By Peter Egwuatu
Shareholders of Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc will have cause to smile as the Board of Directors has proposed a total dividend of N12 billion for the financial year ended December 31, 2010.

According to the result presented to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Wednesday, Dangote Sugar recorded a turnover of N82.395 billion for 2009 against N80.671 billion in 2008, representing a growth of 2.1 per cent.

Other performance indicators showed that Profit Before Tax (PBT) dipped by 35 per cent from N30.151 billion in 2008 to N19.586 billion in 2009. Profit After Tax (PAT) dropped by 39 per cent from N21.871 billion to N13.185 billion.
The Secretary of Dangote Sugar Plc, Mrs. Chioma Madubuko, in a statement disclosed that the company 4th Annual General Meeting (AGM) would hold in Kano on July 27, 2010.

She stated that if the dividend recommended by the Directors is approved by members at the AGM , the dividend warrants will be posted by 30th July, 2010 to members, whose names appear in the company’s Register of members at the close of business on Tuesday 13th July, 2010.

According to her, “ the register of members and transfer books of the company will be closed from Wednesday 14th to Friday 16th July, 2010, (both dates inclusive) for the purpose of payment of dividend.”

Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc is listed on the Lagos Floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and  has historically paid quarterly dividends to her shareholders.

Until 2000, the Dangote Sugar division operated as a white sugar importation and trading business. Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc commenced operations in March 2000 as the vehicle through which the group would enter the commercial refining sector, in line with the Group’’s overall manufacturing strategy.

The division operates Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, the largest sugar refinery in sub-Saharan Africa and Savannah Sugar Company Ltd.

The division has sugar cane farming, processing and refining operations in Nigeria and a new refining project in development in Algeria. Currently in Numan, 6,330 hectares of land is under cultivation with an average yield of 40-50 metric tonnes of raw sugar per hectare. Plans to expand land under cultivation to 20,000 hectares by 2012 are underway.

Existing refining capacity in Apapa of 1.4 million metric tonnes per annum with an ongoing expansion project to increase capacity to 2.5million metric tonnes per annum.

Dangote Sugar was awarded the Best African Initial Public Offer for 2007 by Africa Investors’ Index series. In November 2007, DSR Plc won the Nigerian Stock Exchange’s President Merit Award for best quoted company in the Food and Beverage sector.

The Standards Organization of Nigeria awarded the company the NIS ISO 9001:2000 International Quality Management Award. In 2008 the company got NSE’s President’s Merit Award for Best Quoted Company of the Year in the Food and Beverages Sector.