Lafarge Africa Plc Press Release Q1 2018 Results 20180420 v1

Lafarge Africa Plc sustaining its strong performance in Nigeria

Lafarge Africa Plc has recorded net sales of N81 billion for the first quarter of 2018. This is slightly lower than the corresponding period in 2017 by 1 due to volume in Nigeria and South Africa.

Recurring EBITDA in Nigeria maintained margins at 29 and delivered strong operational performance. The CEO of Lafarge Africa Plc Mr Michel Puchercos said the Results were affected by timing of inventory movements and performance in South Africa. He attributed the strong margins in the Nigerian business to the commercial and energy strategies that were implemented.

Mr Puchercos disclosed that Lafarge Africa Plc’s commercial, logistic and industrial operations in Q1 2018 continued to improve strongly despite inflation. The energy improvement plan continued to outperform with increased use of Alternative Fuel and Coal while logistic and commercial initiatives helped to sustain market share during the quarter.

The Lafarge Africa CEO said the South African operations are more stable following turnaround measures like price adjustment and cost reduction initiatives.

Outlook

Full year outlook for Cement market remains favorable with positive signs of recovery in March. Our Business turnaround actions will be consolidated further in 2018 through energy optimisation as well as commercial and logistic improvement.

For South Africa the economy is expected to grow in 2018. The turnaround plan of the South African operations is focused on cost containment, commercial transformation and industrial stabilsation. The overall goal is to create value for shareholders through an attractive growth profile and good margins.