Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc has expressed its commitment to the achievement of sugar backward integration.
The Chairman of the company, Aliko Dangote, while speaking during the 16th Annual General Meeting of Dangote Sugar Plc, in Lagos on Wednesday, said it was the best thing that happened to the sector.
He said despite the harsh operating environment, the board and management were not deterred in the pursuit of sustainable growth for the company, and demonstrated resilience by continued implementation of its strategic objectives during 2021 financial year.
At the meeting, the dividend pay-out of N12.147bn for the year which represents N1 per share was unanimously approved by the shareholders.
The company recorded a group turnover of N276bn, which is 29 per cent increase over N214bn in the comparative year.
It recorded profit before tax of N34.02bn and profit after tax of N22.05bn. Group EBITDA decreased to N46.5bn with an EBITDA margin of 18 per cent.
According to Dangote, the company’s performance during the year under review is commendable amidst the challenges and the negative impact of COVID-19 pandemic on economic activities.
“We furthered the implementation of process optimisation, cost savings, and product promotion strategies with the launch of our new brand identity and the pursuit of the Dangote Sugar Backward integration master plan,” he said.
He stated that the board and management would continue to implement strategic actions to sustain and surpass the performance while engaging with all stakeholders in the sector and its communities to ensure the realisation of the objectives of the company.
On the company’s backward integration project, the Dangote chairman said that the goal of Dangote Sugar Backward Integration Projects Master plan remained the achievement of 1.5 million MT annually from locally grown sugar cane in support of the quest for sugar sufficiency in the country by the federal government.
He added that this would be achieved in addition to the extended value chain benefits that would be derived from the projects including thousands of jobs that would be generated in the sector from these projects.
Despite the challenges faced in 2021, he said Dangote Sugar Numan Operations rehabilitation and expansion efforts of the factory and field were advancing.
