There was no FX loss. No surge in operating costs. Yet, Conoil’s Q1 2025 pre-tax profit collapsed by 93% to just N372 million, its lowest quarterly performance since 2021.
The primary culprit appears to be the 48% jump in short-term borrowing, funded through bank overdrafts at an average interest rate of 29.75%, nearly doubling the company’s finance costs within three months.
For a company that ended 2024 with N323 billion in revenue and a strong earnings rebound, the sudden turn is both sharp and unsettling.
