Oando Plc has released its unaudited financial results for the first half of 2026, reporting a pre-tax loss of N32.84 billion, a 77.47% improvement from the N145.74 billion loss recorded during the same period in 2025.
The company’s second-quarter performance marked a significant turnaround, posting a pre-tax profit of N44.53 billion. This compares with a pre-tax loss of N77.37 billion in the first quarter of 2026 and a loss of N93.18 billion in the second quarter of 2025.
Despite the improved performance, the group’s profitability remained under pressure as finance costs continued to outweigh operating profit during the six-month period.
Revenue rose by 19.92% year-on-year to N2.06 trillion from N1.72 trillion, while gross profit surged by 331% to N101.19 billion from N23.48 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2025.
Operating performance also improved significantly, with the company posting an operating profit of N127.84 billion, compared with an operating loss of N158.71 billion a year earlier.
Profit after tax increased by 8.28% to N68.56 billion from N63.31 billion, while earnings per share rose by 60% to N8.00 from N5.00.
The company’s cash and cash equivalents climbed 23.88% to N544.92 billion from N439.88 billion at the end of 2025, while total assets increased by 5.95% to N7.89 trillion.
However, total equity remained negative at N530.45 billion, improving slightly from negative N566.97 billion recorded in December 2025.
Oando’s revenue growth was driven mainly by its Supply and Trading and Exploration and Production businesses.
The Supply and Trading segment remained the company’s largest revenue contributor, generating N1.72 trillion or 83.24% of external revenue. Exploration and Production contributed N344.23 billion, accounting for 16.68% of total revenue.
Despite accounting for more than four-fifths of group revenue, the Supply and Trading business generated an operating profit of just N8.82 billion, translating to an operating margin of only 0.51%.
This means the segment retained approximately 51 kobo in operating profit for every N100 earned in external revenue, highlighting the group’s continued margin pressure.
Group cost of sales rose by 15.61% to N1.96 trillion from N1.70 trillion. However, because revenue grew at a faster pace, gross profit margin improved significantly to 4.90% from 1.36% in the first half of 2025.
The second quarter also recorded stronger profitability, with gross margin rising to 6.59%.
Operating profit received additional support from non-core income.
Other operating income stood at N48.52 billion, compared with operating losses of N298.29 billion in the corresponding period last year.
The company also recognised a net impairment reversal of N55.92 billion, although this was below the N197.52 billion recorded in H1 2025.
Combined, other operating income and impairment reversals contributed N104.44 billion, representing about 81.7% of total operating profit, indicating that a significant portion of earnings came from items outside the group’s core operating activities.
Finance costs remained the biggest challenge to profitability.
Finance costs declined by 13.67% to N167.58 billion from N194.12 billion. However, finance income fell sharply to N6.28 billion from N158.99 billion recorded a year earlier.
As a result, Oando’s net finance position deteriorated from a net finance income of N12.97 billion in H1 2025 to a net finance cost of N161.30 billion in H1 2026.
The net finance cost represented 126.17% of operating profit, effectively erasing the company’s operating earnings before tax and resulting in the reported pre-tax loss.
On the balance sheet, Oando showed modest improvement in liquidity.
Cash balances increased to N544.92 billion, while the current ratio improved to 0.54 times from 0.44 times at the end of 2025.
However, receivables grew by 23.85%, outpacing revenue growth of 19.92%, suggesting that a larger proportion of reported sales had yet to be converted into cash.
Receivables and contract assets stood at N2.71 trillion, representing 34.33% of total assets, highlighting the company’s dependence on timely collections from customers and counterparties.
Current liabilities remained substantially higher than current assets.
Current liabilities stood at N6.57 trillion, compared with current assets of N3.54 trillion, leaving the group with a working capital deficit of approximately N3.03 trillion.
Although Oando adjusted its debt profile, total borrowings remained largely unchanged.
Current borrowings declined by N346.12 billion, while non-current borrowings increased by N352.39 billion, leaving total borrowings at N2.70 trillion.
The company also remained in a negative equity position, with total liabilities of N8.42 trillion exceeding total assets of N7.89 trillion.
On the Nigerian Exchange, Oando’s share price closed July 2026 at N36.60, representing a month-to-date decline of 8.39% and a year-to-date loss of 8.96%.
The stock had closed May at N51.00, reflecting a year-to-date gain of 26.87%, before declining by 21.67% in June and extending losses with a further 8.39% drop in July.
