Billionaire Tony Elumelu’s Transcorp posts $82m Q3 profit

Transnational Corp., the power and hospitality group chaired by Nigerian banking tycoon Tony Elumelu, earned ₦111.39 billion ($81.6 million) before tax in the first nine months of 2026, as tighter cost control and a stronger cash position helped offset problems on the power grid.

The group reported revenue of ₦357.38 billion ($262 million) for the nine months to Sept. 30, according to unaudited results filed with the Nigerian Exchange. Profit after tax came to ₦75.09 billion ($55 million), and earnings per share were 429 kobo. A year earlier, Transcorp earned ₦124.52 billion before tax on revenue of ₦412.43 billion.

Transcorp earned about ₦35.5 billion before tax in the third quarter alone, on revenue of about ₦115.9 billion, based on its first-half figures.

“Our performance reflects the strength of our diversified portfolio,” Owen Omogiafo, Transcorp’s group chief executive, said.

Wider margins

The group kept a firm grip on spending. Administrative expenses were cut 5.4% to ₦48.74 billion, finance costs were reduced 23% to ₦15.12 billion, and Transcorp wrote back ₦11.70 billion of impairment charges, after booking an ₦8.76 billion charge a year earlier. That lifted its pre-tax profit margin to 31.2% from 30.2%.

Cash generation was the standout. Transcorp produced ₦95.65 billion of cash from operations in the nine months, almost nine times the ₦10.89 billion of a year earlier. Cash and cash equivalents more than doubled to ₦45.96 billion ($33.7 million) from ₦21.88 billion at the end of December. Total assets grew 13% to ₦1.13 trillion ($828 million), and the group raised long-term borrowing to ₦105.65 billion to fund its operations.

Power and hotels

Electricity generation brings in most of the group’s revenue. Transcorp owns the Ughelli power station in Delta state through Transcorp Power Plc, and the Afam plants in Rivers state through Transafam Power. The power business generated ₦331.50 billion of revenue before sales between group companies are removed, and capacity payments, which the plants earn for being available to generate, rose to ₦72.79 billion from ₦70.20 billion.

The company said vandalism of gas pipelines and transmission lines limited how much electricity its plants could deliver to the national grid during the period. “Year-on-year revenue was impacted by power evacuation constraints arising from vandalisation of transmission and gas infrastructure,” Festus Izevbizua, the group’s chief financial officer, said.

Transcorp Power, which is listed separately, earned ₦83.1 billion ($60.9 million) before tax on revenue of ₦266.1 billion ($195 million).

The hotels business grew its profit. Transcorp Hotels Plc, which owns the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja, earned ₦15.54 billion ($11.4 million) after tax, up 4.9% from a year earlier, on revenue of ₦69.46 billion.

Elumelu, 63, is chairman of United Bank for Africa Plc and of Heirs Holdings, his family investment company. He and his family hold about 36% of Transcorp, mainly through HH Capital Ltd., making them the group’s largest shareholders.