Nigerian energy group Aradel Holdings posts $552 million profit in 2025

Aradel Holdings Plc has posted profit after tax of N757.3 billion ($552.4 million) for the financial year ended December 31, 2025, a 192 percent increase from N259.1 billion ($189.0 million) in 2024, as the completion of two landmark acquisitions transformed the company's balance sheet and entrenched its position as Nigeria's largest indigenous integrated energy group.

Revenue rose 20 percent to N699.4 billion ($510.1 million) from N581.2 billion ($424.0 million) in 2024, driven by growth across all three business segments. EBITDA more than doubled, rising 119 percent to N815.0 billion ($594.5 million) from N372.0 billion ($271.3 million) a year earlier. Operating profit climbed 152 percent to N733.6 billion ($535.1 million), boosted significantly by two non-recurring items arising from the accounting treatment of the year's acquisitions: a N217.1 billion ($158.4 million) gain on bargain purchase and a N393.2 billion ($286.8 million) currency translation gain on business combination.

The company's board has proposed a final dividend of N23.0 ($0.016) per share for 2025, bringing the total distribution for the year to N33.0 ($0.024) per share, a 26 percent increase in dollar terms from US$0.019 paid for 2024. The final dividend is subject to shareholder approval at the Annual General Meeting.

Among the company's most prominent individual shareholders is Ladi Jadesimi, who held a 5.27 percent stake in Aradel through his vehicle Badagry Creek FZE, representing 229,034,760 ordinary shares. Jadesimi, 81, founded what is now Aradel Holdings in 1992 as Niger Delta Exploration and Production and built it over three decades into the integrated energy platform it is today. He stepped down from the chairmanship in the first half of 2025 in line with statutory tenure rules, alongside director Ede Osayande and Thierry Georger. His shareholding at the current share price of approximately N679 per share gives his stake a market value of approximately N155.7 billion ($113.6 million), making him one of the most significant individual shareholders of any listed Nigerian energy company.

The defining events of 2025 were both completed on December 31. Aradel acquired an additional 40 percent interest in ND Western Limited, bringing its total effective equity in ND Western from 41.67 percent to 81.67 percent. That transaction simultaneously increased Aradel's total effective interest in Renaissance Africa Energy Company, the entity that acquired Shell's former Nigerian onshore assets, from 33.3 percent to 53.3 percent. The acquisitions did not contribute to revenue or operating profit in the 2025 income statement, as IFRS requires only the balance sheet to be consolidated at the acquisition date. Their earnings contribution from 2026 onwards will flow through the consolidated income statement in full, and Aradel's management has indicated that 2026 results will reflect the group's materially expanded operational scale.

The balance sheet impact was immediate and dramatic. Total assets reached N9.9 trillion ($7.2 billion) at December 31, 2025, a 466 percent increase from N1.75 trillion ($1.28 billion) at the end of 2024, reflecting the consolidation of ND Western's assets and liabilities alongside the carrying value of Renaissance at the acquisition date.

Operational performance across Aradel's existing portfolio was also strong in 2025. Crude oil production averaged 14.1 thousand barrels per day, up 3 percent from 13.8 thousand barrels per day in 2024, with crude oil sales of 4.1 million barrels, up 32 percent year on year, supported by reliable evacuation through the Trans Niger Pipeline and Alternative Crude Evacuation route. Crude oil exports rose 18 percent to N440.1 billion ($321.0 million) and represented 63 percent of total revenue.

Gas performance was the standout operational story. Gas production rose 59 percent to 51.4 million standard cubic feet per day, with total volumes of 18.8 billion cubic feet for the year. The company achieved its highest-ever daily gas production rate of approximately 83.8 million standard cubic feet per day, driven by new gas wells and the gas revamp and expansion project at Ogbele. Gas revenues rose 72 percent to N48.6 billion ($35.5 million). Downstream operations also improved, with refinery utilisation rising to 49 percent from 40 percent in 2024 and refined product output increasing 18 percent to 313.4 million litres. Sales volumes from the refinery reached 302.9 million litres, up 26 percent year on year, and refined products contributed 30 percent of total group revenue at N210.8 billion ($153.8 million).

The group also recognised an unrealised fair value loss of N30.3 billion ($22.1 million) on its equity investment in Chappal Energies in other comprehensive income during the year, following a Q4 2025 reassessment prompted by a review of Chappal's financial position and going concern status. A further N5.6 billion ($4.1 billion) loss allowance was recognised in profit or loss. The remaining carrying value of that investment stood at N0.8 billion at December 31, 2025.

CEO Adegbite Falade said 2025 was the most transformational year in the company's history. "We delivered record revenue and profitability, while executing the most transformational strategic expansion in our history," he said. "The consolidation of NDW and Renaissance fundamentally reset the scale of the Company's balance sheet, giving us the asset and reserve base to underpin our future expansion." Falade said the group's focus in 2026 is on consolidating its expanded portfolio to enhance operational scale, increase production and further diversify its revenue base, with the full earnings contribution of the acquired businesses set to flow through results for the first time.

Aradel Holdings, listed on the Nigerian Exchange under the ticker ARADEL, has traded as high as N2,024 per share in 2025 and carries a market capitalisation that has at points exceeded N2.4 billion. The group was founded in 1992 and assumed its current name in May 2023. It operates across upstream exploration and production, midstream gas processing, downstream refining and product distribution, with its core upstream operations centred on the Ogbele Field in Rivers State and its expanded interest in the Renaissance consortium's OML 17 and other Niger Delta assets.