Lafarge Africa, one of Nigeria's cement manufacturing companies, has proposed a dividend of N1per share to its shareholders for the fourth quarter of 2019.

A statement signed by the company's CEO, Khaled El Dokani, on its financials indicated that the net debt of the company dropped from 288.9 billion to N37.1 billion as a result of the divestment from South Africa and successful rights issue in 2019.

'The decrease in net debt has significantly strengthened our balance sheet and has placed us in vantage position to face the future', Dokani said

He hinted that as the coronavirus pandemic rages in the country, the company had launched an action plan Health, Cost and Cash and will continue to focus on the implementation of cost optimization initiative during this period to minimise the impact on the business.

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'The Nigerian cement industry growth momentum is expected to slow down in 2020 financial year compared to 2019 on the back of the COVID 19 pandemic and the challenging global macroeconomic environment', he projected.

However, the industrialist said the construction industry remained resilient than other sectors and that his company has a strengthened balance sheet and is well equipped to weather the storm.

© Pakistan Press International, source Asianet-Pakistan