Keda Cameroon Quadruples Revenue in First Full Year, but Profitability Remains Unclear

Keda Cameroon Ceramics quadrupled its core revenue to CFA58.7 billion in 2025 and produced more than 21 million square meters of tiles in its first full year of operations, confirming the rapid scale-up of its Kribi plant even as limited financial disclosure makes its net profitability difficult to assess.

The Cameroonian subsidiary of China’s Keda Industrial generated 700.89 million yuan in core operating revenue in 2025, equivalent to about CFA58.7 billion at the indicative exchange rate of CFA83.75 per yuan. That compares with 171.82 million yuan, or about CFA14.4 billion, a year earlier.

Revenue therefore increased 307.9%, or 4.08 times. The comparison, however, pits the plant’s first full year of operations against a partial 2024. Its two Cameroonian tile production lines only began operating in the third quarter of that year. The reported increase therefore reflects both a major industrial scale-up and a significant base effect.

The increase in sales also came with a lower gross margin rate, which fell 4.67 percentage points to 30.66% from 35.33%.

The figures appear in Keda Industrial’s response to an information request from the Shanghai Stock Exchange, published on July 21, 2026, during the review of its proposed acquisition of minority shareholders in Tefu International.

Production exceeds stated annual capacity

Revenue specifically from tiles reached 695.67 million yuan, or about CFA58.2 billion, up 309.5%. Tiles therefore accounted for 99.3% of Keda Cameroon’s reported core operating revenue. Production increased 139.1%, from 8.87 million square meters in 2024 to 21.21 million square meters in 2025.

Compared with the 20.1 million square meters of capacity attributed to Cameroon for 2025, output implies an apparent utilization rate of 105.5%. Production can exceed nominal capacity when lines are operated more intensively than the technical assumptions used to calculate their stated capacity.

The 8.38 million-square-meter figure associated with 2024 should not be interpreted as the plant’s previous annual capacity. It corresponds exactly to five months of operation based on annual capacity of 20.1 million square meters. Keda’s document adjusts capacity according to when equipment entered service.

Within Tefu International’s tile operations, Cameroon accounted for 10.13% of capacity and 10.52% of tile revenue in 2025. It became the fourth-largest market in that portfolio by tile revenue, behind Ghana, Kenya and Senegal.

The Cameroonian project had an initial budget of 488.88 million yuan, or about CFA40.9 billion. By Dec. 31, 2025, Keda reported transferring 478.50 million yuan, nearly CFA40.1 billion, into fixed assets. Construction began in October 2022, and the project was capitalized in August 2024, three months later than initially planned.

The Kribi-area factory receives gas from the Bipaga gas processing center. According to Cameroon’s National Hydrocarbons Corporation, or SNH, the connection uses a 5.27-kilometer pipeline built for about CFA7.2 billion. The plant’s gas requirements are estimated at between 3.5 million and 6.5 million cubic feet per day.

Two agreements were signed on Sept. 29, 2022: one between SNH and Perenco for gas supply and another between SNH and Keda Cameroon for the purchase of the gas.

Gross margin rate falls, but gross profit triples

The decline in Keda Cameroon’s gross margin rate does not mean its gross profit fell in absolute terms. Applying the reported 30.66% margin to revenue produces an estimated gross profit of about 214.9 million yuan in 2025, or nearly CFA18 billion. Applying the same calculation to the 2024 figures gives about 60.7 million yuan, or CFA5.1 billion.

Gross profit would therefore have increased by roughly 254% despite its share of revenue falling by 4.67 percentage points.

The figure is an arithmetic estimate based on rounded margin rates, however. It is not operating profit, net income or cash flow generated by the subsidiary.

Keda does not disclose Keda Cameroon’s net income, administrative and financial expenses, taxes paid locally or actual sales volumes. The available figures therefore do not establish the plant’s net profitability, its contribution to government tax revenue or how much of its production has actually replaced tile imports.

The difference between the 309.5% increase in tile revenue and the 139.1% rise in production could reflect a combination of prices, product mix, volumes sold and inventory changes. The figures alone cannot be used to calculate a selling price specific to Cameroon.

The average price of 32.40 yuan per square meter reported for 2025, up 29.9%, applies to Tefu International’s entire portfolio rather than Cameroon alone.

Keda also provides no Cameroon-specific explanation for the decline in the subsidiary’s gross margin rate. Start-up conditions, line utilization, product mix, commercial expenses or competition are possible explanations, but none can be established as the cause from the disclosed information.

First-half 2026 results offer no Cameroon update

Keda Industrial’s unaudited first-half 2026 report, published on Aug. 25, shows continued growth across its overseas building-materials business.

Revenue from that division increased 30.7% to 4.93 billion yuan, or about CFA412.6 billion. Its gross margin improved by 7.08 percentage points to 43.88%, while tile production rose 12.5% to about 110 million square meters.

None of those figures is broken down by country. They therefore cannot be used to determine Keda Cameroon’s revenue, production or margins in the first half of 2026.

The report also shows a €21.89 million, or CFA14.36 billion, guarantee jointly provided for the benefit of Tilemaster Investment and Keda Cameroon Ceramics through June 15, 2030.

That amount is 27.3% below the €30.10 million reported in the first-half 2025 report. The table does not divide the guarantee between the two beneficiaries, however, meaning it cannot be treated as the outstanding balance of a loan specifically owed by Keda Cameroon.

The Cameroon figures were disclosed during the review of Keda Industrial’s proposed 7.47 billion yuan acquisition of the remaining 51.55% of Tefu International that it did not already own.

On Aug. 10, 2026, the Shanghai Stock Exchange ended its review after its committee concluded that the company had not sufficiently explained the rationale behind Tefu International’s revenue growth or the fairness of the transaction price, according to a translation from Chinese.

That concern related to Tefu International’s overall growth and valuation, not specifically to Keda Cameroon. Keda Industrial abandoned the transaction several days later without losing control of Tefu International.

The scale-up of the Cameroon operation is nevertheless clear: revenue exceeded CFA58 billion and production topped 21 million square meters in its first full year of operations. What remains unclear, without more detailed local accounts, is how profitable the plant is, how much tax revenue it generates and how far its output has reduced Cameroon’s reliance on tile imports.

Baudouin Enama