Lafarge Africa Plc, a member of the LafargeHolcim Group, has floated a N60 billion two-tier bond with two-three year and five-year tenors which it plans to use in refinancing loans at United Company of Nigeria which it possessed last year.
The bond, hitherto, will be issued through a book building process which will commence in May 2016 and is currently awaiting approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Lafarge Africa Plc had reported a revenue of N52.42 billion, lower than N74.11 billion which it made in the comparable period of 2014. Despite its cost-cutting measure, it recorded a loss after tax of N1.87 billion as against N5.84 billion profit it made in the first three months of 2014.
Loss after tax attributable to owners of the company stood at N844.91 million as against a profit attributable to owners in Q1 2014 of N7.32 billion.
The company had embarked on cost-cutting measures as its revenue declined as administrative and distribution expenses dropped by 15 per cent to N6.44 billion from N7.611 billion.
“In spite of the macroeconomic challenges, our company will continue to deliver good performance with significant upsides to come as we conclude on the integration journey to form Lafarge Africa Plc. The new organisation of the company is much stronger and better positioned to deliver operational excellence and improve value to our shareholders” said the CEO, Lafarge Africa Plc, Mr Michel Puchercos.
“We expect 2016 to be a vibrant year, driven mostly by the Individual Home Segment and we are confident about the future. Our objective is to deliver innovative and quality building solutions to meet the specific needs of our customers, while also achieving good value creation for our shareholders.”
