Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc swung back to profitability in the first quarter of 2026, recording a pre-tax profit of N20.6 billion against a loss of N22.6 billion in the same period a year earlier, according to the company's unaudited financial results published on the Nigerian Exchange, as reported by Nairametrics.
The turnaround was driven primarily by a sharp decline in production costs. The company’s cost of sales fell to N144.6 billion from N204.6 billion, with raw material costs dropping from N176.9 billion to N113.9 billion year-on-year. A significant rise in other income, largely from exchange gains, to N9.4 billion compared with N143.1 million in the first quarter of 2025, provided additional support to earnings.
Revenue, however, declined 12.22 per cent to N187.7 billion from N213.9 billion. Sales of 50kg sugar accounted for 97 per cent of total turnover at N182.1 billion, while retail sales contributed N4.6 billion and molasses brought in N1.03 billion. Freight income stood at N5.6 million.
Despite the revenue contraction, the sharply lower input costs pushed gross profit up 365.6 per cent to N43.1 billion from N9.2 billion in the year-ago quarter. After accounting for selling and distribution expenses of N257.6 million and administrative expenses of N6.5 billion, operating profit rose to N45.7 billion from N2.7 billion.
Net finance costs of N26.7 billion and a fair value adjustment of N1.7 billion brought pre-tax profit to N20.6 billion. A tax charge of N1.5 billion left post-tax profit at N19.1 billion, compared with a post-tax loss of N23.6 billion in the first quarter of 2025. Earnings per share improved to N1.58 from a prior-year loss of N1.95 per share.
Regionally, Lagos remained the company’s largest market with sales of N101 billion, followed by the North at N70.5 billion, the West at N11.7 billion, and the East at N4.4 billion.
On the balance sheet, total assets eased to N926.2 billion from N1.04 trillion, with property, plant and equipment remaining the largest asset class at N638.4 billion. Total liabilities declined to N778.1 billion from N856.8 billion, with current financial liabilities accounting for the bulk at N625 billion. Accumulated losses stood at N170.6 billion, though the figure showed improvement from N189.7 billion recorded at the close of December 2025. Total equity fell 21.45 per cent to N148.1 billion.
The Nairametrics report noted that the stock had gained 20.55 per cent on a year-to-date basis on the Nigerian Exchange and was priced at N69.70 per unit at the time of reporting, even as the market had yet to react meaningfully to the quarterly results following their publication.