VFD Group Plc., a leading proprietary investment company in Nigeria, announced its unaudited financial results for Q1 2024 on Sunday, reporting a profit after tax of ₦2,620 billion. The company’s balance sheet showed significant improvement, with total assets reaching ₦261,908.692 billion, representing a 9% increase from ₦239,999.635 billion in December 2023.
The company’s gross earnings for the period grew by 13.2%, closing at ₦45.1 billion compared to ₦34.025 billion in 2022, indicating robust top-line growth. Despite these positive results, the group recorded a loss of ₦750.441 million for the year ending 2023, a stark contrast to the ₦7 billion profit after tax in 2022, primarily due to the challenging economic conditions in Nigeria.
The GMD/CEO of VFD Group, Nonso Okpala, stated that the increase in the company’s balance sheet and gross earnings was due largely to dividend income and treasury-related income in his statement on the company’s financial performance.
While commenting on the company’s financial performance the GMD/CEO, VFD Group, Nonso Okpala attributed the company’s loss after tax to a tough and challenging business environment in 2023. He added that “Naira devaluation, unprecedented inflation, and the rising cost of doing business in Nigeria drove up our operating costs. We also made new investments, the bulk of which would take time to yield investment income whilst the interest expense on the cost of investment had to be recorded immediately.”
“Despite the highlighted economic environment marked by high interest rates, rising inflation, and Naira depreciation, the Q1 performance has shown that VFD Group is dedicated to adapting and excelling.
Okpala reiterated that the company is focused on strengthening its core operations and continuing to explore new growth opportunities. According to him, we are actively working on cost optimization measures and enhancing our investment strategies to improve financial performance in the coming years. Already, we are seeing the results of our refined strategy, he concluded.