BUA Cement profit falls to N60.61bn
BUA Cement Plc has reported a profit after tax of N60.61 billion for the year ended December 31, 2019, compared to N64.07 billion recorded a year ago.
The firm’s total assets fell to N470.57 billion as at the end of 2019 from N487.97 billion a year ago, while total liabilities declined to N106.87 billion from N179.36 billion, according to its financial statements obtained by Marketers Reporters from the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
The company said it sold N174.87 billion worth of bagged cement in 2019, compared to N117.50 billion in 2018. It sold N649.34 million worth of bulk cement last year, down from N1.51 billion in 2018.
On the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, BUA Cement noted that there had been significant disruption in business operations across the country with restriction of movement in certain states and closure of inter-state borders “which invariably impacted cement dispatch to the affected areas.”
It however said production continued uninterrupted with provision of additional protective materials to staff who must be at the factories to shield them from getting infected.
According to the company, demand for cement remains strong and cement dispatch to areas that are still accessible is fully ongoing.
It said, “In the light of these recent developments and its underlying impact, the company, despite continuing operations, is not completely insulated from the impact of COVID-19 as sales dropped in March 2020 by less than five percent when compared to the previous month.
“The extent of further drop depends on the curtailment of the virus spread, future actions of the government and the state of the economy, hence cannot be reasonably estimated as at now.”
