Wale Tinubu’s Oando posts $55m nine-month pre-tax loss

Oando Plc, the Nigerian energy group run by oil tycoon Wale Tinubu, swung to a pre-tax loss of ₦74.7 billion ($55 million) in the first nine months of 2026, as the cost of servicing its debt wiped out a recovery in its oil business.

The loss compares with a pre-tax profit of ₦19.5 billion a year earlier, according to unaudited results for the nine months to Sept. 30 released on Friday. Net finance costs reached ₦235.2 billion ($172 million), including ₦218.6 billion of bank interest, against net finance income of ₦128 billion in the same period of 2025, when Oando earned ₦368.7 billion of finance income.

The operating business improved sharply. Revenue rose 9.2% to ₦2.78 trillion ($2 billion), gross profit jumped to ₦174.5 billion from ₦29.9 billion, and operating profit swung to ₦159.7 billion ($117 million) from a loss of ₦109.7 billion. Administrative expenses rose 21.1% to ₦157.9 billion, including about ₦79 billion in professional fees.

An income tax credit of ₦181.1 billion, which included ₦254.4 billion of reversals of earlier tax provisions, turned the pre-tax loss into a profit after tax of ₦106.5 billion ($78 million). That was 47% lower than the ₦201.3 billion Oando earned a year earlier.

Production rises

The upstream business drove the improvement. Average production rose 14% to 42,985 barrels of oil equivalent a day. Output from OMLs 60 to 63, the onshore Niger Delta blocks in which Oando holds a 40% stake and which it has operated since buying Eni’s Nigerian onshore business, rose 16% to 40,017 barrels a day. Facility uptime improved to 96.1% from 85%, and production costs fell 22% to $15.39 a barrel.

The exploration and production unit’s revenue rose 58.5% to ₦553.6 billion, and it earned an operating profit of ₦183.5 billion, compared with a loss of ₦138.8 billion a year earlier. The trading and supply business, which brings in most of the group’s revenue, grew sales 1.4% to ₦2.22 trillion but widened its operating loss to ₦28.2 billion.

Oando narrowed its full-year production guidance to between 40,000 and 45,000 barrels a day. It is midway through a seven-well drilling program on the onshore blocks, with two wells already producing and the last due to be spudded in December. The program is expected to add 16,000 to 20,000 barrels a day of gross output. Tinubu, the group chief executive officer, said the priorities are “to progress the seven-well development programme, sustain operational reliability.”

Paying down debt

The company has been cutting the borrowings it took on to fund its acquisitions. Total borrowings fell 19.8% to ₦2.16 trillion ($1.6 billion) from the end of December, after Oando repaid ₦792.7 billion and took on ₦457.7 billion of new loans. Net cash from operating activities reached ₦217.8 billion, against an outflow of ₦235 billion a year earlier. Cash on hand fell 60% to ₦175.9 billion ($129 million), and shareholders’ equity remained negative at ₦512.6 billion.

The third quarter alone was weaker. Revenue fell 13.2% to ₦712.6 billion, and profit after tax dropped 72.5% to ₦37.9 billion from ₦138 billion a year earlier.

Oando has a rights issue under review by Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission and plans a $1.5 billion issuance program. In September, shareholders approved a proposal allowing the company to list its shares on any exchange the board chooses.

Oando shares fell 4.6% to ₦31.50 on Friday, leaving them down about 21.6% this year and giving the company a market value of about ₦390.6 billion ($286 million).

Tinubu founded Oando with Omamofe Boyo, now deputy group chief executive, and built it from a fuel retailer into Nigeria’s largest indigenous energy company, with operations in oil and gas production, trading and supply. The company is listed in Lagos and Johannesburg.

Figures were converted at ₦1,365 to the dollar.