Dangote Cement Plc has announced impressive financial results for the first quarter ending March 31, 2025, with substantial profit growth despite challenges in production volume.
The cement manufacturer recorded a pre-tax profit of ₦311.974 billion in Q1 2025, representing an 87.48% increase from the ₦166.404 billion achieved during the same period in 2024. Net profit rose to ₦209.245 billion, marking an 85.71% year-on-year growth compared to ₦112.674 billion in Q1 2024.
Total revenue climbed to ₦994.659 billion, a 21.69% improvement over the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
While maintaining its overall production capacity at 52 million metric tons, the company experienced a decline in actual production and sales volumes:
- Production volume decreased by 7.41% year-on-year to 6.547 million tons.
- Sales volume reduced by 6.72% to 6.569 million tons.
The Nigerian operations showed remarkable strength, with revenue rising to ₦696.042 billion. This increased Nigeria’s contribution to group revenue from 55.41% in Q1 2024 to 69.98% in Q1 2025.
Meanwhile, the Pan-African segment experienced a 15.37% year-on-year revenue reduction to ₦322.653 billion, thereby decreasing its contribution to group revenue to 32.44%.
Fuel and power costs remained significant at ₦177.193 billion, continuing to be a major component of the overall cost of sales. However, the company managed to control its cost growth rate below that of revenue expansion, resulting in improved profitability metrics:
- Gross profit margin increased to 59%, representing a 15-percentage-point improvement from Q1 2024.
- Operating profit margin rose to 39.96% from 31.23% in Q1 2024, a 27.92% enhancement.
The company’s administrative, selling, and distribution expenses totaled ₦205.480 billion, with transportation and logistics (haulage) accounting for over 60% of these costs.
Finance costs saw only a modest increase due to significantly reduced foreign exchange losses, which fell from ₦63.765 billion in Q1 2024 to ₦17.472 billion in Q1 2025. Despite this improvement, interest expenses remained substantial at ₦110.302 billion.
The overall financial performance demonstrates Dangote Cement’s resilience and effective cost management strategies in a challenging operational environment, resulting in significantly improved profitability despite lower production volumes.
