Nigeria's cement industry is facing a major turning point in fiscal year 2025. Dangote Cement, BUA Cement and Lafarge Africa achieved a combined after-tax profit of 1.64 trillion naira, nearly three times that of the same period last year, with Dangote Cement breaking the trillion naira profit mark for the first time.
Dangote Cement: Deleveraging releases profits
Dangote Cement's fiscal 2025 revenue was 4.31 trillion naira, up 20.28% year-on-year. Revenue growth was driven by strong pricing power, although total sales volumes edged down to 27.47 million tonnes from 27.71 million tonnes. The most significant improvement came from finance costs – borrowings reduced by 56% from N2.63 trillion to N1.16 trillion and finance costs reduced by 50% from N700.3 billion to N351.5 billion. The financial cost savings of N348.8 billion even exceeded the revenue growth, directly doubling the after-tax profit to N1.01 trillion. Gross profit margin expanded from 54% to 62% and EBITDA rose 43% to N1.98 trillion.
BUA Cement: Foreign exchange tailwind boosts profits
BUA Cement's fiscal year 2025 revenue was 1.18 trillion naira, up 35% year-on-year. Cement in bags accounted for 99% of revenue, with export earnings soaring from N630 million to N14.8 billion. The most striking thing is that the gross profit margin has expanded from 34% to 51%, the after-tax profit has increased by 382% to 356 billion naira, and the net profit margin of 30% is the highest among the three enterprises. However, the surge was mainly driven by an 89% reduction in foreign exchange losses – from N92.1 billion to N9.7 billion, contributing N82.4 billion to profit improvement. Excluding foreign exchange effects, core operating expenses actually rose 41%, reflecting structural cost pressures such as energy and distribution.
Lafarge Africa: Balanced Growth and Zero Debt
Lafarge Africa's revenue in fiscal year 2025 exceeded trillion naira for the first time, reaching 1.07 trillion naira, an increase of 53% over the same period last year. Its growth quality is the most balanced-the price increases by 45% and the sales volume increases by 20%, which is the only company among the three enterprises to achieve the dual drive of volume and price. Profit after tax rose 173% to N273.1 billion and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization rose 92% to N427 billion. The most prominent financial features are zero debt and N385 billion cash reserves, with financial costs plunging 74% from N43.1 billion to N11 billion. Energy costs grew by only 9.5%, well below the 53% revenue growth rate, indicating optimal energy cost management. The
three enterprises benefit from the normalization of foreign exchange environment and cost control, but the driving factors are different. Dangote relies on financial structure optimization, BUA relies on accounting income, and Lafarge achieves both operational and financial improvement. Energy cost management has become a key differentiation factor-Dangote maintains its advantages by self-owned power plants, Lafarge achieves the lowest cost growth through energy portfolio optimization, and BUA faces energy pressure before new production capacity is put into operation. Competition in fiscal year 2026 will depend on who executes more effectively on energy costs, capacity expansion and volume growth.
浙公网安备33010802003254号