Amaechi Raphael Chinedu

@Official_ARC·1d

Dangote Cement now has more cash than debt. Here's what "net cash" means

One of the quieter lines in $DANGCEM's nine-month results might be the most important: the company swung from net debt to net cash. What does that mean? Net debt is simply what a company has borrowed minus the cash it holds. If borrowings are bigger, it's in net debt. If cash is bigger, the number goes below zero and we call it "net cash". Here's how Dangote Cement's moved, from its results filed on the NGX on Oct 28: • End of 2025: net debt of ₦682.9bn • End of September 2026: net cash of ₦51.1bn • Cash from operations in nine months: ₦1.83trn, up 41.5% • Finance costs (mostly interest): down to ₦120.8bn from ₦286.0bn • Free cash flow of ₦1.26trn covered the ₦753.8bn of dividends it paid about 1.7 times Why investors watch this: 1. Less debt usually means less interest. That drop in finance costs is part of why profit before tax rose 41.5% while revenue rose 19.6%. 2. Net cash gives a company room: to keep paying dividends, invest, or ride out a bad year without needing to borrow. 3. It's a snapshot, not a promise. Net debt can rise again if a company borrows for a big project or pays out more than it earns in cash. When you look at any NGX company, a quick check is: is net debt shrinking or growing, and is cash from operations covering the dividend? Dangote Cement holds its analyst call on these results tomorrow, Nov 4. Follow the stocks you care about and add your portfolio on Gopexly to see how moves like this hit your holdings. Not financial advice, just how the numbers work.