Quarter Under Preview: FULL YEAR 2025
Current Share Price: N810
Price At Release Date: N779.00
Latest Final Dividend: N45.00
Latest Interim Dividend:
Estimated Beta Value: 0.24x
Estimated Intrinsic Value: N1,036:00
Rating: Strong Buy
Analyst: Jeariogbe Tunde Segun
The Company
Dangote Cement is a subsidiary of Dangote Industries Limited founded by Aliko Dangote as a trading business in 1981 and was initially focused on importation of bagged cement and other consumer goods such as rice, sugar, flour, and salt. Over time, the group began to import bulk cement into the Apapa and Port Harcourt terminals, which it then bagged for distribution. Through the 1990s, the group made a strategic decision to transition from a trading based business into a fully-fledged integrated manufacturing operation.
By July 2010 the company transformed into Dangote Cement Plc, originally called Obajana Cement Plc. It was listed on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange in October 2010, and in the following years it became one of the largest companies on the Nigerian Exchange by market capitalization. After dominating the Nigerian market, the company expanded across Africa, growing its production capacity to over 50 million metric tons per year, making it the largest cement producer in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The Released Financial
At the end of the 2025 financial year, the management of Dangote Cement announced a Turnover of N4.306 trillion, higher by 20.28% than the N3.580 trillion reported in 2024 full-year. Direct Cost of Sales was valued at N1.634 trillion, versus N1.645 trillion in the prior year. Operating Profit stood at N1.765 trillion, compared to the N1.152 trillion in the corresponding period. Operating Expenses through the full year is estimated at N944.524 billion, slightly above N839.201 billion of the previous year.
Finance Cost through the year is valued at N351.504 billion against N700.299 billion, while Net Finance Cost is negative at N241.562 billion. Profit before Tax achieved for the year is N1.532 trillion versus N732.537 billion. Having considered the Tax expenses for the year, the management reported a total Profit of N1.014 trillion against N503.247 billion in the corresponding year. Total Comprehensive Income amounted to N957.663 billion against N974.534 billion of the previous year. See the below table for details.
The Total Current Asset of Dangote Cement as at the end of 2025 full-year is valued at N1.971 trillion against N1.911 trillion of the corresponding period. Non-Current Assets is N4.068 trillion against N4.492 trillion, while Total Assets estimate stood at N6.040 trillion against N6.403 trillion in the previous quarter. Current Liabilities at the end of the financial year was N2.603 trillion versus N2.569 trillion, Non-Current Liabilities stood at N816.897 billion against N1.658 trillion, and Total Liabilities is valued at N3.420 trillion compared to N4.227 trillion in the previous year. Net Assets valuation is N2.620 trillion from N2.175 trillion, and Retained Earnings stood at N1.505 trillion versus N1.027 trillion in the previous year. See the above table for details.
Financial Strength/Solvency Ratio
- Debt Ratio shows proportion of total assets financed by debt. The decline in the ratio from 66.03% to 56.63% indicates that the company reduced its reliance on borrowed funds in 2o25. This is a significant improvement in solvency level, meaning that: a larger portion of assets is now financed by equity, following which financial risk has reduced, just as the company has improved its balance sheet strength. Note that for a capital-intensive company like a cement manufacturer, a ratio around 50-60% is relatively manageable.
- Total Debt to Equity Ratio measures how much debt exists in the books relative to shareholders’ funds. The sharp drop from 194% to 131% suggests that: a substantial deleveraging occurred during the year, and the company is becoming financially safer and less leveraged. Although 130% still means debt is higher than equity, but the improvement is very strong year-on-year.
- Equity Ratio measures the proportion of assets financed by shareholders. The rise to 43.37% indicates that, shareholders now finance a much larger portion of the company’s assets. It also indicates that financial stability is significantly stronger, and the company has more buffer against financial risks. This is, indeed, a very positive signal for long-term investors.
Overall Financial Strength Verdict: Dangote Cement now has a stronger balance sheet and lower financial risk, giving it more flexibility to fund expansion, pay dividends and withstand economic risks. We therefore conclude that the financial strength of Dangote Cement for 2025 is strong and improving.
Profitability Ratios
- EBITDA Margin measures the company’s operating profitability before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization. The increase to 40.99% indicates: a strong improvement in operating efficiency, better cost control, and possibility of price increases, or improved sales mix. A margin above 40% in a manufacturing company is very strong, showing how Dangote Cement continues to maintain industry-leading margins
- Pre-Tax Margin ratio shows a major improvement. The jump from 20.46% to 35.59% suggests: higher operating profit, possible reduction in finance cost, and stronger revenue growth relative to expenses. This also indicates that the company converted a larger portion of its revenue into profit before tax, showing significant operational improvement.
- Cost of Sales Turnover: This ratio measures production cost relative to revenue. The drop from 45.96% to 37.95% indicates; production efficiency improved, it shows better cost management, and possible economies of scale. Lower cost relative to revenue means higher gross profit margins. This is very positive.
- Return on Equity ratio measures how effectively the company uses shareholders’ funds to generate profit. Note that a 38.74% ROE is exceptionally strong, and it confirms high profit generation going on in the business, it confirms very effective use of shareholders’ capital, and strong value creation for investors. From experience, few large industrial companies achieve ROE above 30%
- Return on Assets measures how efficiently the company uses its assets to generate profit. The improvement from 7.86% to 16.80% is very significant, showing; better asset utilization, and strong earnings relative to asset base. For a capital-intensive cement company, ROA above 15% is very impressive.
Overall Profitability Verdict; The profitability performance of Dangote Cement is extremely strong. The key strengths observed are: significant margin expansion, strong cost control, excellent returns to shareholders, and major improvement in asset efficiency. We can conclusively say: profitability in 2025 is very strong and has significantly improved, compared to the corresponding year’s ratio.
Efficiency Ratio
- Operating Expenses to Turnover: The ratio measures how much of revenue is consumed by operating expenses such as administrative, selling, and distribution costs. The decline from 23.44% to 21.93% shows; the company controlled its operating costs better in 2025. It confirms operational discipline improved, and shows a smaller portion of revenue is now spent on running the business. This improvement supports the strong profit margins observed earlier. Please note, for a large industrial firm, an OPEX ratio around 20-22% is efficient.
- Turnover to Total Assets: This ratio measures asset utilization, that is; how effectively the company uses its assets to generate revenue. The increase to 71.29% confirms that: Assets are being used much more efficiently, the company generated significantly higher revenue from its asset base, and improved capacity utilization and operational productivity. For a capital intensive cement company, this improvement is very significant.
Overall Efficiency Verdict: Efficiency improved noticeably in 2025, key strength includes lower operating cost burden, improved asset utilization, and better operational discipline. These improvements explain why the company achieved higher margins and stronger profitability. In conclusion, efficiency in 2025 is strong and improving.
Investment Ratios
- Share Price at Release date: Here we intend to observe the price performance within the two compared years. The share price rose strongly during the year, reflecting: improved profitability, strong investor confidence, and positive market perception of the company. The market clearly rewarded the company’s improved financial performance.
- Earnings per Share (EPS): The EPS more than doubled, which is extremely impressive, indicating: strong growth in net profit, greater value creation per share, and higher capacity for dividends. EPS growth of over 100% is a major driver of the share price rally.
- Total Comprehensive Income: The slight decline of negative 1.73% suggests that total comprehensive income per share remained largely stable, despite currency translation/adjustments. The small droop is not significant compared to the strong EPS growth.
- Price-to Earnings (P/E) Ratio: Despite the rise in share price, the P/E ratio fell, mainly because earnings grew much faster than the share price, meaning that: the stock became cheaper relative to its earnings, and investors are paying less per naira of profit than before.
- Earnings Yield: The ratio builds by 24.27%, meaning, investors now receive higher earnings return per naira invested, and the stock remains attractive relative to earnings.
- Book Value per Share: There is a growth of 20.45% between the estimated book value of 2024 and the current year. The increase shows growth in shareholders’ equity, and strong retained earnings accumulation. The company continues to build intrinsic value for investors.
Final Investment Verdict: Dangote Cement had posted an explosive earnings growth as the main driver. From the table below the EPS doubled this is over 100% growth. If the market simply values the company at a moderate P/E of 16 (which it recorded last year) possible price estimate is N962, this already places the fair value close to N1,000 each. If earnings grow again in 2026, the target easily moves above N1,000.
Overall Rating: Strong Buy: reasons are: strong earnings growth, excellent profitability and ROE, improving balance sheet, efficient operations, and attractive valuation relative to earnings. We therefore conclude that: Dangote Cement remains one of the most fundamentally solid industrial stocks on the Nigerian Stock Exchange floor, the stock is suitable for medium, to long-term investors seeking growth and dividends.
