Against a backdrop of rising inflation and currency swings, United Capital Plc and Presco Plc have stood out as rare bright spots on Nigeria’s corporate landscape.
New data show the two firms delivered the strongest profit margins in the first half of 2025, outpacing some of the country’s largest listed companies.
Since profit margin measures how efficiently firms turn revenue into profit, investors now treat it as a critical benchmark.
They focus on it even more as inflation rises, interest rates climb, and foreign exchange markets fluctuate.
Firms Double After-Tax profit
In its review of Nigeria’s 30 largest listed companies, it was revealed that twenty firms generated ₦2.47 trillion in after-tax profit between January and June 2025.
By comparison, they only earned ₦1.15 trillion during the same period in 2024.
To start, United Capital recorded the strongest margin at 45.8%.
The group benefited from lean costs and diverse income streams in investment banking, asset management, and trustee services.
Although the margin slipped slightly from 47.5% in 2024, the firm still maintained its lead in profitability.
Presco And Okomu strengthen Gains
Next, Presco secured second place.
Its margin jumped to 36% from 28% last year because rising crude palm oil prices and solid operations boosted performance.
Read Also: Nigeria Exceeds OPEC Oil Production Cap
Likewise, Okomu Oil posted 36.4%, while BUA Cement delivered 31.2%, Wema Bank achieved 28.7%, and BUA Foods reached 28.5%.
In addition, Lafarge Africa reported 25.5%, Dangote Cement registered 25.2%, Transcorp produced 23.3%, Geregu Power earned 22.9%, and Transcorp Power stood at 21.4%.
Beyond these, Transcorp Hotel posted 19.2%, First HoldCo managed 17.1%, FCMB Group recorded 13.8%, MTN logged12.3%, International Breweries stood at 12.02%, Nestlé Nigeria produced 8.76%, Oando registered 3.66%, and Nigerian Breweries finished at 0.9%.
Altogether, the surveyed firms converted every ₦100 in sales into ₦10.45 in profit, while they used ₦89.55 to cover costs.
Economy Shows Resilience
Meanwhile, the broader economy also expanded.
Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product grew by 3.13% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025, compared with 2.27% a year earlier.
At the same time, the International Monetary Fund kept its 3.4% growth forecast for 2025, even though the National Bureau of Statistics changed its reporting methodology.
Moreover, the private sector gained momentum.
Stanbic IBTC’s Purchasing Managers’ Index for July rose to 54.0 from 51.6 in June, marking its strongest performance in three months.
The report emphasised that faster expansions in output and new orders resulted from stronger customer demand, softer inflation, and the launch of new products.
In conclusion, these results show that Nigerian firms with efficiency and strong fundamentals stand out as clear winners, even in a challenging economic environment.
