BY BAMIDELE FAMOOFO
BUA Cement Plc, one of Nigeria’s fastest growing cement manufacturers, has disclosed its plan to raise fresh capital to grow its business in Nigeria.
In a notice to the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) on Monday, which are in compliance the rules of listing, BUA disclosed that its management is already in talks with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to seek loan to expand its Sokoto production plant from 2.0 million metric tonnes per annum to 8.0 metric tonnes per annum.
“BUA Cement Plc hereby notifies Nigerian Exchange Limited ( NGX), its esteemed Shareholders and the investing public that the Company has gone into discussion with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), serving as lead arranger in conjunction with a number of other lenders in a syndication pool, to obtain a loan for the expansion of BUA Cement’s integrated cement plant in Kalambaina, Sokoto State, Nigeria which shall include increasing its capacity from 2.0 million tons per annum (MTPA) to 8.0 MTPA and the development of other ancillary utilities (the Expansion Project),” the notice read.
Meanwhile, shareholders of the company have approved dividends of N88.047 billion for its financial year ended December 31, 2021 at N2:60k per ordinary share of 50k each. This approval was given during the company’s 6th Annual General Meeting held in Abuja, and comes on the back of a strong financial performance in the year under review that recorded revenue growth of 22.9 percent from N209.4 billion in 2020 to N257.3 billion in 2021. Profits after Tax also rose by 24.5 per cent to N90.1 billion in the year under review.