Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote’s sugar company posts record earnings, with profits exceeding $56 million

Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, a leading integrated sugar business majority owned by Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote, reported a double-digit increase in profit during the first nine months of its 2022 fiscal year, owing to an increased demand for both fortified and unfortified sugar.

The group’s financial statement revealed that profits at the end of the first nine months of its 2022 fiscal period rose by more than 60 percent, from N15.51 billion ($35.4 million) in the corresponding period of 2021 to N24.83 billion ($56.6 million) as revenue increased.

The strong earnings growth can be attributed to increased sugar demand during the period, which resulted in higher sales and a 47.5-percent increase in revenue from N195.5 billion ($445.8 million) to N288.3 billion ($657.5 million).

Despite a difficult operating environment that resulted in a rise in raw materials costs, the sugar company was able to navigate the environment thanks to a combination of strategies, including its backward integrated projects in the country’s northern regions, which paid off handsomely during the period under review.

Dangote Sugar generated the majority of its $657.5-million revenue ($637.4 million) between January and September from the sales of unfortified sugar to pharmaceutical, food, and beverage manufacturers, according to the figures in its recently published financial statement.

On the other hand, a fractional N5.5 billion ($12.5 million) of its revenue was generated from the sale of Vitamin A-fortified sugar to distributors, which then sold it to small wholesalers, confectioners, and other smaller value-added enterprises that supply the Nigerian retail market.

Dangote, who has a net worth of $17.6 billion at the time of writing, owns 72.3 percent of Dangote Sugar Refinery, Nigeria’s largest household and commercial sugar producer.

The Nigerian billionaire businessman is anticipated to receive another sizable dividend from the sugar industry the following year thanks to the group’s strong financial performance, which increased retained earnings from N126.2 billion ($287.8 million) at the start of the year to N129 billion ($294.1 million) as of Sept. 30.

Earlier this year, the billionaire received dividends totaling N8.78 billion ($21.1 million) from his stake in the Lagos-based integrated sugar company.