Dangote Cement Plc has announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2026, recording a 53.44% jump in Profit After Tax (PAT) to ₦321 billion, up from ₦209.24 billion in the same period of 2025.
The performance was anchored by robust volume growth and pricing power in the domestic Nigerian market, which offset the persistent headwinds from its Pan-African operations.
Financial Scorecard: Q1 2026
The company’s top-line and bottom-line figures demonstrated significant operating leverage during the period, aided by a reduction in finance costs.
| Metric | Q1 2025 (₦ Billion) | Q1 2026 (₦ Billion) | Percentage Change |
| Revenue | 994.65 | 1,198.00 | +20.44% |
| Production Cost of Sales | 407.26 | 448.73 | +10.10% |
| Gross Profit | 587.39 | 749.30 | +27.56% |
| Operating Profit | 397.40 | 506.18 | +27.37% |
| Finance Cost | 129.37 | 98.25 | -24.07% |
| Profit Before Tax (PBT) | 311.97 | 421.16 | +35.00% |
| Profit After Tax (PAT) | 209.24 | 321.00 | +53.44% |
Source: MoneyCentral, Dangote Cement
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Revenue Momentum: Group revenue increased past the ₦1.19 trillion mark, driven by resilient domestic demand and proactive pricing adjustments that mitigated the effects of local cost pressures.
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Cost Disciplines: Production costs grew slower than revenue (+10.1% vs +20.44%), helping to expand the gross margin to 62.5% and increasing operating profit to ₦506.18 billion.
Segment Performance: Nigeria vs. Pan-Africa
The Nigerian business remains the primary engine of the company, overshadowing the drag from its Pan-African subsidiaries.
The pricing power and dominant EBITDA margins in Nigeria successfully insulated the group’s bottom line while operations across the rest of the continent continued their trajectory toward breakeven (see chart below).
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Nigeria Operations: Recorded revenue of ₦861.82 billion with a significant EBITDA of ₦525.3 billion. This corresponds to a massive 60.9% EBITDA margin, showcasing excellent operational scale.
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Pan-African Operations: Contributed revenue of ₦369.95 billion and an EBITDA of ₦59.32 billion (a 16% EBITDA margin). Positively, the segment loss narrowed to ₦10.08 billion, a significant improvement compared to the ₦110 billion loss recorded in Q1 2025.
- Hyperinflation risk: The Dangote Cement Plc Group classified the economy of Sierra Leone as hyperinflationary in accordance with the provisions of IAS 29, Financial Reporting in Hyperinflationary Economies. This is supported by the three years cumulative inflation in Sierra Leone which has reached 100%. Dangote Cement is Africa’s largest cement producer, operating in 11 countries with a production capacity of 55 million tonnes per annum (Mta) as of 2025.
Strategic Outlook
Management’s continuous focus on increasing clinker and cement exports across West and Central Africa is expected to pay dividends as logistics optimization strategies mature.
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Financing Advantage: A 24% moderation in finance costs to ₦98.25 billion freed up cash and helped bolster the bottom line as total borrowings declined by 42.7% to ₦618.85 billion in March 2026 from ₦1.08 trillion as at December 2025.
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Valuation Appeal: At the current market valuation and following the record ₦1.01 trillion profit generated in FY 2025, Dangote Cement remains a core defensive asset for institutional investors tracking the NGX ahead of Nigeria’s re-entry into the FTSE Russell Frontier Index in September.
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