…DANGSUGAR H1-25 gross and EBITDA margins improved to settle at 12.0% a-piece (vs 6.1% and 5.6% in H1-24), respectively.
…Revenue growth across the group’s business regions was led by the North (+84.1% y/y | 37.6% of total revenue), followed by Lagos (+9.5% y/y | 54.3%).
FRI JULY 25 2025-theGBJournal| Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, one of Nigeria’s biggest integrated sugar business, on Thursday reported revenue growth of +25.1% y/y in Q2-25 (H1-25: +45.5% y/y), showcasing a mixed (price- and volume-led) performance.
Increases were seen across most product lines – 50kg Sugar (+46.7% y/y | 96.9% of revenue), Retail sugar (+16.6% y/y | 2.3% of revenue) and Molasses (+28.4% y/y | 0.8% of revenue) – save for Freight income (0.0% of revenue), which declined sharply by 85.1% y/y.
Revenue growth across the group’s business regions was led by the North (+84.1% y/y | 37.6% of total revenue), followed by Lagos (+9.5% y/y | 54.3%).
Meanwhile, revenue from Western (-20.0% y/y | 5.8%), and Eastern (-15.0% y/y | 2.3%) regions lagged.
Remarkably, DANGSUGAR recorded a rebound in their operating margins, with gross and EBITDA margins surging by 14.18ppts y/y and 14.71ppts y/y in Q2-25 to 19.6% and 19.5% (Q2-24: 5.4% and 4.8%), respectively.
Consequently, DANGSUGAR H1-25 gross and EBITDA margins improved to settle at 12.0% a-piece (vs 6.1% and 5.6% in H1-24), respectively.
This reflects softer cost pressures in Q2-25, with the cost of sales increasing at a much softer pace by 6.3% y/y (Q1-25: +79.6% y/y) owing to the mild (but significant) decline in cost of raw materials, which fell by -0.8% y/y (Q1-25: +81.8% y/y).
The softer pace reflects the stable currency and lower inflation rate.
Additionally, the stable FX environment dampened DANGSUGAR’s FX-related losses, with the company recording exchange losses of N59.00 million (vs N90.70 billion in Q2-24).
Accordingly, finance costs eased by 68.6% y/y to N34.65 billion from N109.31 billion in Q2-24.
Nonetheless, we identify the company’s high interest expense for the period H1-25 as a downside risk to earnings.
For context, DANGSUGAR recorded an accrued interest payment on bank loans of N17.75 billion, compared to N40.25 million in H1-24.
DANGSUGAR posted a pre-tax profit of N523.89 million in Q2-25 (compared to a pre-tax loss of N104.56 billion in Q2-24), thereby shrinking the H1-25 pre-tax loss to N22.11 billion (compared to N211.42 billion in H1-24).
Following a 219.5% effective tax rate (Q2-24: 35.4%), the loss after tax settled at N626.11 million (vs loss after tax of N75.01 billion in Q2-24).
Loss per share was reported at N0.05 (vs loss per share of N6.18 in Q2-24), resulting in a H1-25 loss per share of N2.00 (vs loss per share of N11.86 in H1-24).
The smaller loss recorded reflects the improving margins and lower FX losses (N58.54 million).
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