NIGERIA: Presco PLC, Nigeria's leading fully integrated edible Oils and Fats company, has announced the retirement of its Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr Felix Nwabuko after many years of exceptional leadership and significant contributions to the SIAT group and subsidiaries. The board announced the appointment of Mr Adewale Arikawe as a Non-Executive Director with effect from 2nd of January, 2026, succeeding Mr Felix. Mr Adewale Arikawe has also been appointed Group Chief Executive Officer of SIAT, to oversee all SIAT subsidiaries, including PRESCO PLC, SIAT Nigeria Limited, and Ghana Oil Palm Development Company Limited.
Mr Arikawe has over twenty six years of leadership experience spanning across general management, commercial strategy, sales, customer development, and brand management, having held senior leadership roles at Royal FrieslandCampina, Friesland Campina WAMCO Nigeria, and Nestle Nigeria PLC. He holds an MBA in Business Administration and Management from the University of Chichester and has completed executive education programmes at London Business School and IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland, amongst others.
From available information online, Felix the outgoing CEO started out his carrier in Finance/Audit at KPMG, after which he joined Okomu Oil PLC, and later the SIAT group, mostly growing within the group in finance roles. He also spent some years in the UK as Finance Manager in UCL before returning to the SIAT group to lead the Ghana Oil Palm Development company in 2014. In contrast, Adewale started out in Sales in Nestle Nigeria PLC, growing up the ranks before joining FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria PLC to lead the Commercial, Customer Development and Shopper marketing division, and ascending to the position of Managing Director Sub Saharan Africa. So essentially, the ship's rudder has moved from the hands of a thorough-bred Finance professional to the hands of a thorough-bred Commercial professional. With the rate of expansion of the company and group, hopefully this move would be in the right direction.
Presco PLC recently concluded its Rights Issue in December 2025 where it issued 166.6 million ordinary shares at ₦1,420 per share to existing shareholders on the basis of one new ordinary share for every 6 ordinary shares held, projected to raise over ₦236 billion in additional capital. The capital raised would be directed towards "Greenfield and Brownfield acquisitions... as well as industrial expansion projects designed to enhance production capacity and reinforce the company's leadership in the region's edible oil industry". From the Rights issue report, it was successful with 103% subscription. Prior to this additional capital raise, Presco PLC had since completed the additional acquisition of 48% equity in GOPDC (Ghana Oil Palm Development Company Limited), thereby taking its ownership stake in the subsidiary to 100% from January 2025.
The company did not waste any time in beginning to deliver on its long term expansion plan, reason for which it was raising capital. On the 18th of December 2025, the company announced the acquisition of 10,000 hectares across the Nsadop and Boki plantations in Cross River state, Nigeria, expanding the company's production footprint and strengthening it's ability to meet the rapidly growing domestic demand for Edible Oil Products. Commenting on the acquisition, the Managing Director and CEO of Presco PLC said, "This acquisition is a decisive execution of the commitments we made to our shareholders. During the launch of our recent Rights Issue, we pledged to accelerate our plantation expansion and position Presco for its next phase of growth. Today’s announcement delivers on that promise. Nsadop and Boki are strategically located estates that complement our existing operations and expand the scale required to power our mills and refineries at higher capacity".
While investors eagerly await the full year Financial results of Presco PLC, the nine month results as at September 2025 already gave a glimpse of what to expect. Revenue (₦274 billion), Gross profit (₦202 billion), Operating profit (₦166 billion), EBITDA (₦170.9 billion), Profit before Tax (₦139.7 billion) and Profit after tax (₦110 billion) all grew by over 108% year on year. Earnings per share also rose by 114% to ₦110.79. However Debt increased to ₦160 billion (58% of nine-month revenue) from ₦58 billion, while Operating Cashflow closed at ₦161 billion, an over 210% increase year on year. Although the company is plush with cash, it might want to have another look at the Average credit period granted to customers at 30 days vis a vis the average credit period on purchases which is also at 30 days, to see what gains can be made from increasing its creditor days or reducing its debtor days.
Overall, Presco's performance has dazzled investors, with early birds reaping immensely from the share price appreciation and dividends. Its share price has risen from circa ₦205 in January 2024 to over ₦1,620 recently, implying that ₦1 million invested in Presco shares as at January 2024 would be worth over ₦7.9 million as at 12th of January 2026, excluding dividends paid over the period. Very few stocks on the NGX have been able to deliver such returns within the same period, and from all indications it is poised for more growth. It will be interesting to see how the growth story unfolds further in the medium to long term.
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