BUA Cement more than doubled its net profit for the quarter to March, compared to a year ago, after putting a couple of cost management strategies to use.
Post-tax profit soared by 117.4 per cent in the first three months of 2026, relative to the same period of the preceding year, going by its unaudited accounts published on Thursday.
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The building materials powerhouse continues to cling to the playbook that helped it book record profits last year to turn in robust results.
The improvement, despite a degree of reliance on stronger turnover, resulted largely from keeping all costs under control, from operating expenditure and cost of sales to tax liability.
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Cost of sales as a proportion of revenue dropped to 43.1 per cent from 52.3 per cent, as the direct cost of production grew by only 1 per cent. That was a far muted pace compared to that of turnover, which sped up by 22 per cent to N355 billion.
Administrative expenses rose to N7.3 billion from N6.1 billion, but the manufacturer’s cost-discipline approach is even more evident in cutting finance costs by 42.5 per cent, assisted by lower interest expense on borrowings and the amount capitalised to qualifying assets.
BUA Cement paid 12.4 per cent, or N2.3 billion less, in income and deferred tax than it did one year prior, having offset its tax bill substantially after receiving a deferred tax credit of up to N20.5 billion.
Boosting net profit, the corporation incurred no minimum tax credit in the period under review, unlike a year earlier when it paid N665.3 million for that purpose.
Pre-tax profit advanced to N192.7 billion from N99.7 billion, just as profit after tax was up at N176.4 billion from N81.1 billion.
The strong corporate earnings are an affirmation that margin recovery is progressing fast, with the net profit margin. This metric indicates how much of revenue has turned into after-tax profit, rising to 49.7 per cent from 27.9 per cent.
Operating profit margin was 50.7 per cent, compared with 40.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2025, while gross profit margin advanced to 56.9 per cent from 47.7 per cent.
Abdul Samad Rabiu, Nigeria’s second-richest man, holds a controlling stake in BUA Cement through BUA Industries Limited, and Damnaz Cement Company Limited.
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BUA Cement has assets of N2 trillion and a market value of N10.7 trillion. It has lined up the construction of a greenfield plant in Ososo, Edo State and another in Sokoto this year, each expected to add 3 million metric tonnes per annum to its nameplate capacity.
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