Okomu Oil Palm Plc, Presco Plc lead three other listed agriculture companies on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), are positioned to declare a sum of N35.4 billion profit in 2022 financial, representing an increase of 19 per cent from N29.81billion profit reported in 2021 financial year.
However, apart from Okomu Oil Palm and Presco, three other companies listed in the agriculture sector on the bourse announced losses, attributable to weak revenue, hike in cost of sales and poor corporate governance.
The combination of Ellah Lakes Plc, FTN Cocoa Processors Plc and Livestock Feeds Plc announced N2.27billion loss after tax in 2022 as against N1.61billion loss after tax reported in 2021.
The agriculture sector that comprises of four sub-activities Crop Production, Livestock, Forestry and Fishing contributed 26.46per cent to overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in real terms in Q4 2022, lower than the contribution in the fourth quarter of 2021 and lower than the third quarter of 2022 which stood at 26.84per cent and 29.67per cent respectively.
“The total contribution of the agriculture sector in 2022 was 25.58per cent,” according to a report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
With consistent struggling revenue and losses, these three companies over five years have not declared dividend payout to shareholders.
An investigation by THISDAY revealed that Ellah Lakes and FTN Cocoa Processors for the second consecutive years reported loss after tax, while Livestock Feeds only reported loss after tax in 2022 financial year, over hike in cost of sales and operating expenses.
Ellah Lakes in 2022 announced N1.01billion loss as against N563.3million loss in 2021, while FTN Coca Processors declared N431.199million loss in 2022 from N1.48billion reported in 2021.
Ellah Lakes in 2022 recorded zero revenue as the company revealed that it has not harvested its oil palms nor its cassava tubers but its finance costs continued to mount, reaching N568.59million in 2022 from N229.95million in 2021.
For Livestock Feeds, the company posted N822.22millin loss after tax in 2022 from N429.7million profit in 2021.
Okomu Oil Palm and Presco announced a sum of N37.66billion profit after tax in 2022 from N31.42billion in 2022 as Okomu Oil Palm declared N12 per 50 kobo ordinary share as dividend.
The breakdown revealed that Okomu Oil Palm in 2022 hits N16.2billion profit after tax, an increase of 34 per cent from N12.1billion in 2021, while Presco announced N21.47billion profit after tax in 2022 from N19.32billion reported in 2021 financial year.
Okomu Oil Palm and Presco continued to benefit from federal government policies on palm production as both companies recorded N142.39billion revenue in 2022 from N84.82 billion in 2021.
