BUA Cement Grows Profit After Tax by 26.2% in Q1 2020

• BUA Cement Manufacturer Reports N19.8 billion in Q1 2020

BUA Cement Plc, one of Nigeria’s leading cement companies, on Monday reported a 25.1 percent increase in revenue for the first quarter (Q1) ended March 31, 2020.

The cement manufacturer grew revenue from N43 billion reported in the first quarter of 2019 to N54 billion in Q1 2020. The company’s profit before tax expanded by 15.7 percent from N17.4 billion filed in the same quarter of 2019 to N20.1 billion.

This positive performance translated to a 26.1 percent increase in Profit After Tax (PAT). PAT rose from N15.7 billion in Q1 2019 to N19.8 billion in Q1 2020.

According to the unaudited financial results released on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, earnings per share rose from 46 kobo in Q1 2019 to 58 in Q1 2020.

Commenting on the strong results, Yusuf Binji, the Managing Director/CEO of BUA Cement Plc, said positive performance amid the COVID-19 pandemic was a testimony to the company’s resilience. The performance was as a result of an increase in production capacity to 8 million metric tonnes in Q1 2020, up from the 5 million metric tonnes produced in 2019, he stated.

Binji said: “The turn of the year witnessed the achievement of yet another milestone, with the completion of listing requirements of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), emerging the third-most capitalised company on the exchange; with a market capitalisation of N1.2 trillion ($3.3 billion) and the de-listing of the shares of CCNN Plc. Subsequently, BUA Cement was included as a constituent of the MSCI frontier market index in February.

“Undoubtedly, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic will have broader ramifications to the world and indeed the world economy, even as governments institute measures to curtail further spread of the virus. Nationally, Nigeria has not been immune to the wave of the virus; with the government instituting safety measures whilst building capacity, in preparedness for possible high number of cases.

“In response to the global pandemic, we implemented our “COVID business continuity program”, built into our corporate governance framework. This minimises disruptions along the value chain; prioritises the safety of workers and customers; and assesses probable scenarios a prolonged lockdown would have on the business.

“Clearly, our strong-showing epitomises the effect of further growth in output but most importantly, a growing appreciation of the value and service offering we continue to afford customers in the market place: with sales revenue increasing by 25.1% (y/y) to N54 billion. We continue to anticipate changes to customer and market behaviour, aimed at further strengthening our value model, even as we continue our push into ‘new markets’.

“As the COVID-19 virus makes landfall, we believe the current measures in place, should help minimise plausible downside risks; nevertheless, poised to take advantage of an upturn in market activities,”Binji added.