Nigerian billionaire Abdul Samad Rabiu to earn $157.02 million in dividends from BUA Cement

Africa’s sixth richest billionaire Abdul Samad Rabiu will earn $157.02 million (N64.53 billion) in dividends for 2020 from his direct and indirect stakes in his flagship company, BUA Cement Plc.

The Nigerian cement tiger, which has a market capitalization of $5.85 billion (N2.41 trillion) on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, is the fourth most capitalized company on the bourse. The company reported a 19-percent surge in revenue from $427.17 million (N175.50 billion) in 2019 to $509.69 million (N209.40 billion) in 2020.

The surge was triggered by growing sales on the back of a rise in real estate development and infrastructure projects in Nigeria, and translated to a 19-percent increase in profits from $175.95 million (N72.3 billion) in 2019 to $192.01 million (N78.9 billion) in 2020.

BUA Cement’s double-digit profit growth was driven by the cement maker’s operational efficiencies due to excellent cost optimization strategies and investment in modern manufacturing plants, which helped the company scale up production in 2020.

The cement company’s resilient financial performance despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its operating environment led its directors to declare a dividend of $170 million (N70.00 billion) payable to all shareholders whose names appear on the corporate registry of close of business today, July 9.

This translates to a dividend of $0.00503 (N2.067 per share) on all 33,864,354,060 issued ordinary shares of the company.

Rabiu, who founded BUA Group in 1988, owns a 92-percent stake in BUA Cement. His equity position in the leading cement manufacturer qualifies him to earn a dividend of $157.02 million (N64.53 billion) from his company’s profits in 2020.