Aradel Holdings Plc plunged by 9.99% to N1,296 per share on Monday after the energy company reported an 82.3% decline in profit after tax for the nine months ended September 30, 2026 despite a significant increase in revenue.
The company’s shares fell by N143.90 from N1,439.90 in the previous trading session, making Aradel one of the worst-performing stocks on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) for the day.
The decline followed the release of Aradel’s nine-month financial statements, which showed that profit after tax dropped to N43.30 billion from N245.12 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2025.
This was despite revenue rising more than sevenfold to N3.95 trillion from N538.81 billion a year earlier.
The company’s operating performance strengthened during the period as operating profit increased to N1.56 trillion from N167.53 billion in the first nine months of 2025.
However, the improvement was eroded by a sharp increase in finance costs and tax expenses.
Finance costs jumped to N841.12 billion from N21.39 billion in the corresponding period of 2025 with N529.10 billion attributed to the unwinding of contingent consideration.
Interest expense on bank borrowings also increased to N251.06 billion from N17.41 billion.
As a result, net finance costs widened to N797.35 billion from N6.03 billion a year earlier, reducing profit before tax to N764.71 billion.
Tax expense subsequently surged to N721.41 billion from N55.56 billion, leaving the company with N43.30 billion in profit after tax.
The deterioration was more pronounced in the third quarter when Aradel recorded a loss after tax of N147.74 billion compared with a profit of N98.73 billion in the same quarter of 2025.
The quarterly loss came despite revenue increasing to N1.46 trillion from N170.73 billion and operating profit rising to N506.88 billion from N48.91 billion.
Finance costs stood at N514.98 billion during the quarter, while tax expense amounted to N159.74 billion.
Aradel’s underlying operations, however, continued to generate substantial cash, with net cash from operating activities rising to N2.46 trillion in the nine-month period from N205.41 billion a year earlier.
The company closed the period with cash and cash equivalents of approximately N2 trillion.
Monday’s 9.99% decline therefore came as investors assessed the widening gap between Aradel’s strong revenue and operating growth and the sharp deterioration in earnings after finance costs and taxation.
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