FTN Cocoa Processors Plc narrowed its losses by the widest margin in years in 2025 as revenue surged and foreign-exchange swings turned from a crippling drag into a rare tailwind, offering fresh evidence that Nigeria’s long-struggling agro-processors may be stabilising after years of currency turmoil.
The cocoa processor posted a loss after tax of N252.7 million for the year ended December 2025, a sharp improvement from the N10.6 billion loss recorded a year earlier, according to unaudited financial statements released in January.
Revenue more than quadrupled to N5.65 billion from N1.38 billion in 2024, reflecting improved export volumes and higher realised prices.
The biggest swing came from the currency line. FTN Cocoa booked an exchange gain of N1.84 billion in 2025, compared with a foreign-exchange loss of N11.68 billion a year earlier, when the naira’s sharp devaluation battered companies with dollar-linked obligations. The reversal helped offset persistent operating weaknesses and sharply reduced finance-related pressures.
Nigeria’s manufacturers were among the hardest hit by the naira’s devaluation in 2023 and early 2024, which followed the central bank’s move to liberalise the foreign-exchange market.
For FTN Cocoa, which relies on export sales but carries foreign-currency exposure, the volatility translated into massive paper losses in prior years. The relative stability of the naira in parts of 2025 helped unwind some of those pressures.
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Despite the sharp improvement at the bottom line, FTN Cocoa remains operationally fragile. The company posted a gross loss of N686 million in 2025 as cost of sales exceeded revenue, highlighting ongoing challenges from high energy costs, logistics bottlenecks and raw-material inflation. Operating expenses rose to N881 million, more than double the prior year, further weighing on margins.
Still, operating performance improved markedly from the previous year. Operating loss narrowed to N284 million from more than N10.3 billion in 2024, reflecting how much of last year’s pain was driven by macroeconomic shocks rather than core production alone.
Cash generation also strengthened. FTN Cocoa ended the year with N622 million in cash and cash equivalents, up from just N76 million a year earlier, supported by improved working-capital flows and fresh borrowings. The company generated net cash inflows from financing activities, even as it continued to service heavy debt obligations.
Borrowings, however, remain elevated. Total liabilities rose 22 percent to N21.6 billion, driven largely by non-current loans, while equity shrank sharply to N543 million from N3.44 billion a year earlier, reflecting accumulated losses and adjustments to hybrid capital. The thin equity buffer leaves little room for renewed shocks.
FTN Cocoa’s turnaround efforts come at a time when global cocoa markets are grappling with supply disruptions and price volatility, driven by poor harvests in West Africa and rising demand from chocolate makers. Higher global prices can boost export revenues for processors, but only if local costs and financing conditions remain manageable.
For investors, the 2025 results point less to a full recovery than to a possible floor after years of steep losses. The sharp cut in losses shows how sensitive FTN Cocoa’s earnings are to currency movements, reinforcing the view that macro stability, rather than operational efficiency alone, will be critical to sustaining any recovery.
Whether the improvement can be maintained will depend on the naira’s trajectory, access to affordable financing and the company’s ability to rein in costs. For now, FTN Cocoa’s 2025 performance marks its clearest step back from the brink in years, even if profitability remains elusive.
