Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc has continued to boost its production capacity as the company targets the production of over 170,000 tonnes of sugar next season.
The company has a long successful history as a key player and contributor to the development and growth of the Nigeria Sugar Sector and the Food and Beverage industry.
Speaking at the 17th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held recently, chairman of the company, Aliko Dangote said: “the shareholders are very happy with the way we have been running their company and also in re-investing the profit into the Backward Integration Programme (BIP) for the sugar industry.
“We are going to play our part in ensuring that Nigeria becomes self-sufficient in sugar within a very short period. We are not the only players, but we will surely play our part. We should be able to produce over 170,000 tonnes which are by far, in the history of Nigeria, the highest to be produced locally.”
He pledged that the management would continue to implement strategic actions to sustain the performance with the support of all stakeholders with complete adherence to the tenets of the federal government’s Sugar Master Plan.
Dangote said, part of the success recorded by Dangote Sugar was made possible by the management’s continued implementation of the Dangote Sugar Development Master Plan with the rehabilitation and upgrade of the Dangote Sugar Refinery’s Numan operations, facilities and land development, as well as the development of the Nasarawa Sugar Company Limited, the greenfield sugar project, and Tunga in Nasarawa State.
Dangote further said that, during the year under review, the first phase of the Sugar Master Plan implementation period came to an end and that the federal government approved the second phase over the next 10 years, saying this extension came on the back of the review of the first phase by the National Sugar Development Council and other government parastatals with cognisance of the challenges and several circumstances that were unforeseen which riddled the first phase of the programme.
Group managing director/CEO of Dangote Sugar Refinery, Ravindra Singhvi, added that “implementation of the Sugar Projects initiatives continued at a high tempo despite the challenges. However, we sustained our wins with the continued existence of a peaceful environment with the communities and the continued positive engagement with the state and community stakeholders evidenced in their continued support of the DSR Backward Integrations Project.
“The situation of the Lau/Tau project is still the same, and we are hopeful that the Taraba state government will resolve the community issues, focus on the development, rehabilitation and upgrade of our facilities at the Dangote Sugar Refinery, Numan Operations and the Nasarawa Sugar Company Limited, Tunga.”
He stated that “steady progress is now being made as the Company continues the rehabilitation and expansion project at Dangote Sugar, Numan, and development activities at the Nasarawa Sugar Company Limited, Tunga, saying that the Board and Management remains resolute and committed to ensuring a sustainable future for the business with the Dangote Sugar Master Plan.
On future outlook, the CEO said: “we will continue to position our brand strategically, optimise our processes and cost efficiency and implementation of our strategic initiatives; the Sugar for Nigeria Backward Integration Project Master Plan.
“This is being pursued with rigour, and the realisation of the targets will ensure the growth of Dangote Sugar into an integrated sugar production business and a sustainable future for the business.”
Also, Group chief finance officer of Dangote Sugar Refinery, Oscar Mbeche stressed that “in 2022, the company recorded another impressive year of financial performance and achieved growth over 2021 financial performance. Sales volume grew by 10 per cent complemented by higher prices, contributing to revenue growth in 2022 by 46 per cent from N276.1 billion to N403.2 billion.
“The company continued to grow its supply chain footprint in Nigeria complemented by excellent customer care that sustained customer loyalty to sustain the revenue growth. The company’s primary focus remains adding value to its customers with high quality sugar.”
On Nigeria Sugar Master Plan and BIP performance, Mbeche explained that DSR’s continued to support the development of the Nigerian Sugar Master Plan, DSR’s backward integration (BIP) Numan operations saw the highest volumes of sugar processed since the inception of the company, increasing by 64 per cent over 2021 volume.
He however said significant impediments still need to be overcome, principally, the challenges of securing funds to import capital assets to support BIP development plans, poor infrastructure, among others, saying that these negatively impact the pace at which DSR can achieve further financial and performance efficiencies in the BIP operations.
Meanwhile, despite the challenging operating environment which the company faced in 2022, it recorded a commendable performance. The company recorded a Group turnover of N403 billion, a 46 per cent increase over N276 billion recorded during the same period in the comparative year. Profit before tax of N82 billion, while profit after tax of N55 billion.
Group EBITDA increased to N95.5 billion and an EBITDA margin of 24 per cent, a 35 per cent increase in margin when compared to 18 per cent margin being (N48.5 billion) in the year 2021. The group EBITDA in naira value increased by 97 per cent over that of 2021.
The company paid a total dividend of N18.22 billion, being N1.50 kobo dividend for every ordinary share of 50 kobo each, held in the company as of December 31, 2022.
Dangote Sugar Refinery, the largest sugar refinery in Nigeria with a 1.44 million metric tonnes refining capacity in Lagos, and one of the largest sugar refineries in sub-Saharan Africa.
Annually the company imports about 0.84 million tonnes raw sugar and cultivates about 640,000 tonnes of cane with which it produces about 58,000 tons of sugar at the Dangote Sugar Refinery Apapa and DSR Numan Operations, Numan in Adamawa State, from its own grown sugar cane, and sold nationwide.
Dangote Sugar controls more than 60 per cent of the local market share with its Vitamin A Fortified and non-fortified refined granulated free flowing crystal white sugar production, packaged and distributed in 1000kg, 50kg bags, 1kg, 500g and 250g; sold under the brand name ‘Dangote Sugar’ sold to consumers and industrial markets nationwide.
