Tycoon Gabriel Ogbechie’s Eterna lifts profit 636% to $7.5m

Eterna Plc, the Nigerian fuel marketer controlled by oil tycoon Gabriel Ogbechie, lifted its nine-month pre-tax profit more than sevenfold to N10.28 billion ($7.5 million), as fuel sales surged and a rights issue cut its borrowings by a third.

The Lagos-listed company’s pre-tax profit rose 635.8% from N1.40 billion a year earlier in the nine months to Sept. 30, according to unaudited results reported by Nairametrics. Profit after tax climbed to N7.34 billion ($5.4 million) from N325.88 million.

Revenue grew 71.75% to N365.56 billion ($267.8 million), driven almost entirely by fuel. Sales of fuel rose 91.19% to N339.92 billion and made up about 93% of revenue. In contrast, lubricant sales fell 42.57% to N18.68 billion.

The third quarter was the strongest of the year. Eterna earned N2.61 billion before tax in the three months to September, compared with a loss of N198.43 million a year earlier. Quarterly revenue jumped 168.61% to N148.24 billion. On a standalone basis, third-quarter pre-tax profit beat the company’s own forecast by almost 116%.

Margins also improved. Gross profit more than doubled to N23.33 billion, and the gross margin widened to 6.38% from 4.67%. Operating profit rose 250.52% to N11.19 billion. Costs rose too, however. General and administrative expenses climbed 68.01% to N12.15 billion, including N2.74 billion in technical support fees that the company did not record last year.

The balance sheet has changed sharply since December. Total borrowings fell 32.55% to N46.75 billion ($34.2 million) from N69.31 billion, while cash and bank balances more than tripled to N15.35 billion. Shareholders’ equity rose to N32.99 billion from N7.77 billion, including N18.97 billion raised from new shares. Eterna also generated N22.89 billion of cash from operations, after an outflow of N20.10 billion for the whole of 2025.

The new capital came from a rights issue. In December, Eterna launched an offer of about 978.1 million new shares at N22 each to raise about N21.52 billion, three new shares for every four held. At the time, Ogbechie’s group held about 62.8% of the company, Billionaires.Africa reported.

Investors have rewarded the turnaround. Eterna’s shares closed at N42.75 on Nov. 3, up 50% this year from N28.50, according to Nairametrics.

Ogbechie founded Rainoil, one of Nigeria’s largest indigenous downstream oil companies, in 1997. His investment arm, Preline Ltd., took a controlling stake in Eterna in 2021, combining two fuel retail networks. Since then, Rainoil has kept adding filling stations, and in July last year it unveiled 10 new outlets across the country.

The earnings also show how far Eterna has moved from last year, when thin margins and heavy finance costs held profit to a fraction of this year’s level. With debt down and cash up, the company now has more room to expand its retail network.