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Abdul Samad Rabiu, the founder of BUA Group, one of Africa’s most diversified manufacturing conglomerates, has seen his net worth fall below the $5-billion mark due to the subpar performance of his cement company on the Nigerian Exchange.
The billionaire, who is the sixth richest man on the continent, has recorded a $600-million loss in his net worth since the start of the year, as investors on the local bourse revalued his cement business, BUA Cement.
Data retrieved by Billionaires.Africa revealed that his net worth has fallen from $5.5 billion at the beginning of 2021 to $4.9 billion as of the time of the drafting of this report.
This translates to a $600-million net-worth loss for the billionaire since the start of the year.
The decline in his net worth can be directly linked to a decrease in the market capitalization of his cement business, as investors revalued the company’s shares after its market capitalization soared above the N2.8-trillion ($7 billion) mark in January.
BUA Cement Plc is arguably one of the fastest-growing cement manufacturers in Africa.
The cement tiger founded by the Nigerian billionaire industrialist was one of the best-performing stocks on the Nigerian Exchange last year, as its market capitalization grew by more than N1.3 trillion ($2.9 billion) in 2020 despite the global sell-off of financial assets.
The cement maker’s capitalization since its listing on the exchange in January 2020 has soared by N1.3 trillion ($2.9 billion) to over N2.5 trillion ($6.1 billion), while its shares have increased from N36.78 ($0.08955) per share to N74.5 ($0.18139) per share.
Since the year commenced, the company’s share price has declined from N85 ($0.20695) on Jan. 4 to N74.5 ($0.18139) per share as of the time of writing.
Meanwhile, the company’s market capitalization has slumped by 12.35 percent or N355.6 billion ($865.7 million) from N2.88 trillion ($7.01 trillion) to N2.52 trillion ($6.14 billion).
This resulted in an $600-million loss for the billionaire, who controls a 92.2-percent stake in BUA Cement.
The Nigeria-based cement manufacturer has a combined installed capacity of 8 million tonnes per annum, making it the second-largest cement manufacturer in Africa’s largest economy behind Dangote Cement, which is owned by Africa’s wealthiest man, Aliko Dangote.
In the first nine months of 2021, the company reported a 23-percent growth in profit from N53.5 billion ($130.31 million) in 2020 to N65.9 billion ($160.6 million).
At the same time, its revenue surged by nearly 20 percent from N156.6 billion ($381.6 million) in 2020 to N186.9 billion ($455.5 million) in 2021.
