Lafarge Africa commits to debt reduction

In order to boost its profits and resume its expansion, cement giant Lafarge Africa Plc, the continent’s second largest cement producer, announces that it will begin to reduce its debt over the next two years.
The cement maker also expects its leverage ratio will increase from 100% to 60-70% over the next 18 months, according to information published by Bloomberg.
Lafarge Africa has also managed to reduce its total debt to approximately $ 600 million, compared to more than $ 1 billion previously, after using funds, including the proceeds from a rights issue of 361 , $ 7 million last year.
Among other measures, the group has incurred debt to increase the capacity of its Calabar cement plant in southeastern Nigeria, and plans to increase production in the southwestern and northern mills, according to Mobolaji Balogun. President of Lafarge Africa.
The company has a production capacity of 10.8 million tonnes in Nigeria in fiscal 2017. It achieved gross profit margins of 16.97% and a net profit margin of 11.57%, with a yield of equity of 32.64%.
According to the results of the first quarter of 2018, Lafarge Africa saw its revenues reach only 80 billion nairas (221.3 dollars) against 81 billion nairas (224 thousand dollars) in 2017.