Renowned international journal, Forbes,
has said Africa’s richest man, Aliko
Dangote, is now 25th richest man in the
world.
Forbes also said Dangote is now the
first African entrepreneur to lay claim
to a $20 billion fortune as the stock
value of his largest holding, Dangote
Cement, leaped just three months after
it released its annual ranking of the
world’s richest people.
The report noted that Aliko Dangote’s 93
percent stake in the cement company is
now worth $19.5 billion.
This was in addition to his controlling
stakes in other publicly-listed
companies like Dangote Sugar and
National Salt Company of Nigeria and his
significant shareholdings in other blue-
chips like Zenith Bank, UBA Group and
Dangote Flour.
His extensive real estate portfolio,
jets, yachts and current cash position,
which includes more than $300 million in
recently awarded Dangote Cement
dividends, Dangote is now worth more
than $20 billion. The price is largely a
market response to the company’s
impressive 2013 Q1 results.
The cement manufacturer’s unaudited
results for the three months, ending on
March 31, showed that the company’s pre-
tax profit rose to $339 million,
representing an 80.6 percent increase
from last year and a strong indicator of
the company’s future earning potential.
The results also indicate a 79.5 percent
rise in its earnings per share over the
corresponding period last year.
Explaining the company’s share price
boost, Carl Franklin, Dangote Cement’s
Head of Investor Relations in the U.K
said in the first quarter of 2013, the
company had a huge increase in demand
across Nigeria, gas supply improved
considerably and the capacity was much
more ramped up.
“So Q1 was the first sign of just how
profitable we can be in Nigeria. The
amazing thing is that 66 percent of our
gas-fired production in Q1 was done at
84 percent gas.
“Imagine what would happen to margins if
we did the same amount at 95 percent.
This has given investors a good sense of
what we can really do when everything
goes in the right direction”.
With a current market cap of $20.5
billion, Dangote Cement becomes the
first Nigerian company to achieve a
market capitalization of over $20
billion.
“It’s certainly a landmark for a
Nigerian company and we’re proud to be
the first to achieve it. Obviously, we
are focusing on building long-term and
sustainable value for shareholders
through our investments in Nigeria and
Africa.
Nigeria is a very entrepreneurial
country and I can assure you that other
companies will follow us in achieving
this.”
Other companies might eventually achieve
this, but it’s going to take a bit of
time. Dangote Cement currently accounts
for more than a quarter of the total
market capitalization of the Nigerian
Stock Exchange. The second largest
company on the Nigerian Stock
Exchange,NSE, is currently Nigerian
Breweries, West Africa’s largest
manufacturer of Alcoholic and non-
alcoholic beverages. The company has a
market cap of $8.5 billion.
Dangote debuted on the FORBES
billionaires list in 2008 with a fortune
we pegged at $3.3 billion. His fortune
dropped to $2.5 billion in 2009 and
plunged further to $2.1 billion in 2010.
His fortune surged 557 percent in 2011
to $13.8 billion after he took Dangote
Cement public. He dropped to $11.2
billion in last year’s rankings, but
rebounded at $16.1 billion this year.
Since March, his fortune has jumped
another 30 percent.
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