NASCON Allied Industries Plc is set to deliver a resilient performance at the year’s end, barring any disruption, as its revenue continues to rise despite an increase in the price of inputs.
NASCON is a salt-processing company led by Nigerian billionaire industrialist Aliko Dangote
The company’s profit at the end of the first six months of 2022, representing the first half of the year, rose by more than 5.8 percent from N1.45 billion ($3.4 million) during the same period of 2021 to N1.54 billion ($3.73 million), according to the company’s half-year financial report.
The single-digit growth in earnings was delivered on the back of a 43-percent rise in revenue from N17.57 billion in 2021 to N25.13 billion due to increased demand for the group’s products and pricing benefits from price increases.
The slower growth in earnings compared to the increase in sales can be attributed to the rise in input prices, as NASCON spent N14.98 billion ($36.1 million) in 2021 versus N8.93 billion ($21.5 million) in 2021 to procure the raw materials that it used during the first six months of the year.
Aside from an increase in direct production costs, an increase in distribution costs during the period, particularly in delivery expenses, from N2.2 billion ($5.3 million) to N4.2 billion ($10.1 million), pushed the growth in earnings to a single-digit level in the first half of 2022.
NASCON is a subsidiary of the Dangote Group, a pan-African manufacturing conglomerate founded by Dangote, Africa’s richest man.
The company’s primary activities include processing raw salt into refined, edible, and graded salt, as well as seasoning products and vegetable oil manufacturing.
NASCON’s total asset value has increased from N40.52 billion ($97.58 million) at the start of the year to N49.34 billion ($118.9 million) at the time of writing this report, while shareholder equity has risen from N14.63 billion ($35.23 million) to N15.1 billion ($36.4 million).
