Ellah Lakes Plc has announced that it plans to roll out a 40-tonne-per-day palm kernel oil processing mill by the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2026 as it seeks to grow revenue and deepen its presence across Nigeria’s agricultural value chain.
Addressing shareholders at the company’s Annual General Meeting in Lagos, Chuka Mordi, the company’s chief executive officer, said the agribusiness firm has entered a new operational phase anchored on production growth, downstream integration, and expansion into consumer goods.
“We’ve now started producing. In Q1 alone this year, we’ve already made N300 million, which we announced last week,” Mordi said, pointing to a sharp rise in sales from crude palm oil operations.
The company recorded revenue of N359.4 million in the first quarter of 2026, compared with N19.6 million in the corresponding period of 2025, driven by increased agricultural sales following the commencement of crude palm oil production.
After the cost of sales of N74.1 million, gross profit stood at N285.3 million, while operating loss narrowed to N273.4 million from N514.1 million a year earlier.
Management said the latest figures reflect the outcome of years of investment in plantations, infrastructure, labour, and host communities.
“For the past five years, we have been investing in land, investing in the community, investing in employees, investing in palm seedlings and cultivation,” Mordi said. “Now we are beginning the journey to reap the hard work.”
The company’s current production growth follows the commissioning of its crude palm oil mill at Iguelaba, which Chairman Joe Attueyi described as a key step in Ellah Lakes’ backward integration strategy.
Addressing shareholders, Attueyi said the company was now focused on scaling output and increasing value capture across its processing chain.
“Our focus is now on scaling production, deepening processing capacity, and strengthening operational efficiency across our entire agricultural value chain,” he said.
A central part of that strategy is the planned installation of a 40-tonne-per-day Palm Kernel Oil processing mill expected to become operational by the fourth quarter of 2026.
According to the chairman, the facility will enable the company to process palm kernel oil and palm kernel cake in addition to crude palm oil, creating multiple revenue streams from the same raw material base.
He said the expansion would strengthen Ellah Lakes’ long-term ambition of evolving into a consumer goods player.
“We’re not just doing crude palm oil. We’ll also be doing palm kernel oil, and that underpins our long-term strategy to move faster into the consumer goods sector,” Attueyi said.
Hewett Benson, the company’s chief financial officer, said the new processing mill would improve revenue diversification and support the company’s path to profitability.
“In addition to crude palm oil, we’ll have palm kernel cake, which can be sold to feed mills, and palm kernel oil for industrial use,” Benson said. “We’re definitely going in the right direction.”
He added that Ellah Lakes now has an established customer base for its crude palm oil products, a development management believes could accelerate revenue growth over the coming quarters.
“We’re selling crude palm oil and we have a huge client list that’s on demand. We didn’t have that last year,” Benson said.
The company, however, acknowledged that its expansion drive has come with significant financing and transaction-related costs.
For the 17 months ended December 31, 2025, Ellah Lakes reported N1.7 billion in aborted public offer costs, compared with N54.3 million recorded in July 2024, following the collapse of its proposed N235 billion capital raise.
Ellah Lakes reported revenue of about N147 million for its 17-month audited period ending December 2025, marking a transition from its earlier pre-revenue stage.
Management attributed the expenses to advisory, regulatory, and legal engagements tied to the failed transaction but said the costs were exceptional and not expected to recur.
“If that transaction had come through, we would be having a different story today,” the CEO said. “But it did not come through. That said, we continue to look at a variety of options, including organic growth and strategic opportunities.”
Despite the setback, the company maintained that its expansion plans remain intact, with management emphasising operational growth over external financing in the near term.
The company’s shares traded at N11.00 ahead of the market open on May 6, 2026, down more than 17.9 percent year-to-date. However, the stock had gained 324.05 per cent in 2025, its strongest annual performance on the Nigerian Exchange.
Management said profitability and dividend payments remain medium-term targets as production scales and processing capacity expand.