Dangote Cement sees 22% rise in 2012 pretax profit, Nigeria

Nigeria-based cement producer Dangote Cement said it expects pretax profit to reach NGN143bn (US$910m) for full year 2012 on strong demand, a rise of 22 per cent compared to the NGN118bn achieved last year.  

The company said forecasts were based on the 2.6Mt of cement it sold in the last quarter of the year and on improved gas supply. The company will spend around NGN110bn in capital expenditure this year.

"Nigeria has a low per capita consumption ... so we believe there is a huge pent up demand in Nigeria ... which will drive growth," Reuters quoted chief executive Devakumar Edwin as saying during a conference call with analysts discussing its third quarter results.

Edwin said gross revenues hit US$1.3bn during the first nine months, up 19.8 per cent from the same period in 2011, while pretax profit grew 13.5 per cent to US$670m in the nine months through September.