National Wire About Nigerians, Nigerian Business and Other Stories
Despite the challenging business environment Lafarge Africa Plc has recorded net sales of N81 billion for the first quarter ended March 31, 2018. Which shows that the building solution company is on the growth path.
The earnings performance is slightly lower than the corresponding period in 2017 by 1 percent due to volume effects in Nigeria and South Africa. Recurring EBITDA margin in Nigeria stood at 29 percent which was due to strong operational performance.
Commenting on the first quarter performance, the Chief Executive Officer of Lafarge Africa Plc Mr Michel Puchercos said, “We continued to deliver strong margins in our Nigerian business as a result of our commercial and energy strategies. At the same time, our results were affected by timing of inventory movements and performance in South Africa.”
He pointed out that Lafarge Africa commercial, logistic and industrial operations in the period under consideration continued to improve strongly despite inflation. The energy improvement plan continued to outperform with increased use of Alternative Fuel and Coal while logistic and commercial initiatives helped to sustain market share during the quarter.
According to him, the South African operations are more stable following turnaround measures including price adjustment and cost reduction initiatives. On the future outlook for 2018, he said full year outlook for the cement market in Nigeria remains favourable with positive signs of recovery in March.
Adding that the company’s business turnaround actions will be consolidated further in 2018 through energy optimisation as well as commercial and logistic improvement. While in South Africa the economy is expected to grow in 2018. Noting that the turnaround plan of the South African operations is focused on cost containment, commercial transformation and industrial stabilsation. The overall goal is to create value for shareholders through an attractive growth profile and good margins.
Photo Caption: The Chief Executive Officer of Lafarge Africa Plc Mr Michel Puchercos
