Aradel Holdings Plc made a good showing in its released financial resuts for the first nine months of 2024, with revenue soaring 206.86% to N377.58 bilion, compared to A123.05 billion in the corresponding period of 2023.
The company’s crude oil segment remained the cornerstone of its operations, contributing 66.65% of total revenue and recording a remarkable year-on-year growth of 349.85%.
Complementing this performance, the refined products segment contributed 27.31% of revenue
with 69.52% growth, while the gas segment, accounting for 6.04% of revenue, achieved an impressive 263.45% expansion.
From a market perspective, international operations dominated revenue generation, accounting for 73.88% of the total and showing exceptional growth of 387.21%. The domestic market, contributing 26.12% of revenue, maintained steady growth at 49.90%.
Despite significant revenue growth, operational costs increased proportionally. Cost of sales rose 210.67% to N166.80 billion from N53.69 billion, primarily driven by substantial increases in stock adjustments (5,914.35%), staff costs (192.70%), and crude oil handling charges (328.78%).
This resulted in a marginal compression of the gross margin to 55.82% from 56.37%.
The company demonstrated improved financial management with net finance costs declining 81.52% to N1.22 billion, supported by a 185.34%
increase in finance income. While finance expenses increased by 12.90%, primarily due to bank borrowings (14.37%) and bond coupon payments (2.23%), the overall impact was well-managed.
However, the company faced foreign exchange challenges, recording a loss of N25.95 billion, representing a 46.71% increase from the N17.69 billion recorded in 9M 2023.
Despite these headwinds, Aradel Holdings achieved remarkable bottom-line growth, with post-tax proft surging 477.21% to N110.58 billion for the nine-month period.
By Greenwich Merchant Bank
Ifunanya Ikueze is an Engineer, Safety Professional, Writer, Investor, Entrepreneur and Educator.
