Nigeria’s oil palm sector has witnessed its most significant growth in the first six months of 2025, supported by surging crude palm oil prices, easing inflation, and a stable naira.
These factors have boosted the profitability of the sector’s two leading listed companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and handed shareholders more value, even as projections see the run “not ending soon”.
Presco and Okomu’s combined H1 2025 profit of N136.2 billion is 15.8 percent higher than their entire 2024 full-year profit of N117.7 billion and 131 percent above the N59.1 billion posted in the first half of last year, underscoring the firms’ fundamentals and operational performance.
However, in terms of which is more profitable, BusinessDay adopts net profit, including growth and margin, return on assets (ROA), net cash generated from operations, and market value cum sentiments for both companies.
Net profit — growth and margin
In the first half of 2025, profit at Presco stood at N88.7 billion, which is twice that of N38.87 billion in the prior year and more than the net income for the whole of 2024. That represents a 128 percent growth rate in one year.
Okomu Oil, on the other hand, grew net profit from N20.19 billion in the six months to June 2024 to N47.5 billion in the same period this year, representing a 135.2 percent growth.
While Presco is a clear commander in terms of absolute profit in naira terms, Okomu Oil leads in growth rate, signaling a renewed momentum in profitability.
But from a profit margin point of view, that’s net profit divided by revenue, Presco leads with 44.64 percent, while Okomu Oil follows up with 36.59 percent. This indicates that Presco is more efficient and profitable per unit of sales, even though Okomu is growing faster.
Read also: Inside details of Presco’s $172m acquisition of SOP, Ghana oil palm firm
Return on Assets (ROA)
Return on Assets is a key indicator that shows a company’s profitability relative to assets — efficiency in using resources or investments to create profit.
For Presco, with a net income of N88.7 billion and a total asset of N612.98 billion, it generates N14.5 profit for every N100 of assets. While Okomu Oil, with almost half of Presco’s profit and N78.2 billion net assets — that’s almost 8 times lower — generates N60.7 profit for every N100 of assets.
For ROA, Okomu Oil uses its assets very efficiently to generate profits, while Presco’s larger asset base isn’t translating into profit as efficiently.
Net cash from operations
This metric is as important as the profit itself because it is the actual cash a company generates or uses from its core business activities during a period — selling products, providing services, and paying day-to-day expenses. It also shows whether profits are real and backed by cash, or just “paper profits.”
For the two companies under review, Okomu’s operating cash flow grew 79 percent YoY to N57.7 billion, affirming that the company is generating far more cash from its core business. This strengthens liquidity, supports reinvestment, debt repayment, and dividends.
Presco, on the other hand, saw an 11 percent decline in net cash flow to N56.05 billion. Despite higher profit, less cash was generated from operations.
Investors typically prefer companies where profit growth is matched by strong cash flow growth — so on this metric, Okomu looks healthier operationally in H1 2025.
Market valuation
Presco Plc is currently the 19th most valuable stock on the NGX with a market capitalisation of N1.48 trillion, which makes about 1.67 percent of the Nigerian Stock Exchange equity market.
The stock sold for N475 at the beginning of the year but has gained more than twice that price now, on growing investors’ confidence in the company’s fundamentals.
Shares of Presco went as high as N1550 at the beginning of August before slipping to its current share price at N1480 as of the close of trading on Friday, August 22, 2025.
Ranked as the 12th on the NGX in terms of year-to-date performance, Presco is the 96th most traded stock on the bourse over the past three months.
On the other hand, Okomu Oil Palm is currently the 23rd most valuable stock on the NGX with a market capitalisation of N973 billion, which is about 1.09 percent of the Nigerian Stock Exchange equity market.
Okomu Oil Palm began the year with a share price of N444.00 and has since gained 130 percent to N1,020 on that price valuation, ranking it 33rd on the NGX in terms of year-to-date performance.
In terms of market valuation, Presco is clearly ahead both in year-to-date (YtD) growth rate of 212 percent as against Okomu’s 130 percent and share price of N1,480 and N1,020, respectively.
