Dangote Sugar Refinery has announced a profit before tax of N14.22 billion for the nine months period, which ended last September This is an uptick when compared with the N13.97 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2014.
Details of the unaudited report released to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) recently show gross profit rise by 5 per cent to N18.80 billion, in contrast to N18.63 billion in 2014. Profit after tax increased to N9.34 billion from N9.15 billion in the same period in 2014. Production at Savannah Sugar was on the increase, rising to 6,610 tonnes whereas a total of 6,245 tonnes was produced in 2014.
Speaking on the results, the company’s Deputy Group Managing Director, Abdullahi Sule, said: “After a good pick up in the second quarter, we struggled to sustain the pace of improvement in the third quarter as we continued to face challenges getting our sugar out of the Apapa area to our customers, which constrained our overall operations in the quarter. “We have begun to explore alternate means of product evacuation, including the rail and additional warehouses to fulfil the growing demand of our sugar in the Northern parts of the country.
“I am pleased that, despite these challenges, we were still able to improve our profit margins and bagged additional market share from the sugar smugglers and competition as the quarter ended.
“We are excited as our Sugar for Nigeria project continues to gain momentum and our five- year target to execute the first phase of our backward integration plans – the Savannah rehabilitation and Lau/Tau projects progress.
“Dangote Sugar is Nigeria’s largest producer of household and commercial sugar with 1.44 million tonnes of refining capacity, with the ability to supply most of the country through an extensive network of distributors. The refinery imports raw sugar from Brazil and refines it at Apapa into white, Vitamin A-fortified sugar suitable for household and industrial uses.
Savannah cane sugar factory located near Numan in Adamawa State has an installed sugar capacity of 50,000 tonnes. Covering 32,000 hectares in extent, the Savannah Estate has considerable opportunity for expansion, which is underway.
Sule said, “our strategy is to become a global force in sugar production, working within Nigeria’s National Sugar Master Plan to end importation and sell more than 1.5 million metric tonnes of locally produced sugar. As part of this plan, we acquired Savannah Sugar in December 2012 and are currently improving its farm acreage and upgrading its production facilities.
“We intend to augment Savannah’s 32,000 hectares in Adamawa State by acquiring and planting a further 150,000 hectares across Nigeria, supporting the new plantations with modern production facilities that are located closer to the consumer,” he stated.
