Dangote Cement post lower 2014 profit after rains hurt demand

LAGOS (Reuters) - Dangote Cement's pretax profit fell 3.2 percent to 184.68 billion naira ($928 million) last year due to a gas shortage to fire its plant and low demand after prolonged wet weather, the company said on Thursday. Africa's biggest cement company said sales volumes in its main Nigerian market fell 3.2 percent to 12.87 million tonnes, weaker than the decline in the overall market of 0.8 percent to 21 million tonnes. It expected market growth in Nigeria to be muted this year owing to election and currency worries, worsened by the fall in government revenues triggered by the plunge in world oil prices. Full-year revenues for 2014 climbed to 391.63 billion naira during the 12-month period to December 31, up from 386.17 billion naira the previous year, due to growth from Dangote's other African operations, the company said. The cement company said unreliable gas supply at its Obajana plant, which accounts for around 35 percent of the market, constrained production, while prolonged rainfall in the second half of last year led to a slowdown in construction. "Revenue increased mostly due to South African operations," it said in a presentation, adding that long term growth in Nigerian market remains robust at more than 10 percent. Shares in Nigeria's biggest cement firm by market capitalisation shed 0.82 percent to 152 naira each on Thursday. They have fallen 23.7 percent so far this year, underperforming the main index which is down 13.7 percent. The firm, majority owned by Africa's richest man Aliko Dangote, cut the 2014 dividend payment to 6 naira per share, down from 7 naira it paid a year earlier. Dangote Cement expects to slow capital expenditure this year to 191 billion naira, down from 217.2 billion naira last year, as expansion projects across the continent gather pace. It expects new cement plants in Cameroon, Zambia, Ethiopia and Tanzania to be commissioned this year. ($1 = 199 naira) (Reporting by Oludare Mayowa and Chijioke Ohuocha; Editing by Tom Heneghan)