Presco reports 83% rise in full-year profit

Presco Plc Thursday has reported an 83.3 per cent or N3.196 billion expansion in profit after tax for full year 2020 relative to the corresponding period of 2019, helped by an increase in turnover.

Revenue advanced 21.2 per cent to N23.909 billion from N19.724 billion, according to the unaudited earnings report of the Benin City-based agro-industrial firm obtained by PREMIUM TIMES Thursday. Yet, it fell short of Presco’s forecast of N24.527 billion last October.

Profit Before Tax (PBT) climbed to N8.946 billion up from N6.060 billion, signalling a 47.6 per cent growth. Presco had anticipated a PBT in excess of N9 billion.

After-tax profit jumped from N3.839 billion to N7.035 billion.

Improvement in earnings also drew support from cost-cutting moves resulting in a reduction in administrative expenses from N6.431 billion to N4.746 billion, and selling & distribution expenses from N382.709 million to N368.356 million.

A fall of income tax spending from N2.221 billion to N1.911 billion also supported profit.

The earning per share of Presco, which deals in oil palm cultivation as well as extraction, refining and fractionation of crude palm oil into finished products, rose from N3.74 to N7.03, an 88 per cent jump as a matter of fact.

Total equity scaled up to N32.923 billion from N27.888 billion.

Presco, which is majority owned by Brussels-headquartered Siat SA with 60 per cent shareholding, paid N2 per share dividend for FY2019. Its dividend yield is 2.67 per cent.