Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc reported a significant improvement in its 2025 financial performance despite remaining in negative territory as rising revenue and improved operating profit helped narrow losses during the year ended December 31, 2025.
The company’s audited financial statements show that revenue rose from N665.69 billion in 2024 to N829.21 billion in 2025, representing a 24.6 percent increase driven largely by higher product pricing and increased market demand.
Cost of sales, however, remained elevated as the company continued to grapple with high raw material costs and macroeconomic pressures. Cost of sales increased from N634.58 billion in 2024 to N706.59 billion in 2025.
Despite the rise in production costs, Dangote Sugar recorded a sharp improvement in gross profit, which surged from N31.11 billion in the previous year to N122.63 billion in 2025.
Operating performance also strengthened substantially as operating profit climbed to N96.13 billion compared with N12.67 billion reported in 2024. The improvement reflects stronger revenue generation and some cost stabilization across key operational segments.
However, heavy finance costs continued to weigh on the company’s profitability. Finance charges declined from N301.28 billion in 2024 to N175.35 billion in 2025 but remained the single largest factor driving the company’s losses.
Net finance cost stood at N170.82 billion compared with N293.67 billion recorded in the previous year.
As a result, Dangote Sugar posted a loss before tax of N72.28 billion, representing a significant reduction from the N270.89 billion loss recorded in 2024.
After accounting for tax credits of N8.16 billion, the company closed the year with a net loss of N64.12 billion compared with the N192.62 billion loss reported in the previous financial year.
Loss attributable to shareholders of the parent company stood at N64.06 billion while loss per share improved to N5.28 from N15.86 recorded in 2024.
The company’s financial position also reflected tightening liquidity conditions.
Total assets declined from N1.05 trillion in 2024 to N965.93 billion in 2025 as current assets fell sharply.
Cash and cash equivalents dropped significantly to N52.58 billion from N108.17 billion in the previous year while inventories declined from N179.83 billion to N157.56 billion.
Total liabilities remained elevated at N836.95 billion compared with N838.61 billion recorded in 2024.
Financial liabilities continued to dominate the balance sheet with N688.06 billion recorded under current financial obligations, highlighting the company’s substantial debt exposure.
Equity attributable to shareholders declined from N212.28 billion in 2024 to N129.08 billion in 2025 following the additional loss recorded during the year.
Consequently, total equity stood at N128.98 billion compared with N212.23 billion in the prior year.
Analysts note that while Dangote Sugar’s revenue growth and improved operating profit indicate a gradual operational recovery, the company’s heavy finance burden remains a major challenge to profitability.
The sharp reduction in finance charges in 2025 suggests some relief from the high interest rate environment that heavily impacted the company in the previous year, but debt servicing costs remain significant relative to operating income.
Going forward, market participants will closely monitor the company’s ability to further reduce its financing costs, improve cash flow generation and strengthen its balance sheet as Nigeria’s macroeconomic conditions gradually stabilize.