Despite the economic headwinds that characterised 2022, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc (DSR) will pay N18.22 billion as dividends to shareholders for the year ended December 31, 2022, while also targeting the production of over 170,000 tonnes of sugar next season. The dividend payout will translate to N1.50 kobo per share held by shareholders.

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.”

The company recorded an impressive turnover of N403 billion, a 46 per cent increase over N276 billion recorded during the same period in the year before, and posted a Profit before Tax (PBT) of N82 billion.

Dangote attributed the company’s remarkable performance to the pragmatic approach the management deployed by focusing on continued cost and process optimisation, improved efficiencies in every area of operations, and service delivery to our customers.

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.

He said: “Concerted efforts were made during the year to rise above the various challenges that came about due to the COVID–19 lockdown which affected project timelines considerably and continued to generally impact economic activities due to its spill-over effect, which also led to the lack of forex to finance most of the project deliverables.

“We however continued to surge ahead supported by the various stakeholders in the industry and government parastatals, with the resolve to ensure that the goals of the Nigeria Sugar Development Master Plan are achieved.”

The Company Chairman noted 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. “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,” he added.

Dangote stated that the board and management were, however, focused on the achievement of the goals of the strategic initiative, and thus considerable progress was recorded in the project development, despite the numerous challenges faced.

Not minding the obstacles ahead, Dangote promised that the management would continue to create sustainable value for all stakeholders through an inclusive approach to growth and development, with continuous engagement with all parties, to enable the company make a positive impact, support poverty eradication and food security, infrastructure development, empowerment for members of the immediate communities, and the society at large.

In her remarks, the Coordinator of the Pragmatic Shareholders Association, Mrs. Adebisi Bakare expressed the satisfaction of shareholders with the performance of the company, noting that despite all the encumbrances in the sugar sub-sector of the economy, the company still performed far and above the previous year.

She urged the board and the management to continue in the direction they have taken to get the company to the current winning, assuring that the management has the support of the shareholders to post even better performance in the coming years.