UNION Dicon Salt Plc is in debt as its liabilities outweigh assets, implying that the firm has a weak balance sheet position or financial stress.

According to the 2025 financial statement seen by Economy Post, total net liabilities stood at N1.402 billion. A liability is something that a person or company owes, usually a sum of money. Liabilities are settled over time through the transfer of economic benefits including money, goods, or services, Investopedia, an investment dictionary, says.

Net liabilities are obtained by subtracting total assets from total liabilities. Positive net liabilities represents how much debt a company owes to outsiders such as banks, contractors, suppliers, among others.

The firm’s current liabilities stood at N14.001 billion, while current assets were estimated at N12.272 billion. When a firm’s current liabilities exceed current assets, the company has negative working capital and may face difficulties in growth, paying back creditors, or even avoiding bankruptcy, Investopedia says.

Though Union Dicon Salt isn’t earning sufficient revenue, it records high administration expenditure. Its revenue stood at N10.204 million in 2025 but administrative expenses were put at N90.245 million, resulting in a loss of N36.729 million for the year under review. The 2025 loss was, however, lower than that incurred in 2024, which was N103.762 million.

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“The challenge with the salt industry is that there is so much importation into the country,” said an emerging markets analyst, Mr Ike Ibeabuchi.

“Also, people are being increasingly health-conscious, so salt intake is gradually slowing down. More so, there is an increased campaign against salt consumption, which is hurting the demand for salt. It is just like sugar, which is also attracting increased public scrutiny,” he said.

Union Dicon is chaired by Gen Theophilus Danjuma, and managed by Ms Florence S, Iroye.

Salt importation

In 2023, Nigeria imported $25.9 million worth of salt, becoming the 34th largest importer of Salt (out of 222) in the world. During the same year, salt became the 286th most imported product (out of 1,193) in Nigeria. The nation also exports salt. The main destinations of Nigeria’s salt exports in 2023 were: Benin ($162,000), Niger ($102,000), Ghana ($47.1,000), Central African Republic ($6.67,000), and United States ($3.64,000), according to data from the OECD.

According to Volza’s Nigeria Import data, Nigeria imported 224 shipments of salt during June 2024 to May 2025. These imports were supplied by 24 foreign exporters to 44 Nigeria buyers, marking a growth rate of 19 percent compared to the preceding 12 months. Within this period, in May 2025 alone, Nigeria imported 17 salt shipments. This marked a year-on-year negative growth of 15.0 percent compared to May 2024, and a 55 percent sequential positive increase from April 2025. Nigeria imports most of its salt from India, United Kingdom, and Germany .

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Globally, the top three importers of salt are United States, China, and Ukraine. United States leads the world in salt imports with 138,351 shipments, followed by China with 40,720 shipments, and Ukraine taking the third spot with 32,284 shipments, Volza said.

Like Union Dicon, like Premier Paints

Premier Paints is also another manufacturer which went technically insolvent or bankrupt in 2025 as its liabilities far outweighed assets, casting doubt over the company’s ability to meet obligations, particularly to creditors.

In the company’s first half (H1) 2025 financial statement seen by Economy Post, it was observed that liabilities were 2.3 times total assets – a red flag that the company’s financial crisis was deepening. Its total assets stood at N165.198 million, while total liabilities were put at N386.353 million. Its working capital ratio was negative, meaning that the paint maker wasn’t generating enough cash through its operations to pay for current liabilities. And that was where its challenges lay