Zichis Agro-Allied Industries Plc, an integrated agro-industrial company, is following a high-growth cost-income model similar to its predecessor oil palm companies, which have sustained rapid growth over the years.
The low-cost and high-margin agro business thrives on its large and expanding self-driven capacity, boosting profits nearly sixfold to N328 million in 2025.
The company’s audited financial report for the year ending December 2025 reveals that each unit of revenue now contributes a higher share of profit than costs. As a result, the profit margin has jumped significantly, rising from 19.2 per cent in 2022 to 48.5 per cent by the end of 2025.
Boosting sales revenue and improving profit margins have been the driving forces behind the company’s rapid profit growth, jumping from N15 million in 2022 to a record high in 2025. With costs and income margins carefully managed to maximise shareholder wealth, the key now is to keep accelerating sales growth.
Sales revenue hit N675.6 million in 2025, up 134 per cent and more than eight and a half times the N78.7 million turnover from just three years earlier. Managers still expect the upward trend to continue, with the company’s 61-acre oil palm plantation entering its third year of fruiting in 2026.
The large-scale expansion of the oil palm plantation to 2,000 acres is underway, with land already being acquired, and the installation of the new palm oil processing plant is scheduled for completion by the second quarter of 2026.
Oil palm products led the company’s sales revenue growth in 2025, multiplying close to 13 times to N182.7 million. The company expects the contribution of oil palm products to total revenue to grow substantially in the coming years.
The company’s revenue leading line, however, is its 18-acre livestock farm that boasts 20,000 growers and 25,000 layers. The business segment contributed N226.7 million to sales revenue in 2025, which is an increase of 47 per cent in the year. Rapid expansion is underway to achieve 50,000 growers by the third quarter and 100,000 layers by the end of 2026, according to the company’s report.
Zichis Agro-Allied Industries is also into catfish production from its 22 earthen ponds with a capacity of 2,000 catfish each. Fish sales contributed N35 million to the company’s sales revenue in 2025, an increase of 56 per cent.
The company’s 2 tonnes per hour feed mill production plant completes its integrated operations to meet internal use and sales to farmers. Sales revenue from feeds grew by 89 percent to N108 million in 2025.
The company’s low-cost advantage reflects in production cost growing well below the increase in sales revenue. At N212.8 million, cost of sales grew by 38.7 percent compared to the rise of 134 percent in turnover. This means the unit of sales was produced at considerably lower cost of 31.5 kobo in 2025 than over 53 kobo in the previous year.
Gross profit therefore rose far ahead of sales revenue, multiplying close to three and half times to N463 million in the year.
Selling and distribution expenses are out of the way for the company, as is typical of companies in its line of business where operators struggle to meet product demands. This is another big cost saving area for the company, which rolls all the costs saved down to the bottom line.
Administrative expenses are quite modest at N98.6 million, which is also a moderated increase of 50 percent and therefore another cost saving line. There are also no finance expenses, which further contributed to power more than five times jump in pre-tax profit to N364 million for the year.
Earnings per share rose close to six folds to 55 kobo and the company is paying 20 kobo per share in cash dividend plus a bonus issue of one for one.
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