Tanga Cement Company to pay $11m dividend, Tanzania
Shareholders of Tanga Cement Company (TCC) are to be paid Tsh11.5bn (US$11m) in dividends despite the commodity’s glut in the global market and a relaxation of import duty that has distorted the firm’s business in the local market.
The company has approved a proposed dividend of 37.5 per cent of net profit, in which the final approved dividend will be Tsh179 (US cents 17) per share.
Charles Naude, the chairperson of the board of the TCC national cement consumption, said this shows a three per cent decrease over the previous year.
Mr Naude said that despite the one per cent drop in sales revenue, as well as an increase in losses in foreign exchange following depreciation of the shilling against major currencies, the company has beaten the odds to maintain net profit of Tsh45.1 billion ($42.9 million) against Tsh42.7 billion ($40.6 million) in 2008.
This has been achieved through improvements in operating efficiency as well as lower raw materials costs and efficient fuel consumption.
“With the expectations of growth in the cement market in 2010, the company is optimistic that, with an additional cement mill in place that makes an output of 1.25 million tonnes a year, the firm will be able to increase sales volumes and market share,” he said.
However, TCC said the impact of excess capacity in the market, imports, power interruptions and rail service delivery problems will be among the main challenges in 2010. Published under Cement News
