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Lafarge Africa’s robust cash position has enabled it to take advantage of attractive yields on short term deposits, helping to boost finance income as well as its bottom-line in the 9-months period to September 2025.
Cash and cash equivalents of N204.88 billion (excluding unclaimed dividend), helped push net finance income (the difference between interest income and interest expense) to N14.88 billion, largely supported by FX gains and interest income.
This compared to a net finance cost of N35.75 billion as at the 9-month 2024 period.
FX gains came in at N3.26 billion for the 2025 period, while interest income rose to N17 billion.
Lafarge Africa’s FX gains were partly driven by the impact of the Naira’s mild appreciation on its foreign currency payables and the effect of the sharp depreciation of the Euro on some of its short-term financial assets.
The cement manufacturer recorded a 246% surge in profit after tax to N207.7 billion in the 9-months period to September 2025.
Analysts say Lafarge Africa’s strong cash flow and low leverage position should support larger dividend payouts in the future.
Cardinal Stone Partners analysts have a 12-month Target Price of N198.25 per share for Lafarge Africa, which implies a 30% upside to its closing price of N138.50 on Wednesday, October 22, 2025.
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