Billionaire TY Danjuma family's May and Baker posts 154% profit surge to $4.7 million

May & Baker Nigeria Plc, the pharmaceutical manufacturer controlled by retired General Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma's family through a 41.78 percent controlling stake held via T.Y. Holdings and related interests, posted a 154 percent surge in pre-tax profit to N6.5 billion ($4.7 million) for the full year ended December 31, 2025, shareholders heard at the company's annual general meeting in Lagos on June 4.

The result marked a dramatic acceleration from the N2.56 billion ($1.9 million) pre-tax profit recorded in 2024 and came on the back of a final-quarter revenue rebound that the company said reversed early-year weakness caused by foreign exchange pressures and elevated raw material costs.

Profit after tax grew by an even larger margin, surging 173 percent to N4.4 billion ($3.2 million) from N1.6 billion ($1.2 million) in 2024. Earnings per share rose 173 percent from 94 kobo in 2024 to 257 kobo in 2025. The outsized growth in after-tax profit relative to pre-tax profit reflected the impact of deferred tax adjustments, though total tax obligations also rose sharply, climbing 119 percent from N952 million ($695,000) to N2.1 billion ($1.5 million) as the group's higher earnings attracted larger fiscal obligations.

Shareholders at the AGM unanimously approved a total dividend payout of N862.617 million ($629,500) for the 2025 financial year, translating to 50 kobo per ordinary share of 50 kobo each. The payout represents a 25 percent increase over the 40 kobo per share distributed for the 2024 financial year. Dividends were to be electronically credited to shareholders' accounts on May 19, 2026.

Daisy Danjuma, wife of TY Danjuma and chairman of May and Baker's board since September 2019 when she replaced her husband in the role, presented the results and confirmed the group's financial trajectory at the AGM. She also oversees SAPETRO, the family's oil exploration company with assets in Nigeria, Benin, the Central African Republic and Madagascar, as executive chairman.

"The group's profit after tax stood at N4.4 billion, representing a 173 percent increase from N1.6 billion recorded in 2024. Earnings per share also grew 173 percent from 94 kobo in 2024 to 257 kobo in 2025," she said.

The company's subsidiary, Osworth Nigeria Limited, contributed meaningfully to top-line performance. The commercial retail arm recorded revenue of N4.1 billion ($2.9 million), a 46 percent increase over the N2.8 billion ($2.0 million) achieved in 2024. Osworth posted a profit after tax of N468 million ($341,600), up 62 percent from N289 million ($210,900) in the prior year.

Managing Director Patrick Ajah credited active engagement with federal regulatory authorities as a factor in the group's improved cost position. He noted that the company's lobbying helped secure an executive order signed by President Bola Tinubu waiving import duties on selected active pharmaceutical ingredients and raw manufacturing inputs, though he tempered expectations about the measure's impact.

"The policy has provided some relief, although its impact remains limited as the savings amount to about 7.5 percent," Ajah said.

He confirmed that the company's total receivables profile is being monitored on a monthly schedule and remains entirely within domestic corporate control, addressing shareholder queries on credit risk management.

Looking ahead, Ajah said management is finalising the last phase of a strategic growth blueprint set to expire this year. The board plans to hold an off-site planning session before year-end to develop a new three-to-five-year strategic plan aimed at unlocking deeper shareholder value. He said the company remains focused on identifying expansion opportunities in sub-Saharan Africa.

TY Danjuma, who turned 85 in December 2023, built one of Nigeria's most diverse private fortunes across oil exploration through SAPETRO, shipping through NAL-COMET, and investments spanning pharmaceuticals, real estate and financial services. He served as Nigeria's minister of defence from 1999 to 2003 under President Olusegun Obasanjo after a military career that saw him rise to Chief of Army Staff. His net worth has been estimated by Forbes at above $2 billion, placing him among Nigeria's handful of billionaires with documented nine-figure USD wealth.

The T.Y. Holdings vehicle through which the family controls May and Baker has been invested in the pharmaceutical company since the late 1990s, making it one of the more enduring family-led pharmaceutical holdings on the Nigerian Exchange. May and Baker Nigeria trades on the Nigerian Exchange under the ticker MAYBAKER.