Cement price hikes lift Dangote Cement’s annual profit twofold to N1 trillion

EBITDA margin, a profitability metric that measures a company’s core profit, stood at 46 per cent.

Dangote Cement posted a twofold leap in net profit for 2025, compared to the preceding year, despite a decline in its trade volume as the industrial powerhouse capitalised on hikes in the price of cement during the year to lift revenue.

The earnings report of the manufacturing giant out on Saturday showed earnings climbed past the N1 trillion mark, thanks to a stronger turnover and a steep reduction in finance costs.

Revenue quickened by 20.3 per cent to N4.3 trillion, in spite of a drop in sales volume to 27.5 million from 27.7 million a year ago as a restrictive and thinly competitive cement market in Africa’s most populous country continues to throw the door open for cement makers to reap big.

Cement production and bagging for Dangote Cement rose 5.8 per cent to 55 million, meaning the company only produced at half its installed capacity during the review period.

The corporation highlighted an 18.6 per cent increase in cement and clinker exports from Nigeria and a dispatch of 34 shiploads of clinker from Nigeria to Cameroon and Ghana among its operating milestones for the year.

“This performance reinforces our vision of positioning Nigeria as a low-cost regional hub and replacing expensive intercontinental imports with competitive African production,” CEO Arvind Pathak said.

“Our export terminals at Apapa and Onne continue to prove their strategic value, and we remain firmly on track to achieve our ambitious target of 10 million tonnes of combined,” he added.

Cost efficiency was the hallmark of Africa’s biggest cement producer during the year, with production cost of sales dropping and administrative expenses as well as selling & distribution expenses slightly increasing.

In boost to net profit, finance costs fell by half to N351.5 billion as the company recorded no foreign exchange loss, unlike the previous year when it logged an FX loss of N249.3 billion.

Profit before tax expanded by 109.2 per cent to N1.5 trillion, while post-tax profit jumped to N1 trillion from N503.2 million.

EBITDA margin, a profitability metric that measures a company’s core profit, stood at 46 per cent.

Also on Saturday, the company announced a final dividend of N45 per share, 50 per cent higher than what it declared for 2024, equivalent to a potential payout of N759.3 billion.

Return on equity stood at 38.7 per cent, up from 23.1 per cent.