Twiga Cement approves dividend
Tanzania Portland Cement board chairman Jean-Marc Junon (second left) addresses shareholders during the annual general meeting in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday. With him are company secretary Amon Elieneza (left), managing director Alfonso Rodriguez (third left) and board member Joseph Rugumyamheto.
PHOTO | THE CITIZEN CORRESPONDENT
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However, according to Mr Rodriguez, TPCC and other affected players were taking deliberate measures to deliver the right message to relevant authorities regarding the impact of imports.
Dar es Salaam. Tanzania Portland Cement Company (TPCC) has approved a Sh195 dividend per share, a five per cent increase from that of 2012.
It has done so despite suffering a 14 per cent drop in revenue in 2013 compared with 2012.
The revenue dropped from Sh249.112 billion in 2012 to Sh213.775 billion in 2013, the company’s managing director, Mr Alfonso Rodriguez, said at the 22nd annual general meeting on Tuesday.
The company, which trades as Twiga, also saw its profit for the year fall from Sh61.578 billion in 2012 to Sh37.64 billion in 2013, mainly due to the fire that, earlier last year, razed the main transformer which feeds power to the plant
“With the accident, we then had to use imported clinker and also rent and operate electricity generators, which resulted in an increase in operational costs,” he said.
The firm says soaring investments in infrastructure construction from the public and private sector make cement production a big business in Tanzania. The company says cement imports rose by 27 per cent last year.
However, according to Mr Rodriguez, TPCC and other affected players were taking deliberate measures to deliver the right message to relevant authorities regarding the impact of imports.
The firm’s board chairman Mr Jean-Marc Junon said local producers ha chosen to present relevant authorities with all the necessary information regarding the impact of cement imports. “We will talk openly to the authorities. We don’t want to be shy,” he said.
However, according to Mr Rodriguez, TPCC and other affected players were taking deliberate measures to deliver the right message regarding the impact of the imports to relevant authorities.
“While there is still enough capacity in the market, we are not saying put today. We told a parliamentary committee the impact of these imports. We want them to understand how these imports impact negatively on Tanzania Revenue Authority’s (TRA’s) tax collections as well as on employment creation,” he said.
