Dangote’s rival BUA set to open new cement plant after price crash

One of Nigeria’s top cement producers, BUA Cement, owned by Abdul Samad Rabiu, has revealed plans to inaugurate a new cement plant in Sokoto state in January, 2024.

Rabiu, chairman of BUA Group, revealed this during his visit to Sokoto State Governor Ahamd Aliyu on Wednesday, November 1, 2023.

The billionaire businessman said the company, which recently crashed its cement price in Nigeria, is working to prepare the plant for inauguration by then.

Rabiu told the governor that he had told President Bola Tinubu about the planned inauguration of the new plant during his visit to President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday, October 31, 2023, a BusinessDay report said.

He said he invited the president to be a special guest at the inauguration and stressed that BUA Cement in the state is the largest private entity with the largest workforce in the North-West.

BUA Cement profit declines in 2023

He congratulated the governor on his electoral victory and promised his company’s support for the success of Aliyu’s administration. Aliyu commended the BUA group for contributing to the state’s welfare via social responsibility initiatives.

Meanwhile, the company reported a pre-tax profit of N85.75 billion on Tuesday, October 31, 2023, for the nine months ended September 30, 2023.

The result represents a decline of 3.4% from the N88.81 billion reported in the same period of 2022.

ThisDay reported that the decline is due to the N26.9 billion net exchange loss in the first nine months of 2023 from N5.26 billion recorded in the same period in 2022.

It reported N76.07 billion profit in the nine months of 2023, a growth of 2.8% from the N74.01 billion recorded in the same period last year.

The firm’s revenue hit N335.86 billion in the nine months of this year, showing a growth of almost 28% from N262.6 billion reported in the nine months of last year.