Dangote refinery turns a $117m loss into a $4.7bn profit

Lagos — The Dangote refinery has reported a net profit of $4.73 billion for the first nine months of 2026, against a loss of $117.2 million in the same period last year.

The unaudited results for the plant at Lekki, near Lagos, were released on Tuesday and reported by Nairametrics.

The numbers

• Revenue: $22.48 billion, up from $9.19 billion, a rise of about 144%.
• Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation: $5.52 billion, up from $627.6 million.
• Margin on those earnings: 24.56%, up from 6.83%.
• Cash generated by operations: $3.68 billion, up from $364.7 million.
• Cash held: $6.69 billion, up from $809.5 million.

The balance sheet has turned as well. A year ago the company had net debt of $1.73 billion. At the end of September it held $650.8 million more in cash than it owed.

Why

The company puts the improvement down to refining more crude, running more reliably and earning better margins on each barrel.

Its managing director and chief executive, David Bird, said the third-quarter results showed the refinery had moved from commissioning and ramp-up into sustainable commercial operations.

What comes next

Mr Bird said the results give the company a solid base for its share sale and for its growth plan to 2030. That plan, he said, is already under way, and aims to raise refining capacity, widen the range of products, strengthen distribution across Africa and support the continent's energy security.

The refinery's public offer of shares has been extended by two weeks, Africanews reported on Tuesday.

Source: Nairametrics, reporting by Idika Aja, 13 October 2026. The figures are unaudited.