(Business in Cameroon) - During their general assembly held in Douala on May 16, 2018, the shareholders of  SABC (listed on Euronext Paris) validate the resolution granting them the right to a dividend of CFA13.021  billion (€19.8 million) for the 2017 fiscal year.

Even though this volume is far from the CFA30.04 billion share in 2012, it represents a  278.4% increase compared to the CFA3.4 billion dividend of the 2016 fiscal year.

At that time, the newly appointed managing director Emmanuel de Tailly called on the shareholders' solidarity to invest CFA45 billion without having to borrow money from other institutions. This was to face various challenges related to the market, the production capacity, the risk for the depreciation of the local currency and the profitability affected by a fiscal environment deemed unfavorable.

Indeed, since 2011 when the company realized a 15.9% net profitability, the company has been confronted with many challenges. In 2015, government broadened the tax base and since the population’s purchase power was low, SABC was obliged to bear the burden of the tax between 2015-2017 (CFA620 billion).

In 2017, thanks to the 2017 finance law, the company’s fiscal burden decreased by 6.4% and during the last three years, it represented 64% of the turnover while between 2011 and 2014, it was 45%. During the same period, the company invested in its production unit to comply with international standards. It also improved its employees’ salaries and social advantages.

Besides the fiscal burden, in 2017, SABC was also confronted with a degradation of the market marked by the crisis in the CEMAC zone and the conflict in the North and in the Anglophone region. There was also the unlawful competition of beer smuggled in Cameroon.

Despite all these challenges, in 2017, SABC improved its operations result by 56% and the net result by 36% while reducing its debt by half.  

All the same, the management’s task is difficult. Indeed, to satisfy shareholders, it will have to accommodate a fierce will to invest in the local added-value (the agriculture and distribution network), and a competitive market affected by the fraudulent imports and the security challenges.

Idriss Linge