Eterna Plc returned to profitability after recording a N313 billion revenue in the fiscal year that ended in December 2024.
This result indicates a successful turnaround, showcasing the company’s resilience and adaptability under the leadership of Mr. Abiola Lukman Lawal, as the managing director and chief executive officer.
To achieve such an outstanding result, Mr. Lawal must have also worked harmoniously and effectively with the board and his management team which ensured consistent supply and availability of products.
The performance was simply outstanding as the company’s revenue surged by 71% from N183.2 billion in 2023 to N313.6 billion in 2024, driven by increased prices of petroleum products and assurance of product supplies across its retail distribution network through strategic partnerships with stakeholders including the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
This achievement in revenue growth has clearly demonstrated investors’ confidence in the company, attracting more investment and positively impacting the company’s stock performance which has essentially tripled over the last one year from N14 per share to above N40/per share.
The revenue growth and return to profitability suggests that Eterna Plc has optimized its operations, effectively managing costs and resources to achieve improved financial results compared to the last few years.The company’s past losses were reversed in the fiscal year which ended in December 2024.
Its previous losses resulted in the company recording decline in its revenue for the past few years. In the year under review, the company recorded a N313 billion revenue, a welcome and celebrated achievement by, especially the shareholders, who have never seen such figures in the history of the company.
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From the revenue perspective, the last time the company had it close to what was achieved in 2024 was 2018 when it recorded N251.8 billion as revenue. Since then, its revenue profile has been dwindling until the situation began to change in 2024 with the coming of Mr Lawal as the CEO of the company.
It is also interesting that Mr. Lawal who is mostly known to be much more of an upstream executive because he has spent most of his career in the upstream sector, was able to lead Eterna to such an amazing positive turnaround within a very short time.
The gross profit for 2024 was a remarkable N39.9 billion as against the N16.9 billion in 2023. Its operating profit stood at 27.9 billion in the 2024 financial year against the 2023 result which was N7.9 billion. This, again, is a remarkable achievement in positive growth, more than tripling (300% plus growth) the Operating Profit in the previous year.Profit/loss before tax in 2024 was N4.5 billion as solid profit compared to N11.97 billion in loss in 2023.
The profit after tax recorded in 2024 was N1.35 billion as against the loss after tax of N9.43 billion recorded in 2023.This remarkable achievement had earned Mr. Lawal the prestigious BusinessDay Top 25 CEOs in Nigeria award within a very short time. Accordingly, shareholders were also rewarded massively in terms of the increase in stock price from average stock price of N14 in 2023 to a value of more than double in 2024.
The irony is that Eterna, which has shown a recent history of CEO turnover with three of its CEOs leaving in the last 4 years, could also not retain this achiever CEO, Mr. Lawal, who also unfortunately left the company in February 2025 and handed over to Mr Olumide Adeosun. The company and the board in its official statement acknowledged Mr. Lawal’s major achievements and contribution to Eterna Plc as MD/CEO.Of the N313 billion recorded, retails and industrial businesses accounted for N272.4 billion while lubricants/chemicals were responsible for N41.4 billions.
The market clearly responded to the rejuvenation of the Eterna brand under Mr. Lawal’s leadership as CEO as it witnessed a number of strategic accomplishments including in the Aviation business which took off with the commissioning of its Juhi-2 Jet fuel Depot as well.
This was a positive performance in the Lubricant and Chemicals business segment.The company’s overall revenue growth under leadership of Mr. Lawal as CEO represents 71% growth from 2023 as well as its highest ever revenue figure in its history. The growth in the gross margin for 2024 which stood at N39.6 billion was up 134% compared to 2023. Again, this is a remarkable achievement for Eterna.
The company also has done very well in its retail operation as it took maximum advantage of the pre-subsidy removal opportunities to sell petroleum products in its retail stations nationwide. The Eterna brand has rejuvenated under the leadership of the management and the board of the company led by Mr. Lawal.The company, therefore, achieved profit after tax (PAT) of N1.34billion by the end of 2024, which is a major reversal from its loss position of N9.43billion loss in the previous year.
The last five-years have been particularly challenging for Eterna Plc as, in three of the five years, the company made serious losses, culminating in the record loss after tax of N9.43billion in 2023.The 2024 turnaround positive figures is, therefore, a huge accomplishment under difficult downstream sector challenges.
