Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc is showing early signs of stabilisation after two bruising years triggered by the naira’s devaluation, with losses narrowing sharply in 2025 as gross margins rebounded and foreign-exchange pressures moderated.
The Lagos-based refiner posted a pre-tax loss of N72.3 billion in 2025, an improvement from N270.9 billion a year earlier. Net loss narrowed to N64.1 billion from N192.6 billion in 2024, according to its audited financial statements.
Revenue rose to N665.6 billion in 2025 from N441.5 billion in 2024, as the company raised prices to offset higher input costs and benefited from improved volumes.
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Cost of sales increased at a slower pace, lifting gross profit to N122.6 billion from N31.1 billion a year earlier.
The rebound implies that the company was better able to pass on higher costs to consumers, even as inflation eroded purchasing power across Nigeria.
The numbers mark a partial recovery from the loss streak that began in 2023, when successive devaluations sent import costs soaring for manufacturers reliant on raw materials priced in dollars.
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For Dangote Sugar, which refines imported raw sugar while expanding local cane production, the weaker naira inflated input costs and finance charges, squeezing margins and tipping the company into losses.
There are now signs the worst of that squeeze may be over.
While tax credits and deferred tax assets provided some relief, they were insufficient to offset finance costs and operating pressures accumulated during the height of the volatility.
Finance costs remained elevated at N110.3 billion in 2025, though lower than N210.5 billion in 2024, reflecting reduced foreign-exchange losses and some moderation in borrowing costs.
The company’s ownership structure remains firmly anchored by Dangote Industries Limited, which controls 66.87 percent, while founder Aliko Dangote holds 5.38 percent directly. The board saw leadership changes during the year, with Dangote retiring as chairman in June 2025.
Operationally, Dangote Sugar continues to push its Backward Integration Project, aimed at raising domestic cane output and reducing reliance on imports.
The strategy aligns with Nigeria’s sugar master plan and, if executed at scale, could shield the firm from future currency swings by lowering dollar exposure.
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The company is upgrading its Numan refinery and developing greenfield sites in Nasarawa and Taraba, targeting 1.5 million metric tonnes of locally grown sugar annually over the long term.
Management says the expansion will also generate ethanol and animal feed from by-products, potentially diversifying revenue streams.
Balance sheet pressure eases
On the balance sheet, total assets climbed to N1.04 trillion in 2025 from N949.6 billion in 2024, driven largely by higher property, plant and equipment as the company continued its backward integration projects.
Total liabilities declined to N861.3 billion from N884.3 billion, suggesting some deleveraging after the worst of the currency turmoil.
Total equity improved to N183.5 billion from N65.3 billion a year earlier, helped by the reduced loss.
Borrowings remained substantial at N684.4 billion in 2025 compared with N717.6 billion in 2024, underlining continued exposure to funding costs.
Cash and cash equivalents stood at N59.7 billion, up from N32.2 billion a year earlier.
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The rebound in gross margin and revenue growth indicate that Dangote Sugar is regaining pricing power.
Yet the scale of borrowings and finance costs means a full return to profit will depend on exchange-rate stability and tighter capital discipline.
But investors appear not to be impressed by the outcome of the results, as shares of Dangote Sugar, which has gained 38.3 percent since January, lost about 10 percent of their value following the release of the full-year performance on Tuesday.
The stock, however, still remains within the N1 trillion elite club, suggesting that some investors believe the current management structure can push the company’s path to profitability soonest.
Wasiu Alli
Wasiu Alli is a business and economics journalist with more than two years experience covering macro trends, government policies, corporate earnings and comparative economics analysis. Alli turns raw data into trends that not only tells compelling stories but nudges investors to make valued and informed decisions. An alumnus of Lagos State University and trained at Lagos Business School, he heads the Companies and Markets desk at BusinessDay where he writes and supervises the production of well researched articles on earnings updates, corporate sectoral comparisons, market intelligence as well as interviews with C-suite executives.
