Cement giant, Lafarge Africa, made a total revenue of N91.82 billion at the end of the first three months of 2023, representing a marginal increase of 1.34 percent over the N90.61 billion realised in the corresponding period of 2022.

Lafarge Africa is in the business of manufacturing and marketing of cement and other cementitious products such as ready-mix, concrete, aggregates, fly-ash, among others.

Lafarge’s revenue during the quarter, came from three sources, which were cement, aggregates and concrete, and revenue made from the sale of mortar for the company. According to the first quarter 2023 unaudited financial statement, with N89.45 billion as of March 2023, cement accounted for the bulk of Lafarge Africa’s revenue, representing 97.4 percent of its income during the quarter. This compares to N87.94 billion the firm made on the same product in Q1 2022, representing 97.1 percent of its total revenue.

Earnings from aggregates and concrete fell by 10 percent to N2.26 billion at the end of the first quarter of this year, as against N2.52 billion as of March 2022.

An interesting development during the first quarter was that the company was able to manage its cost of sales component which declined by 6.4 percent from N48.43 billion in Q1 2022 to N45.34 billion in Q1 2023.

On the other hand, selling and distribution cost witnessed an upward trend of 24.3 percent to N18.67 billion at the end of the first quarter, in contrast to N15.02 billion in the corresponding period of 2022.

It should be noted that in the last one year, the cost of diesel, a major input in the distribution of manufactured goods in the country, has risen consistently in line with the trend in the global crude oil market.

Gross profit for the period increased by 10.2 percent to N46.5 billion, in contrast to N42.2 billion as of the end of Q1 2022.

The firm also recorded a 93 percent hike in tax payment, which stood at N7.55 billion at the end of the first quarter as this caused a decline in profit after tax. At the end of the first quarter of 2022, total tax payment was N3.91 billion.

A deeper dive analysis into the cause of the spike in tax payment showed that Lafarge paid a deferred tax of N6,72 billion from January to March 2023, representing 89.1 percent of the total tax paid during the first quarter of this year.

Compared to Q1 2022, Lafarge paid N2.61 billion as deferred tax, amounting to 66.8 percent of the total tax paid during the first quarter of 2022.

The firm made a profit after tax of N14.93 billion in the first three months of this year, representing a 14.9 percent decline in profitability, when compared to N17.56 billion made in similar period in 2022.

In 2022, Lafarge Africa paid a final dividend of N2 per share to its shareholders.