At the end of 2025, companies that were offering Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) in Nigeria wrapped up the financial year with diverging financial positions. The differences show how they coped with inflation, high borrowing costs, unstable exchange rate, and sluggish consumer spending.
Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, BUA Foods Plc, and Nestlé Nigeria Plc are the FMCG companies that recorded the largest indebted total borrowings in the sector. This analysis is a review of audited FY 2025 financial statements of major FMCG companies listed on the Nigerian Exchange.
Meanwhile, the analysis clarified that debt size alone does not fully constrain financial strength of these companies because factors like leverage ratios, liquidity levels, and shareholders equities are also important factors for accessing sustainability.
The analysis also shows that many FMCG firms rebuilt their liquidity through cutting debts, while others keep borrowing just to support expansions, finance their inventories, and keep working capital intact.
The Infographic: Nigeria's FMCG Sector Debt Analysis - FY 2025
Top 10 most Indebted FMCG companies in FY 2025 by their Total Debt
| No. | Company | Total Debt (₦) | YoY Change | Debt Ratio | Debt-to-Equity | Debt-to-Capital | Net Debt (₦) | Key Insight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc | 725.31bn | +1.09% | 0.75 | 7.49x | 0.88 | 672.73bn | Highly leveraged; debt drives operations and expansion |
| 2 | Nestlé Nigeria Plc | 476.00bn | -27.18% | 0.56 | 65.64x | 0.98 | 440.62bn | Extremely high leverage; weak equity base raises risk |
| 3 | BUA Foods Plc | 469.38bn | -4.82% | 0.25 | 2.76x | 0.73 | 189.00bn | Strong liquidity cushions large debt exposure |
| 4 | PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc | 71.27bn | -19.98% | 0.42 | -9.74x | 1.11 | 30.61bn | Negative equity signals balance sheet stress |
| 5 | Nigerian Breweries Plc | 59.71bn | -64.68% | 0.06 | 1.90x | 0.66 | -1.43bn | Net cash position; strong deleveraging |
| 6 | Champion Breweries Plc | 59.03bn | Increase | 0.72 | 6.30x | 0.86 | 11.68bn | Rapid debt build-up; highly leveraged |
| 7 | Guinness Nigeria Plc | 43.92bn | +9.43% | 0.18 | 5.66x | 0.85 | 36.95bn | Moderately leveraged with rising debt exposure |
| 8 | Honeywell Flour Mills Plc | 26.97bn | 0% | 0.16 | 4.47x | 0.82 | 21.70bn | Stable debt but equity structure remains debt-heavy |
| 9 | Cadbury Nigeria Plc | 22.81bn | -30.49% | 0.30 | 5.62x | 0.85 | 7.79bn | Deleveraging, but still relatively high leverage ratios |
| 10 | Vitafoam Nigeria Plc | 9.30bn | -33.50% | 0.14 | 1.84x | 0.65 | 0.29bn | Strong liquidity; near net cash position |
However, it's important to note that there are several FMCG companies listed on the Nigerian Exchange with net cash position than debts. These companies include NASCON Allied Industries (N41.57 billion), N Nig. Flour Mills Plc (N880 million), International Breweries Plc (N155.24 billion), Nigerian Breweries Plc (N1.43 billion), and Unilever Nigeria Plc (N108.58 billion).
The extra cash reserves (net cash) place these companies in relatively stronger liquidity positions and the advantages of it over debts is that the companies will enjoy substantial benefits for dividends or expansion. It also gives them lower finance costs, and stronger resilience during downturns.
In addition to that, companies with net cash position have the capabilities to absorb economic shocks more easily than the ones floating in debts. Even, if the debt is at moderate levels, they cannot be compared with companies that have stronger cash reserves.
The reason debt levels varied across these companies despite the fact that they're operating in the same macroeconomic conditions is that many of the companies focused on reducing their debt and restructuring their balance sheets to limit exposure to high borrowing costs, and others keep taking loans to support expansions, finance inventories, and sustain working capital.
In a nutshell, Dangote Sugar is the most indebted listed FMCG company in 2025. Nestlé Nigeria Plc followed closely with a N476 billion debts and BUA Foods Plc took the third position with a N469.38 billion debts. Dangote Sugar’s debt is about 52.4% higher than Nestlé Nigeria’s debt.
