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Nigeria’s second-richest man Abdul Samad Rabiu has seen his net worth rise above $7 billion thanks to an increase in the market value of his listed businesses on the Nigerian Exchange, as a new wave of buying interest drove the share price of companies higher.
According to Forbes, Rabiu’s net worth rose from $5.6 billion to $7 billion in less than a month due to the performance of his publicly traded companies.
The last time his net worth was this high was on January 6, when BUA Foods Plc, Rabiu’s manufacturing conglomerate’s consolidated food business, listed its shares on the Nigerian Exchange at an implied valuation of N720 billion ($1.74 billion).
The rise in his net worth can be attributed to the recent increase in the market value of his listed companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange – BUA Cement Plc and BUA Foods Plc – as investors renew buying interest in companies that delivered impressive financial performance during the year.
Rabiu’s food business BUA Foods Plc reported a 17-percent increase in profit in the first nine months of 2022, from N58.7 billion ($133.6 million) in the same period in 2021 to N68.8 billion ($156.5 million).
The double-digit increase in the group’s earnings can be attributed to a surge in food demand as both household and industrial consumers stocked up on food items in anticipation of further price increases.
While other cement companies failed to match their record performance in 2022, Rabiu’s cement business, BUA Cement, reported a 12.3-percent increase in profit during the first nine months of its 2022 fiscal year, from N65.9 billion ($145 million) during the same period in 2021 to N74 billion ($168.4 million), as cement sales increased by double digits.
BUA Cement’s ability to maintain a double-digit increase in earnings and revenue despite operating challenges, particularly the rise in energy prices, can be attributed to recent capacity investments, a move that reaffirms the company’s commitment to building production infrastructure and becoming a market leader in Africa’s cement industry
