PZ Cussons Boosts Earnings, Profit Rises by 246.5%
PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc has significantly improved its earnings in the first nine months of the financial year 2026, achieving a remarkable 246.5% year-on-year increase in profit.
Its financials revealed that pretax profit rose to ₦68.2 billion in 9M 2026, up from ₦15.0 billion in 9M 2025, a 355.5% increase. This was supported by significant top-line growth.
The company’s revenue expanded substantially in the period, up by 27.7% year on year to ₦197.2 billion, compared to ₦154.4 billion in 9M 2025.
The cost of sales rose in tandem with revenue, increasing by 27.6% year-on-year to ₦143.2 billion from ₦112.3 billion in the same period last year.
PZ Cussons’s cost-to-sales ratio decreased slightly from 72.7% to 72.6%. This led to gross profit of ₦54.0 billion, a 28.2% increase from ₦42.2 billion in 9M 2025.
The figures showed that the gross profit margin increased by 0.1 percentage points to 27.4%, up from 27.3% in the previous year. The results also highlighted a significant reduction in operating expenses as inflation continued to ease.
PZ Cussons unaudited financials revealed that operating expenses fell by 25.6% to ₦19.2 billion in 9M 2026, down from ₦25.8 billion in 9M 2025.
Analysts attributed this sharp decline primarily to significant foreign exchange gains of ₦12.5 billion during the period, compared to a modest loss of ₦31 million in the prior year.
The company’s selling and distribution expenses rose by 46.7% year-on-year to ₦19.0 billion, up from ₦12.9 billion, while impairment losses and administrative expenses decreased by 34.1% and 0.4% to ₦104 million and ₦12.6 billion, respectively.
During the period, PZ also reported a substantial increase in other income, rising to ₦33.4 billion from ₦1.3 billion, largely driven by gains from the disposal of fixed assets held for sale as of FY 2025.
Finance income fell by 16.7% to ₦697.5 million from ₦837.3 million, while finance costs saw a dramatic decline of 78.7% year-on-year to ₦748.3 million, down from ₦3.5 billion. Net finance costs dropped sharply by 98.1% to ₦51 million, compared to ₦2.7 billion in 9M 2025.
PZ Cussons deleveraged its balance sheet, repaying US$21.6 million (approximately ₦31.9 billion) of its US$40.3 million foreign-denominated loans from the parent company without incurring any new debt during this period. Zichis Agro-Allied Industries Plc: A Sharp Repricing or Structural Unwind?
