John Holt’s earnings hit 10-year high on FX gain

For the first time in 10 years, John Holt, a Nigerian conglomerate, recorded a profit in the full year 2024 from a loss at the end of 2023 driven by foreign exchange gains from the parent company’s support during operating activities.

According to the company’s unaudited financial statements, after-tax profit grew by 104 percent to N8 million from a loss of N199 million at the end of 2023.

Notably, John Holt’s latest financial results show a profit turnaround, marked by lesser costs of sales and no foreign exchange losses, a significant difference from previous years’ performances.

At the end of 2024, cost of sales declined by 87 percent to N220 million from N1.6 billion while foreign exchange gains rose by 130 percent to N133 million from a loss of N379 million in 2023.

Revenue declined by 85 percent to N315 million from N2.04 billion in 2023 due to a decline in technical products and leasing services. Revenue generated from this service dropped to N212 million from N1.9 billion in 2023 while Yamaco added N103 million to the overall revenue.

Additionally, operating income declined to N2 million from N3 million in 2023 while profit generated during operating activities rose by 150 percent to N58 million from a loss of N117 million in 2023.

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However, much of this increase was supported by the parent company, which contributed 72.3 percent to the total earnings.

The Nigerian company is a subsidiary of John Holt & Co. (Liverpool) Ltd, a British company. The principal activities of the group are the assembly, sale, leasing, and servicing of power and cooling equipment; sale and servicing of fire fighting vehicles and equipment; boat building, sale, and servicing of marine equipment; marine transport; warehousing and distribution services; property services and construction.

The firm also operates in three segments: Technical Products and Leasing Services which consist of Holt Engineering Holt Services Holt Cooling Fire & Safety Solutions John Holt Assemblies.

The second segment is Property, warehousing, and central, consisting of Group Head Office Merchandising Retail Distribution Services (MRDS) John Holt Investment JHL division West African Drug Company Limited John Holt Agricultural Engineers Limited JALLCO Limited Africa Properties (Nigeria) Limited Holt Engineering Limited HPL Limited Probyn Road Properties Nigeria Limited while the last segment is Yamaco.

The conglomerate’s assets increased slightly to N4.8 billion from N4.7 billion while cash and cash equivalent stood at N27 million.