Eterna Plc expects its profitability streak to be maintained throughout 2025, even as its targeted full-year income is modestly lower compared to its earnings in the previous year.
Fourth-quarter net income of the downstream oil company is estimated at N130.38 million, representing a 32.13 percent decline from its earlier third-quarter forecast of N192.12 million, according to its filings on the Nigerian Exchange.
The company’s total profit for the second half of the year is projected to hit N322.5 million, a 43.79 percent decline from N573.81 million recorded in the first six months of the year.
According to its earnings forecasts, Eterna Plc sees profit hitting N1 billion by the end of the year, as the company continues to manage costs and improve its margins. But that expectation is relatively lower than its full-year for 2024, which stood at N1.38 billion.
Read also: Eterna Plc returns to profitability after two-year losses
Eterna Plc projects its fourth-quarter gross profit at N2.96 billion, bringing full-year earnings from core operations to N13.59 billion.
The projection indicates that the final quarter will contribute about 22 percent of the company’s annual gross profit, underscoring that the bulk of its performance was achieved in the earlier part of the year.
The Lagos-based company’s revenue for the fourth quarter is estimated at N49.59 billion, bringing full-year sales to N243.06 billion. That marks a sharp decline from the N313.61 billion posted in the previous year, reflecting a contraction of about 22.5 percent year-on-year.
The slowdown suggests weaker topline momentum despite a solid Q4 contribution, and highlights the pressure on the company’s ability to sustain prior revenue levels amid volatile downstream oil and gas market dynamics.
The oil marketer expects net cash from operating activities to come in at N8.52 billion for 2025, almost 46 percent lower than the N15.74 billion recorded a year earlier.
Read also: Eterna grows revenue by 71% to N313bn, returns to profitability
The projection signals tighter cash generation from core operations, which could reflect margin pressures, higher input costs, or working capital strains despite the company’s ability to maintain profitability.
The market has since begun to react to the company’s weak performance as its stock has lost 18 percent of its value in the past four weeks, according to African Exchange, a data analytics firm that tracks equities across the continent.
The stock is currently priced at N31 per share and has gained 27.6 percent since the beginning of the year.