Nigerian companies reclaim 2023-pre-devaluation profit levels in dollar terms

Nigerian companies are reporting record naira profits recently, especially in H1 2026, but the more revealing question is whether those earnings have recovered to pre-2023 levels when measured in dollars.

That question has become increasingly important following Nigeria’s foreign exchange reforms in 2023.

In June 2023, the Central Bank of Nigeria moved to liberalise the foreign exchange market, allowing the naira to trade more freely.

The currency subsequently depreciated sharply, raising the cost of imported inputs and increasing the naira value of foreign-currency obligations. The devaluation also triggered substantial foreign-exchange losses for companies with dollar-denominated liabilities, materially affecting profits and balance sheets across several sectors.

The average exchange rate weakened from about N425.98/$ in 2022 to N1,518.38/$ in 2025, while averaging about N1,376/$ in the first six months of 2026.

This means that between 2022 and 2025, a company needed to increase its naira profit by roughly 256% simply to maintain the same profit in dollar terms.

Against this backdrop, Nairametrics examined the earnings of major Nigerian companies to determine how much of their pre-2023 dollar profitability has been recovered.

The analysis initially screened a broader pool of companies before narrowing the comparable sample to 29 companies currently listed on the Nigerian Exchange.

To ensure consistency, the sample was restricted to companies with December year-ends, positive profit after tax in both 2022 and 2025, and actual January-to-June 2026 results.

The companies include:

• Okomu Oil and Presco in agriculture; Nigerian Breweries in beverages;
• NASCON, BUA Foods, Unilever Nigeria, Nestlé Nigeria and Cadbury Nigeria in consumer goods;
• FirstHoldCo, FCMB, Wema Bank, Sterling Bank, Jaiz Bank and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) in banking;
• AIICO Insurance, NEM Insurance, Custodian Investment, AXA Mansard and Mutual Benefits Assurance in insurance;
• MTN Nigeria in telecommunications;
• Dangote Cement, BUA Cement and WAPCO in cement;
• Aradel Holdings, Eterna, Seplat Energy and Conoil in oil and gas;
• Transcorp Power and Geregu Power.

Companies with different financial year-ends, those that had only released Q1 2026 results at the time of the research, and companies that moved between profits and losses were excluded from the core like-for-like comparison.

Average exchange rates of N425.98/$ for 2022, N1,518.38/$ for 2025 and N1,376/$ for H1 2026 were applied to their reported naira profits.

What the data are saying

The findings suggest that Nigerian corporate profitability has broadly recovered to pre-2023 levels in dollar terms, although the recovery remains uneven.

• The 29 companies generated a combined N1.56 trillion in profit after tax in 2022, equivalent to about $3.65 billion at the average exchange rate for that year.
• By 2025, combined PAT had risen sharply to N6.17 trillion, an increase of about 296.4% in naira terms. However, when translated at the much weaker 2025 exchange rate, that profit was worth $4.06 billion, representing a more modest 11.2% increase in dollar terms.
• So, while aggregate naira profits almost quadrupled between 2022 and 2025, the dollar value of those profits increased by just over a tenth.

The recovery was also broad at the company level. Twenty of the 29 companies, or about 69%, generated more profit in dollar terms in 2025 than they did in 2022, while nine remained below their pre-2023 levels.

• H1 2026 data suggest that the recovery is deepening. The companies generated a combined N4.06 trillion in PAT in the first six months of 2026, equivalent to about $2.95 billion at the average H1 exchange rate.
• That means that in just six months, the companies had already generated about 80.8% of their entire 2022-dollar profit and 72.7% of their full-year 2025-dollar PAT.

By June 2026, 12 of the 29 companies had already generated more dollar profit than they recorded during the whole of 2022, while 25 had generated at least half of their full-year 2022-dollar earnings.

H1 2026 shows recovery is gaining momentum

The H1 2026 numbers provide an even clearer indication that the recovery in dollar profitability is extending beyond 2025.

• Of the 29 companies analysed, 12 had already generated more profit in dollar terms in the first six months of 2026 than they earned during the whole of 2022.
• In agriculture and consumer goods, Presco moved from PAT of N13.03 billion, or $30.59 million, in 2022 to N121.35 billion, or $79.92 million, in 2025.
• Its H1 2026 PAT of N82.27 billion translated to $59.79 million, already almost twice its full-year 2022 dollar profit.

Nigerian Breweries similarly moved from N13.19 billion ($30.96 million) in 2022 to N99.10 billion ($65.27 million) in 2025, before generating N92.96 billion, or $67.55 million, in H1 2026.

• Unilever Nigeria increased dollar PAT from $10.49 million in 2022 to $20.25 million in 2025, while its N15.60 billion H1 2026 PAT was worth $11.34 million, already above its entire 2022 earnings.
• Cadbury Nigeria, although coming from a much smaller base, followed the same pattern: dollar PAT rose from $1.37 million to $7.96 million between 2022 and 2025, while H1 2026 PAT of N3.64 billion translated to $2.64 million, almost twice its 2022 dollar profit.

Banking provides some of the clearest signs of acceleration. FCMB’s dollar PAT rose from $72.54 million in 2022 to $116.51 million in 2025, before reaching $101.64 million from N139.86 billion PAT in H1 2026.

• Wema Bank moved from $26.65 million to $128.08 million between 2022 and 2025, while its N131.37 billion H1 2026 PAT translated to $95.47 million, more than three times its entire 2022 dollar profit.
• FirstHoldCo stands out because its recovery came later. Its dollar PAT fell from $319.67 million in 2022 to $96.98 million in 2025, but H1 2026 PAT surged to N526.13 billion, equivalent to $382.36 million. In six months, the group had already generated about 120% of its full-year 2022 dollar profit.

Insurance also contributed to the group. NEM Insurance increased dollar PAT from $12.68 million in 2022 to $15.87 million in 2025, and its N18.09 billion H1 2026 profit translated to $13.15 million, already above the 2022 benchmark.

• Mutual Benefits Assurance moved from $2.19 million in 2022 to $13.75 million in 2025, while its N4.02 billion H1 2026 PAT was worth $2.92 million, also above its full-year 2022 level.

The same momentum is evident in cement and energy. WAPCO increased dollar PAT from $125.94 million in 2022 to $179.88 million in 2025, before generating N208.35 billion, or $151.41 million, in H1 2026.

• Aradel Holdings moved from $35.54 million to $264.24 million between 2022 and 2025, while its N120.29 billion H1 2026 PAT translated to $87.42 million.
• Seplat Energy also continued to strengthen. Its dollar PAT rose from $104.31 million in 2022 to $159.10 million in 2025, while H1 2026 PAT of N229.10 billion was equivalent to $166.50 million, already about 160% of its entire 2022-dollar earnings.

More insight

The comparison shows how much of the recent surge in corporate earnings has been required simply to offset the naira’s depreciation.

• Between 2022 and 2025, the exchange rate moved from N425.98/$ to N1,518.38/$, meaning companies needed to grow naira profits by about 256% just to preserve their 2022 dollar earnings. The 29 companies eventually grew combined naira PAT by 296.4%, but this translated to only an 11.2% increase in dollar terms.
• What this suggests is that the recovery in corporate profitability is real, but far less dramatic than the headline naira numbers imply. Record naira profits do not necessarily mean companies are several times more profitable than they were before the 2023 reforms.

The H1 2026 numbers, however, point to a stronger phase of recovery. With the companies already generating 80.8% of their entire 2022 dollar PAT in six months, and 12 firms already exceeding their full-year 2022 dollar earnings, the data suggest that more companies are beginning to move beyond merely recovering the value lost to devaluation.