This Week In Tech

By Nosa Alekhuogie

•Cement, oil, and telcos drive H1 2025 profit surge

The first half of 2025 has painted a mixed yet largely positive picture of Nigeria’s private sector. From the boardrooms of cement and energy giants to the trading floors of telecoms, banks, and consumer goods firms, companies listed on the Nigerian Exchange have weathered the challenges of macroeconomic reform, inflation, currency swings, and rising costs to report strong results. The numbers indicate that, despite ongoing economic vulnerabilities, new growth is beginning to emerge.

Driven by a combination of price-driven revenue growth, cost-efficient strategies, and improved foreign exchange management, companies such as MTN Nigeria, Dangote Cement, Seplat Energy, Lafarge Africa, Ecobank Transnational, and Access Holdings emerged as standout performers.

Meanwhile, others such as Unilever Nigeria, Transcorp Power, and FCMB demonstrated renewed investor confidence by not only growing earnings but also declaring interim dividends. However, the corporate landscape was not without its underperformers. Dangote Sugar, Guinness Nigeria, and First HoldCo reported profit declines or losses, reflecting the uneven impact of Nigeria’s reform journey.

MTN Nigeria makes history with N10tn market cap

The standout moment of H1 2025 came from MTN Nigeria Communications Plc, which became the first Nigerian Exchange (NGX)-listed company to reach a N10 trillion market capitalisation. At the close of trading on August 1, its share price surged to N480, reflecting a 1.69 percent gain.

MTN’s stock has gained 136 per cent year-to-date, with a one-year growth of 148.42 percent and a five-year surge of 300.34 percent. In the past quarter alone, the shares jumped 88.80 percent, underlining investor optimism and belief in its long-term value. The company posted a 54.6 percent increase in service revenue, a 119.5 percent rise in EBITDA, and a return to profitability with N414.9 billion in profit after tax.

The Chief Executive Officer of MTN, Karl Toriola, said, “We are excited by the progress made in the first half of 2025, reflecting the successful execution of our strategic priorities. We accelerated investment in our network to enhance capacity, coverage, and quality of experience.”

With N565.7 billion in capital expenditure in the first half of the year alone, MTN is aggressively expanding its operations in mobile services, data, fintech, and infrastructure. Lagos alone accounts for 25 percent of MTN’s traffic, underlining the company’s central role in Nigeria’s digital economy.

Cement and construction: A sector rebuilding its strength

Nigeria’s cement industry remains one of the strongest pillars of the listed market, and H1 2025 proved no different. Dangote Cement, the country’s largest company by market capitalisation after MTN, posted a record-breaking profit after tax of N520.46 billion for H1 2025.

This represents a 174 percent increase compared to the same period in 2024, achieved despite a modest drop in cement volume sales, from 13.93 million tonnes to 13.37 million tonnes. Total revenue rose to N2.07 trillion, showcasing the company’s ability to maintain pricing power even in a high-inflation environment. Operating profit climbed 29.1 percent year-on-year, reflecting greater production efficiency and a leaner cost structure. The company also benefited from a sharp reduction in finance costs, which dropped by 35.4 percent, while finance income skyrocketed by over 356 percent.

These shifts helped neutralise liquidity pressures and foreign exchange headwinds that had battered the wider industrial sector. Dangote Cement’s earnings per share stood at N30.61, making it one of the most profitable companies on the Nigerian Exchange and reinforcing its status as a key pillar of the Nigerian economy.

In a similarly remarkable turnaround, Lafarge Africa delivered a 352 percent increase in after-tax profit, reaching N132.68 billion, compared to N29.35 billion in the first half of 2024. This profit surge was driven by a 74.9 percent increase in cement revenue, significant cost control, and a remarkable 91.7 percent reduction in finance costs.

The company’s cash balance also rose by 128 percent, reflecting improved liquidity and stronger operational health. Lafarge’s share price rose by over 66 percent in the first six months of the year, outperforming the broader index.

Oil and Gas: Riding the global energy wave

In the energy sector, Seplat Energy stole the spotlight with a revenue of N2.17 trillion, representing a massive 277 per cent year-over-year increase. Profit before tax totalled N454.11 billion. Seplat’s performance reflected the impact of favourable oil prices, deregulation reforms, and an expanded production capacity.

The company’s results showed that Nigeria’s oil and gas sector still holds vast potential for driving foreign exchange inflows and government revenues, especially when firms are strategically managed and supported by stable regulation.

Other energy firms such as Transcorp Power and Aradel Holdings also posted healthy growth. Transcorp Power reported N41.03 billion in profit before tax and N39.34 billion in profit after tax, which underlined the importance of domestic power generation as a profitable business line.

Aradel Holdings, a lesser-known but emerging upstream player, demonstrated strong performance with a 50 percent year-over-year increase in net profit, signaling that private-led ventures in the oil and gas sector are increasingly gaining ground.

Banking and Finance: Cost discipline and digital expansion

The financial services sector maintained its momentum, with Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) taking the front seat. ETI reported a profit after tax of N620.23 billion, representing a 40 percent increase from the previous year. The bank’s total assets reached N49.09 trillion, and most notably, its cost-to-income ratio improved to 49.1 percent, its best level in a decade.

Access Holdings also delivered a solid report, with a profit after tax of N250 billion and earnings per share of N7.00. Total assets stood at N31.67 trillion. United Bank for Africa (UBA) reported a profit after tax of N156.34 billion, while Zenith Bank posted a profit of N291.73 billion and total assets of N24.31 trillion.

First HoldCo also maintained strong fundamentals, with earnings per share of N6.84, although its profit after tax dipped by 21 percent due to higher impairments.

Consumer goods: A mixed bag of recovery and struggles

The consumer goods sector saw both signs of recovery and lingering hardship. Unilever Nigeria was a clear bright spot. After years of underperformance, it delivered a 225 percent surge in profit after tax, declaring its first interim dividend in over two decades.

Nestlé Nigeria also returned to profit, posting a N10.02 billion profit after tax, compared to a loss of ₤49.89 billion a year earlier. Meanwhile, BUA Foods delivered a 104 percent increase in profit to N112.1 billion.

Dangote Sugar Refinery nearly doubled its revenue to N430.21 billion, a 45.5% increase from H1 2024, and swung back to profitability in Q2 with a N523.8 million pre-tax profit, after posting a N104.5 billion loss last year. Despite import challenges, the company’s 1.49 million MT refining capacity and sugarcane plantation investments continue to anchor its long-term growth.

Meanwhile, Guinness Nigeria Plc reported a N16.2 billion profit after tax, rebounding from a N54.7 billion loss in FY24. Revenue climbed 66% to N496.6 billion, boosting its stock price 51.5% year-to-date, far outpacing the market. Yet, while Guinness celebrated 75 years with renewed investor confidence, persistent inflation and consumer spending pressure continue to weigh on other operators in the segment.

Agribusiness and manufacturing: A quiet surge

Okomu Oil Palm emerged as a strong player in the agribusiness space, with a 73 percent increase in revenue and a N47.5 billion profit after tax. The firm benefited from strong global palm oil demand and domestic shortages of key food items. The return of interim dividends among some manufacturing firms also signaled renewed confidence in future earnings.

CFG advisory outlook adds broader economic context

Adding context to the performance of these firms is the recent ‘CFG Advisory Nigeria 2025 H2 Review’ report, which highlights the fragile transition from macroeconomic stability to sustainable growth.

According to CFG, Nigeria achieved 3.84 percent GDP growth in Q4 2024 but fell to 3.1 percent in Q1 2025. Inflation, though eased to 22.97 percent, remains too high, and debt pressures are rising. The report highlights that Nigeria’s money supply has increased to N119 trillion, and debt servicing now consumes N16.3 trillion annually, exceeding the combined budgets for health, education, and infrastructure.

CFG warns that although FX inflows have grown to $8.1 billion monthly and reserves now stand at $40 billion, these gains must be protected through structural reforms and reduced borrowing. “The transition from stability to growth is not automatic,” the report stated. “It requires policy implementation, private sector collaboration, and improved investor confidence.”

Significance for Nigerians, investors, economy

The H1 2025 results show that many top Nigerian companies are doing better. Sectors such as cement, oil, banking, and telecoms posted strong profits, signalling that the economy is slowly recovering. These results mean more tax revenue for the government and signs that businesses are adjusting well to challenges like inflation and currency changes.

For investors, it’s a positive signal as more companies are paying dividends again, and share prices are rising in key sectors. This indicates growing confidence in Nigeria’s economy, but risks such as high inflation and weak consumer spending persist.

For everyday Nigerians, it means there’s hope. When companies grow, they can create more jobs, improve services, and support lower prices in the long run. If reforms continue and companies continue to adapt, this growth can help build a stronger, more stable Nigeria.

The post H1 2025 Scorecard: Nigeria’s Top Firms Post Double-digit Growth Despite Economic Headwinds appeared first on THISDAYLIVE.

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