Aradel executives sell N10.9bn stake amid share price decline

Aradel Holdings’ company secretary and another senior executive have sold more than 8.53 million shares worth N10.9 billion in the Nigerian integrated energy producer, according to a regulatory filing, in one of the largest insider share transactions disclosed on the Nigerian Exchange this year.

The transactions, completed on June 25 and disclosed in an insider dealing notification dated July 2, involved Titilola Omisore, company secretary and group general counsel, and Temitayo Ogunbanjo, general manager, refinery. Omisore sold 5 million shares at an average price of N1,275 each, while Ogunbanjo disposed of 3.53 million shares at an average price of N1,282.50 per share.

The filing did not disclose the reasons for the sales. Under Nigerian Exchange disclosure rules, both executives qualify as insiders and are required to notify the market of trades in the company’s securities.

The transactions come during a difficult period for Nigeria’s equities market. The Nigerian Exchange recorded its steepest monthly decline on record in June, with investors losing N13.29 trillion in market value after the All-Share Index fell 8.28 percent, dragging market capitalisation down from N160.5 trillion to N147.2 trillion.

Aradel’s shares have not been spared. The stock has declined about 27 percent since the company released its audited 2025 financial statements on June 19, even as the business continues to deliver record earnings and stronger shareholder returns.

Despite the recent weakness in its share price, Aradel remains one of the strongest-performing companies in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.

The company’s board has proposed a final dividend of N23 per share for the 2025 financial year, amounting to N99.93 billion. Combined with the N10 per share interim dividend already paid, total shareholder distributions for the year would reach N143.4 billion, subject to shareholder approval.

The payout follows a year of exceptional financial performance. For the year ended December 31, 2025, Aradel reported a profit after tax of N757.3 billion, nearly three times the N259.1 billion recorded a year earlier, supported by higher crude production and contributions from recently acquired assets.

The momentum has continued into 2026. Profit after tax rose 252 percent to N120.3 billion in the first quarter ended March 31, from N34.2 billion a year earlier, while revenue surged 265 percent to N728.5 billion. The growth reflected increased production as well as the first full-quarter consolidation of ND Western and Aradel’s majority interest in Renaissance Africa Energy Company into the group’s financial statements.

Omisore has played a central role in Aradel’s corporate development for more than two decades. She joined the company in 2001 after working as a partner at Strachan Partners and has overseen the group’s legal, governance, and corporate finance activities through multiple acquisitions, joint ventures, equity fundraisings and strategic transactions.

She also serves on the boards of several Aradel subsidiaries and affiliate ND Western. Omisore holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Illinois, an LLB from the University of Buckingham, a Bachelor of Law qualification from the Nigerian Law School, and a master’s degree in tax law from King’s College London.

Ogunbanjo joined Aradel in September 2021 after more than two decades in Nigeria’s downstream oil and gas industry. Before joining the company, he held senior leadership positions, including managing director of Levene Trading Limited and Integrated Oil & Gas Limited, chief marketing officer at Oando Supply & Trading, and head of strategy, planning, and business reengineering at Oando Marketing Plc.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Obafemi Awolowo University and an MBA from Cardiff Business School. Ogunbanjo has also completed executive programmes at Cambridge Judge Business School and Harvard Business School and is a member of the Institute of Directors Nigeria and the Energy Institute UK.