Nigeria’s most valuable company rides stable naira to nearly double profit - Businessday NG
Source: Businessday NG
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BUA Foods Plc, Nigeria’s most valuable listed company, posted a record profit in 2025, buoyed by strong sales growth and a sharp fall in finance costs that signals how improving currency stability is beginning to ease pressure on corporate balance sheets.
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The Lagos-headquartered food producer reported a net profit of N507.7 billion, nearly double the N266.0 billion earned a year earlier, after finance costs plunged to N21.9 billion from N203.2 billion in 2024, according to its unaudited financial results filed on the Nigerian Exchange on Thursday.
The turnaround reflects reduced foreign-exchange losses and lower borrowing costs as the naira showed greater stability toward the end of the year, recording a 7.5 percent gain—the first time in more than a decade.
Revenue rose 18.1 percent to N1.80 trillion, driven by higher volumes and pricing across sugar, flour, pasta and rice — staples that have remained resilient despite pressure on household incomes. But it was the dramatic easing of currency-related charges that turned strong operating performance into record earnings.
Nigeria’s macro backdrop has begun to shift. Improved FX liquidity following policy reforms, tighter monetary conditions and a slowdown in naira depreciation reduced the scale of translation losses and the need for expensive short-term funding. For manufacturers reliant on imported raw materials and energy, that shift has been critical.
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BUA Foods’ results show how sensitive Nigerian corporates remain to currency swings. In 2024, FX losses and interest expenses had sharply eroded profitability. Last year, the reversal allowed operating gains to flow almost directly to the bottom line.
Operating profit rose to N565.4 billion from N472.1 billion, while gross profit climbed to N672.2 billion, supported by scale advantages and sustained demand for essential food items.
Cost pressures remained elevated, with selling and distribution expenses rising to N68.7 billion and administrative costs to N40.5 billion, but these increases were outweighed by revenue growth and lower financing drag.
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The company’s core segments — sugar, bakery flour and pasta — continued to anchor performance, together accounting for more than two-thirds of turnover. Sugar sales alone exceeded N755 billion, benefiting from domestic refining capacity at a time when import substitution remains a policy priority.
Cash generation strengthened alongside earnings. Operating cash flow reached N311.6 billion, allowing BUA Foods to fund working capital needs, service debt and pay N234 billion in dividends without materially increasing leverage.
Total assets expanded to N1.39 trillion, while shareholders’ equity rose to N702.8 billion, reinforcing balance-sheet resilience.
The performance stands out in a consumer sector still grappling with inflation though easing, high energy costs and fragile demand. While discretionary spending remains weak, staple food producers have benefited from population growth and limited substitutes, insulating volumes even as prices rise.
Still, risks remain. FX stability is recent and fragile, and any renewed volatility could quickly feed back into finance costs. Rising inventories and receivables also point to higher working-capital intensity, a potential drag if credit conditions tighten further.
For now, BUA Foods’ results offer one of the clearest corporate signals that Nigeria’s improving macro conditions, particularly on the currency front, are beginning to translate into tangible earnings relief.
If naira stability holds, the company’s scale and operating leverage position it to extend its lead on the Nigerian Exchange in 2026.
The profitability run throughout 2025 is improving investors’ sentiment as the stock gained 92.5 percent a year ago to push its valuation to nearly N15 trillion. BUA FOODS closed its last trading day Wednesday, January 28, 2026 at N798.90.
Wasiu Alli is a business and economics journalist with more than two years experience covering macro trends, government policies, corporate earnings and comparative economics analysis. Alli turns raw data into trends that not only tells compelling stories but nudges investors to make valued and informed decisions. An alumnus of Lagos State University and trained at Lagos Business School, he heads the Companies and Markets desk at BusinessDay where he writes and supervises the production of well researched articles on earnings updates, corporate sectoral comparisons, market intelligence as well as interviews with C-suite executives.
