Nigeria’s largest listed oil and gas company just posted a set of results that look spectacular at the top and complicated further down. Aradel Holdings reported ₦2.49 trillion in revenue for the first half of 2026, nearly seven times last year’s comparable period figure.
Operating profit crossed the ₦1 trillion mark for the first time, reaching ₦1.06 trillion compared to ₦118.6 billion a year earlier. Yet profit after tax told a far more restrained story, growing just 30% to ₦191 billion over the same six-month period.
The gap between those two numbers raises pressing questions for anyone watching the Nigerian energy sector or holding ARADEL stock on the NGX. Where did more than ₦860 billion in operating profit disappear before it reached the bottom line of the income statement?
Aradel’s H1 2026 revenue and operating profit reach new highs
Revenue for the six months ending June 30, 2026 reached ₦2.49 trillion, up from ₦368 billion in the prior year period. The figures come from the company’s unaudited H1 2026 financial statement filed on the Nigerian Exchange on July 31, 2026.
Crude oil sales generated ₦1.94 trillion, making up approximately 78% of total group revenue during the first half of the year. Gas contributed ₦428 billion while refined products added another ₦126 billion to the total, the segment reporting in the filing showed.
Operating profit surged to ₦1.06 trillion from ₦118.6 billion in H1 2025, marking a nearly ninefold jump driven by the newly consolidated operations. Gross profit expanded to ₦1.44 trillion from ₦163.2 billion, confirming the scale of the revenue transformation across all segments, Nairametrics reported.
How the ND Western deal reshaped Aradel’s financial profile
The single biggest driver behind these figures was not organic production growth but the full consolidation of a transformative recent acquisition. Aradel completed the purchase of an additional 40% equity stake in ND Western Limited, closing the transaction on December 31, 2025.
That deal raised Aradel’s effective ownership in ND Western from 41.67% to 81.67% and its interest in Renaissance Africa Energy to 53.33%. Starting in January 2026, both companies’ full financial results began flowing into Aradel’s consolidated group income statement for the first time ever.
CEO Adegbite Falade previously described the consolidation as a fundamental reset that expanded the company’s reserves, production base, and operational footprint. He noted that the company would operate at a materially greater scale from 2026 onwards, BusinessDay reported. Total assets grew 10% from ₦9.9 trillion at year-end 2025 to ₦10.88 trillion by the close of June 2026.
“The key focus going forward will be converting operational growth into sustainable shareholder returns while deleveraging the balance sheet.” — Qudus Adebara, Research Analyst, DLM Capital Group, in his Q1 2026 analysis published on Simply Wall St
Adebara also flagged rising finance costs and FX translation losses as persistent challenges tied to integrating a much larger asset base into operations.
Finance costs and a ₦562bn tax bill squeeze Aradel’s earnings
The distance between ₦1.06 trillion in operating profit and ₦191 billion in net profit reveals the financial cost of Aradel’s expanded scale. Finance costs surged to ₦326 billion from just ₦11 billion in H1 2025, a roughly 29-fold increase driven primarily by bank borrowings.
Tax expense consumed another ₦562 billion, up from ₦45 billion a year earlier, reflecting larger taxable income from the newly consolidated operations. A ₦489 billion underlift position in the second quarter also dragged heavily on the other income line, flipping it to a net loss.
Aradel’s H1 2026 key figures at a glance
- Revenue: ₦2.49 trillion (up 577% year on year)
- Operating profit: ₦1.06 trillion (up 790%)
- Pre-tax profit: ₦753 billion (up 293%)
- Profit after tax: ₦191 billion (up 30%)
- Finance costs: ₦326 billion (up 2,843%)
- Earnings per share: ₦35.37 (up 6%)
Source: Aradel Holdings Plc H1 2026 unaudited financial statement, filed on NGX.
Despite these pressures, cash generation remained robust with operating activities producing ₦975.6 billion after working capital adjustments during the period. Total borrowings also declined 10% to ₦1.81 trillion from ₦2 trillion through principal repayments made over the first half of 2026.
Aradel’s ownership shifts as CardinalStone exits its full stake
One notable shift in the shareholder register was that CardinalStone/Cape IV no longer held any shares as of June 30, 2026, down from a 15.93% stake a year earlier. That change pushed the company’s free float to 75.78% from 64.57% at mid-2025, according to the shareholder disclosure in the filing.
Aradel shares have maintained a closing price of ₦1,526.80 since July 10, 2026, Nairametrics reported on August 1, 2026. That price still reflects a 128% gain since the start of the year, when shares opened at ₦670 on the Nigerian Exchange.
The critical question for the second half of 2026 is whether Aradel can convert its expanded asset base into more consistent bottom-line earnings. Falade told investors that the company will continue to prioritize production efficiency, portfolio integration, and disciplined capital allocation in the periods ahead, Arbiterz reported.
