Dangote Sugar strengthens working capital with N42.79bn CP issuance

BY MOTOLANI OSENI

Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc has issued N42.79 billion Series 4 and 5 Commercial Paper notes to improve its working capital.

The Company made this known in a statement signed by its Company Secretary/Legal Adviser, Mrs. Temitope Hassan.

The statement said “the Notes, which were issued under the Company’s N150 billion Commercial Paper Issuance Programme, comprised N12.93 billion 181-day Series 4 and N29.86 billion 265-day Series 5 notes.

“The Series 4 notes priced at a 23.00 per cent yield while the Series 5 notes priced at a 25.00 per cent yield, with participation from several investor groups, including Pension and Non-Pension Asset Managers, as well as other Institutional and Individual Investors.”

It added that the successful issuance of the Notes is in furtherance of the Company’s strategy to diversify its funding sources with funds raised being deployed to support its short-term working capital and funding requirements.

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The company had unveiled plans to produce 700,000 metric tonnes of refined sugar from locally grown sugarcane in the next four years, through its Backward Integration Programme (BIP).

Chairman of Dangote Sugar Refinery, Aliko Dangote recently said in alignment with the federal government of Nigeria’s policy guidelines, DSR continues to focus on and enhance its BIP by deploying and reviewing project strategies to ensure efficient delivery.

He noted that the 700,000 metric tonnes would meet 50 per cent of the current market demand for refined sugar.

According to him, the 10-year sugar development plan to produce 1.5 million MT of sugar per annum from locally grown sugarcane remains a germane roadmap to the Company’s objectives.

He also emphasised that despite the adverse impact on the business environment by the continuous increase in the inflationary trend, lack of liquidity and FX to fund the company’s equipment import among others for the backward integration projects, concerted efforts are ongoing to secure the needed funds for the development of the Nasarawa Sugar Company Limited project at Tunga in Awe Local Government Area of the state.