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Dangote Sugar swung from a ₦24.27bn loss to ₦41.51bn profit in H1 2026.
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Revenue fell 8.9 percent, even as profit surged.
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Cost of sales dropped by ₦80.5bn during the period.
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Finance costs also fell by ₦14.55bn.
August 11, (THEWILL) — Dangote Sugar Refinery has pulled off a sharp earnings turnaround in the first half of 2026, moving from a ₦24.27 billion loss last year to a ₦41.51 billion profit after tax.
What makes the result notable is that the company did it while making less money from sales.
Revenue fell 8.9 percent to ₦391.85 billion from ₦430.21 billion in the first half of 2025. The improvement came largely from what happened below the revenue line.
Cost of sales dropped by 21.3 percent, falling from ₦378.53 billion to ₦298 billion.
That ₦80.53 billion reduction had a major effect on profitability. Gross profit rose 81.6 percent to ₦93.85 billion from ₦51.68 billion, while gross margin roughly doubled to 24 percent from 12 percent.
Finance costs provided another significant boost.
Dangote Sugar spent ₦50.42 billion on finance charges during the six months, down 22.4 percent from ₦64.97 billion a year earlier.
That reduction matters because financing costs had become one of the company’s biggest earnings pressures. Full-year finance costs reached ₦175.35 billion in 2025, helping push the company to a ₦64.12 billion loss for the year.
With both production costs and financing expenses lower, operating profit climbed to ₦92 billion, compared with ₦38.1 billion in H1 2025.
Profit before tax consequently moved into positive territory at ₦44.09 billion, against a ₦22.11 billion loss a year earlier.
Earnings attributable to shareholders stood at ₦41.54 billion, translating to ₦3.42 per share, compared with a loss per share of ₦2.00 in H1 2025.
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Q2 Shows The Turnaround Gaining Momentum
The second quarter reinforced the improvement.
Dangote Sugar recorded ₦22.36 billion profit after tax in the three months to June, compared with a ₦626 million loss in the same period of 2025.
The result follows a strong first quarter, when the company had already reported ₦19.15 billion profit after tax, reversing a ₦23.65 billion loss recorded in Q1 2025.
One area did move in the opposite direction.
Fair-value adjustments produced a ₦438.24 million loss during the first half, compared with a ₦1.90 billion gain in the corresponding period last year. That means the earnings recovery was not supported by gains from that line item.
READ ALSO: Dangote Sugar Targets ₦500bn Rights Issue To Boost Capital And Expansion Plans
Instead, the numbers point more clearly towards improved cost efficiency and a lower financing burden.
For Dangote Sugar, that distinction is important. The company has returned to profit without relying on stronger sales. Its first-half performance shows how dramatically earnings can change when a business gets better control of its production and financing costs.
After a ₦64.12 billion full-year loss in 2025, the company now enters the second half of 2026 with two consecutive quarters of profit.
Joy Onuorah is a business journalist and brand communications specialist covering financial markets, artificial intelligence, digital economy, and the ideas reshaping business across Africa and the global market. Beyond her reporting for TheWill, Joy uses brand strategy, storytelling, copywriting, and high-value SEO to help brands build lasting market authority.
