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Dangote Cement, Nigeria’s largest cement manufacturing company, released its financial report for the first quarter ended March 31, 2016 on Monday, stating that after-tax profit fell by 23 percent year-on-year.

The company said after-tax profit fell to N52.8 billion in Q1 2016 compared with N68.6 billion recorded in Q1 2015. Revenues, however, rose 23 percent from N114.7 billion in the first quarter of last year to N140.5 billion in Q1 2016.

Dangote Cement is currently ramping up its cement production capacity in Nigeria, its largest market, and across Africa to take advantage of growing demand for housing and infrastructure. Recently, the company signed a $2 billion loan deal with the Industrial Commercial Bank of China to finance two cement plants in Nigeria. This is in addition to the $4.34 billion deal the company signed with Sinoma International Engineering, a Chinese construction giant, to build cement plants in 10 African countries as well as Nepal.

“By the time all these new projects are completed in the next few years, we will have a total capacity of 81 million metric tonnes per annum. This will make us one of the top six cement companies in the world,” Aliko Dangote, Chairman of Dangote Cement and Africa’s richest man, said recently.

In Q1 2016, Dangote Cement’s basic per share earnings fell to N3.12 per share as against N4.09 per share recorded in Q1 2015.

The company’s stock remained flat at N161.04 on the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Tuesday.