Ellah Lakes’ losses persist despite tenfold jump in revenue

Ellah Lakes Plc’s long run of losses shows no sign of ending, even as sales of palm oil and livestock have climbed. The Edo State-based agribusiness is still spending far more than it earns.

The company lost another N1.12 billion in the nine months to September 2026, its unaudited third-quarter results show. That follows a N3.84 billion loss in the 17 months to December 2025, after it changed its financial year, and a N1.30 billion loss in the first nine months of 2025. Its accumulated losses now stand at N10.7 billion.

Each quarter this year has ended in the red. In the three months to September alone, the company lost N359.1 million, compared with N427.7 million a year earlier.

Sales up, but costs higher

Revenue rose nearly tenfold to N636.8 million in the nine months, from N64.9 million a year earlier, driven mainly by palm oil sales. But it is still too small to cover the company’s costs.

Administrative expenses were N742.9 million and staff costs N634.2 million, each more than total revenue. Including cost of sales, depreciation and finance costs, expenses came to about N1.8 billion. That means Ellah Lakes spent roughly N2.80 for every N1 it earned.

Sales also slowed in the latest quarter. Revenue fell to N102.9 million in the three months to September, from N173.8 million in the previous quarter, as palm oil sales almost halved.

Cash nearly gone

The losses have drained the company’s cash. Cash and cash equivalents fell to N14.8 million at the end of September, from N3.05 billion in December, a drop of more than 99 per cent. Its operations used N2.53 billion in cash during the nine months.

To clear its debts, Ellah Lakes converted N7.08 billion in loans, listed as directors’ loans, into shares at N2.80 each. The largest loan was N6 billion from Emmanuel Jakpa. The conversion removed the debt from the balance sheet but raised the number of shares in issue from about 3.86 billion to 6.39 billion, diluting existing shareholders by about 40 per cent.

The company’s N24.6 billion in equity rests largely on its land. The land is valued at N22.7 billion, including a N14.9 billion revaluation surplus, and accounts for nearly nine-tenths of its assets.

Ellah Lakes also disclosed that it has sued Median Agro Limited at the High Court over the destruction of 600 hectares of its cultivated land in Iguelaba, Edo State.