Lafarge Nigeria Plc reported its 2023 FY results showing a profit after tax of N51.1 billion down from N53.6 billion a year earlier.
The drop in profits highlights several operational challenges faced by businesses as they grapple with high inflation, exchange rate depreciation, and weaker purchasing power.
Lafarge reported FX losses of N21 billion during the year.
Despite this, Lafarge Africa produced one of the better results published by a manufacturing company in Nigeria in 2023.
Key Highlights
- Revenue (2023 vs 2022): N405 billion vs N373 billion, +8.6% YoY
- Operational Profits (2023 vs 2022): N102 billion vs N84 billion, +21.3% YoY
- Net Finance Cost (2023 vs 2022): N21.3 billion vs N14.4 billion, +47.9% YoY
- Profit after tax (2023 vs 2022): N51.1 billion vs N53.6 billion in 2022 to N51.1 billion, -4.7% YoY
- EPS (2023 vs 2022): N3.17 vs N3.33, -4.8% YoY
- Dividend (2023 vs 2022): N1.9 vs N2 or N30.6 billion vs N32.2 billion
- FX Losses (2023 vs 2022): N21 billion vs N13.1 billion
- External Loans (2023 vs 2022): N26.1 billion vs N36.5 billion, -28.6%
Lafarge Commentary: “The fundamentals of our business remain strong. In spite of extremely challenging macroeconomic head winds, we grew the top line by 8.6% and improved Operating Margin from 22.6% to 25.3% in FY 2023. In the face of very material FX devaluation losses and higher effective tax rate, Profit After Tax declined YoY by 4.7%.
Our performance was largely impacted by spiralling inflation and unprecedented Naira devaluation, with the attendant pressure on energy and supply chain costs.
Despite these challenges, we continue to maintain a strong free cash flow position and a strong balance sheet, positioning us for sustainable growth over the medium to long term. We are committed to delivering sustainable value to all stakeholders in the coming years, as we have done historically.