By Aduragbemi Omiyale

A final dividend of N23 has been proposed by the board of Aradel Holdings Plc for payment to shareholders of the company for the 2025 financial year, bringing the total dividend to N33 after an interim dividend of N10 earlier in the year.

The energy firm declared the cash reward after growing its revenue for the year by 20 per cent to N699.4 billion, driven by improvement across all business segments.

It was observed that crude oil remained the dominant revenue stream, with exports increasing by 18 per cent to N440.1 billion and contributing 63 per cent of total revenue, supported by higher production volumes and reliable evacuation via TNP and ACE.

Refined products revenue rose by 18 per cent to N210.8 billion, representing 30 per cent of total revenue, buoyed by a 26 per cent rise in sales volume to 302.9 million litres compared with the 240.5 million litres achieved in the 2024 fiscal year. Gas revenues rose by 72 per cent to N48.6 billion, accounting for 7 per cent of total revenue, driven by higher production volumes despite lower realised gas prices.

Business Post reports that Aradel posted a profit before tax of N835.0 billion compared with N316.8 billion reported a year earlier, representing a 164 per cent surge, while the profit after tax expanded by 192 per cent to N757.3 billion from N259.1 billion as a result of higher underlying earnings, the non-recurring gains arising from the consolidation, and improved tax efficiency.

In the year, the organisation maintained a healthy cash position, supported by strong operating cash flow and disciplined working capital management. Net cash from operating activities moderated to N179.7 billion from N311.9 billion in FY 2024, reflecting the timing of cash settlements and working capital movements.

Commenting on the results, the chief executive of Aradel, Mr Adegbite Falade, said, “2025 was a defining year as we continued to strengthen our position as an integrated energy operating platform. We delivered record revenue and profitability, while executing the most transformational strategic expansion in our history.

“Our additional 40 per cent investment in ND Western and the resultant increase in our total effective interest in Renaissance (53.3 per cent) significantly expanded our reserves, production base and operational footprint, positioning Aradel to operate at materially greater scale from 2026 onwards.

“The consolidation of NDW and Renaissance fundamentally reset the scale of the company’s balance sheet, giving us the asset and reserve base to underpin our future expansion.

“Our 2025 audited accounts, therefore, capture the balance-sheet impact of these acquisitions; their full earnings contribution will be reflected in the Group’s consolidated financial results from 2026 onwards.”

“Looking ahead, our focus in 2026 is on consolidating our expanded portfolio to enhance operational scale, improve efficiency across our assets, increase production and further diversify our revenue base anchored on our long-term ambition to grow the group’s production to support sustainable, long-term shareholder value,” he added.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange was down by 2.48 per cent on Friday, June 19, with the Unlisted Security Index shedding 108.36 points to close at 4,252.73 points compared with the previous day’s 4,361.09 points.

During the trading day, the market capitalisation of the OTC securities exchange dropped 2.18 per cent or N67.29 billion to settle at N2.552 trillion, in contrast to Thursday’s N2.609 trillion.

The alternative stock market was in the red yesterday after finishing with three price losers led by Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which gave up N8.57 to trade at N77.77 per share versus the preceding day’s N86.34. FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost N8.19 to quote at N170.00 per unit compared with the previous session’s N178.19 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc crashed by 26 Kobo to end at N2.51 per share versus N2.77 per share.

Business Post reports that there were also three price gainers during the session, led by Golden Capital Plc, which chalked up 67 Kobo to sell at N13.67 per unit versus N13.00 per unit. Afriland Properties Plc gained 65 Kobo to trade at N16.85 per share compared with the previous price of N16.20 per share, and MRS Oil added 3 Kobo to close at N142.23 per unit versus N142.00 per unit.

The volume of trades was up by 20.3 per cent on Friday to 954,106 units from 792,835 units, and the number of deals increased by 75 per cent to 35 deals from 20 deals, while the value of transactions went down by 12.9 per cent to N42.7 million from N49.0 million.

The most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis was Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 67.8 million units exchanged for N4.7 billion.

The most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was also GNI Plc, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.

By Dipo Olowookere

The local stock exchange remained in the red on Friday after it further depreciated by 0.62 per cent due to panic sell-offs in some bellwether equities.

NAHCO lost 10.00 per cent to trade at N148.50, Royal Exchange depreciated by 10.00 per cent to N1.53, GTCO slumped by 9.97 per cent to N115.55, First Holdco dropped 9.84 per cent to quote at N55.00, and Neimeth slipped by 9.60 per cent to N28.12.

On the flip side, Deap Capital increased by 9.89 per cent to N4.89, RT Briscoe expanded by 9.62 per cent to N13.10, International Energy Insurance advanced by 7.43 per cent to N5.06, Jaiz Bank gained 7.14 per cent to sell for N9.00, and Living Trust Mortgage Bank rose by 5.26 per cent to N4.00.

During the session, the energy index chalked up 2.35 per cent, but this was not enough to lift the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited when the closing gong was struck by 4 pm to signify the close of trading activities.

This was because the banking sector lost 4.41 per cent, the insurance counter shed 1.52 per cent, the industrial goods space declined by 0.71 per cent, and the consumer goods segment tumbled by 0.13 per cent.

Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) contracted by 1,463.45 points to 235,941.27 points from 237,404.92 points, and the market capitalisation retreated by M939 billion to N151.327 trillion from N152.266 trillion.

The activity chart was topped by Access Holdings, which posted a turnover of 65.0 million shares valued at N1.5 billion. Zenith Bank sold 35.2 million stocks worth N3.9 billion, Sterling Holdings exchanged 28.4 million equities for N217.8 million, UBA transacted 16.3 million shares valued at N650.7 million, and GTCO traded 14.0 million stocks worth N1.8 billion.

In all, investors transacted 440.4 million equities for N24.7 billion in 50,273 deals, in contrast to the 691.6 million equities valued at N116.9 billion traded in 50,025 deals on Thursday, implying an uptick in the number of deals by 0.50 per cent, and a decrease in the trading volume and value by 36.32 per cent and 78.87 per cent, respectively.