BRVM-listed SMB profit jumps 83% to record $29m in 2023

AFRICAN STOCKS AND FINANCEMay 19, 2024 at 7:43 PM UTC

TLDR

SMB reports 83.15% profit increase, hitting 17.26 billion FCFA, driven by a 95% surge in bitumen demand.
The profit surge is attributed to the Ivorian government's road program (PND 2020-2025) and Afcon 2023 infrastructure projects.
Despite a 10.55% turnover decline to 247.65 billion FCFA, SMB's gross margin rose by 36.10% to 49.46 billion FCFA.

The Multinational Bitumen Company (SMB) recently reported a significant profit increase, reaching 17.26 billion FCFA ($29 million), an 83.15% rise from 9.42 billion FCFA from the previous year. This marks the highest profit since its BRVM listing in 1998.

The surge is driven by a 95% rise in bitumen demand, fueled by the Ivorian government's accelerated road program under PND 2020-2025 and infrastructure projects for Afcon 2023.

Despite a 10.55% decline in turnover to 247.65 billion FCFA due to an unfavorable stock variation, the gross margin grew by 36.10% to 49.46 billion FCFA. SMB's gross operating surplus increased by 110.44% to 30.28 billion FCFA, and its operating result rose by 107% to 28.58 billion FCFA.

Key Takeaways

Despite the profit surge, the dividend allocation was 9.35 billion FCFA, translating to a net dividend per share of 1,080 FCFA. With a share price of 11,350 FCFA on May 13, the dividend yield is 9.52%. And in the first quarter of 2024, SMB's turnover fell by 3% to 72.33 billion FCFA, but net income rose by 14% to 2.92 billion FCFA. This profit increase is attributed to a favorable refining economic context, with the margin indicator improving from $2.37/bbl in March 2023 to $5.96/bbl, enhancing the result from ordinary activities by 27% to 4.5 billion FCFA.

SMB

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Afcon 2023

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Ivory Coast

Bitumen