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By Udeme Akpan
Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc has received shareholders’ approval for a N500 billion Rights Issue, thus positioning the company to strengthen its financial standing, expand capital base, accelerate strategic initiatives, and aid its backward integration projects.
The approval was given at the company’s 20th Annual General Meeting held yesterday in Lagos during which the shareholders commended Dangote Sugar’s robust performance over the past year, underscoring their support for the organization’s ongoing evolution and future plans.
Addressing shareholders, Chairman, Dangote Sugar, Mr. Arnold Ekpe, remarked that the year under review saw a marked improvement in performance, despite a challenging economic environment, noting that revenue growth and enhanced EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) demonstrate positive operational momentum. However, profitability was weighed down by a foreign exchange loss of N46.7 billion and additional finance costs totaling N128.6 billion.
The company, he said, posted a turnover of N829.2 billion, a 25 percent increase over 2024 adding “the loss for the year improved to N64.1 billion from N270.9 billion in the prior year, while EBITDA rose to N149.6 billion, up from N43.0 billion.”
Despite these hurdles, Ekpe assured shareholders that decisive actions are underway to boost operational efficiency and revenue growth. “With shareholder backing for the rights issue, we are in a strong position to bolster our balance sheet, setting the stage for future growth and profitability,” he said.
The chairman emphasized the significance of the backward integration program themed, “Sugar for Nigeria” as a cornerstone of the company’s strategic vision. “This initiative is expected to drive profitability and value creation, reduce import dependency, mitigate foreign exchange risks, generate employment, and support local farmers through the out-grower scheme.
“Our objective is to produce 1.5 million metric tonnes of sugar annually from domestically cultivated sugarcane. This involves developing approximately 45,000 hectares, with 2.7 million tonnes of cane earmarked for Numan and 3.35 million tonnes for Nasarawa. Achieving this goal requires substantial investments in land development and production capacity over the next five years,” Ekpe stated.