Nigeria's Dangote Cement gains after plans to expand operations

Reuters
Labourers work at the Dangote Cement factory in Obajana village in Nigeria's central state of Kogi November 8, 2010. REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye

LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigeria's Dangote Cement share rose sharply on Monday after the firm, majority owned by billionaire Aliko Dangote, announced plans to expand. Dangote Cement shares rose 7.8 percent on the local bourse after it said it plans to build new cement plants in Nigeria and increase local production capacity to 38.25 metric tonnes per year from 29.25 metric tonnes. The new plants will help it cut the cost of production and lower product prices in the market, it said. The local bourse rebounded on Monday, ending three consecutive days of decline. The stock index, which has the second-biggest weighting after Kuwait on the MSCI frontier market index, gained 2.02 percent to 23,977 points. Dangote Cement, which accounts for a third of the market's capitalisation, traded at 134.98 naira ($0.6783) at the close. Other gainers include Unilever, which was up 4.94 percent and PZ Cussons, which rose 4.78 percent. ($1 = 199.0000 naira) (Reporting by Oludare Mayowa, editing by Louise Heavens)