TheCable

Dangote Cement, Nigeria’s biggest company by market capitalisation, has announced the completion of the first tranche of its share buyback programme.

A buyback occurs when the issuing company pays shareholders the market value per share and re-absorbs that portion of its ownership that was previously distributed among public and private investors.

The cement maker in a statement, signed by Edward Imoedemhe, deputy company secretary, said the commencement date was December 30, while completion date was December 31, 2020.

Total number of shares repurchased was 40.20 million at an average price of N243 per share, representing 0.24 per cent of the company’s issued and fully paid ordinary shares while total value of shares repurchased was N9.77bn.

With the buyback, Dangote Cement has 17.0 billion shares outstanding, and said it will buy 82.5 million shares over in two tranches.

“Execution of this Tranche I did not have any material impact on the company’s financial position. The company will continue to monitor the evolving business environment and market conditions, in making decisions on further tranches of the share buy-back programme,” the statement said.

At the close of trading on Tuesday, shares of Dangote Cement gained 2.2 percent at N230, valuing the cement maker at N3.91 trillion.