Transcorp profit falls 10.5% to ₦111.4bn as power output is squeezed

Transnational Corporation Plc made a profit before tax of ₦111.4 billion in the nine months to September 2026, down 10.5 percent from a year earlier, after problems moving and supplying gas cut how much electricity its power business could send out.

Revenue dropped 13.3 percent to ₦357.4 billion from ₦412.4 billion in the same period of 2025, according to the group's unaudited results. Profit after tax came to ₦75.1 billion, down 17.8 percent from ₦91.4 billion.

Most of the revenue loss came from Transcorp Power Plc, where transmission and gas supply constraints held back output. Group finance chief Festus Izevbizua said the year-on-year revenue drop was caused by power evacuation constraints "arising from vandalisation of transmission and gas infrastructure".

For ordinary Nigerians, the numbers point to a familiar problem: even a well-run generator can only sell what the grid and gas pipelines allow it to move. When infrastructure is attacked or under strain, homes and businesses get less power, and the company earns less from the plants it built.

Margins widen even as sales slip

There was a brighter side. The group's profit-before-tax margin rose to 31.2 percent from 30.2 percent, which management put down to cost cutting and tighter operations. Chief executive Owen Omogiafo said the results showed "the strength of our diversified portfolio" and the group's ability to keep profits strong and expand margins in a difficult operating environment.

The balance sheet also grew. Total assets climbed 13 percent to ₦1.13 trillion from ₦1 trillion at the end of December 2025, while total equity rose 9.7 percent to ₦387.8 billion. Cash and cash equivalents more than doubled to ₦45.9 billion from ₦21.9 billion.

Transcorp Power lifted shareholders' funds by 8.9 percent to ₦199.8 billion and grew its cash more than fourfold to ₦10.3 billion.

The hospitality arm did better. Transcorp Hotels Plc posted profit after tax of ₦15.5 billion, up 5 percent, with its net profit margin at 22.3 percent, finance costs down 36 percent and total assets up 29 percent to ₦206.8 billion.

Omogiafo said the group would keep working with stakeholders to ease industry-wide constraints and improve electricity delivery, while using its hotel investments to support business, tourism and major events in Nigeria.

What happens next

Transcorp said it will keep chasing growth in power, hospitality and energy. How quickly its power revenue recovers will depend on whether transmission and gas supply problems are fixed, since those are outside the company's direct control.