ensure that shareholders and other stakeholders get better deal going forward.
“We have embarked on the expansion of our cement production capacity to four million metric tones. The expansion in capacity will comprise debottlenecking of existing line and installation of new line,” he said.
He added that the company’s target is to achieve 95 per cent coal substitution, just as it is introducing a major corporate social responsibility (CSR) that will help the community with agricultural development.
“We have acquired 100 hectares of land. We have brought French experts to them the people modern ways of farming. Internally, we also driving efficiency by changing
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the our culture in the company. My vision for the company is stability, expansion, efficiency and performance,” Yahyah said.
The chairman thanked Lafarge Group, saying “they continued to provide commercial and technical guidance to our operations. We are grateful for their contributions , the confidence and continuing support.”