The Costs That Crashed SAHCO’s Profit to ₦3.8bn at H1 

Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCO) saw its profit plunge to ₦3.8 billion in half-year 2026, down from over ₦8 billion a year earlier, as two major cost lines—direct costs and administrative expenses—expanded far faster than revenue.

According to SAHCO’s unaudited interim financial report for the half-year ended June 2026, total revenue rose by just ₦2 billion, a modest 9.5 per cent increase to ₦23 billion.

However, this was dwarfed by surges in key expenses: direct costs jumped by more than ₦4 billion (63%) to over ₦10.5 billion, while administrative expenses climbed nearly ₦2 billion to ₦6.6 billion.

These increases sharply eroded profitability.

Gross profit margin fell from 68.7 per cent to 53 per cent, and gross profit dropped by ₦2.2 billion (15%) to ₦12.3 billion year on year.

The rise in direct costs was led by repair and running costs for income-generating equipment, which shot up from ₦1.4 billion to ₦3.5 billion over the review period.

Operating profit fell by ₦4 billion (40%) to ₦6 billion for the half-year, setting the stage for a 41.5 per cent decline in pre-tax profit to ₦5.8 billion.

After-tax profit for the period was ₦3.8 billion, less than half the ₦8 billion reported in the first half of 2025.

Cost pressures intensified in the second quarter.

While Q2 revenue was less than half of the half-year total at ₦11 billion, direct costs for the quarter represented 54 per cen per cent of the six-month figure. Profit from operations dropped 58 per cent in Q2 to ₦1.9 billion, accounting for just 32 per cent of the half-year total. Pre-tax profit followed a similar trend, with only ₦1.9 billion earned in the second quarter.

SAHCO closed H1 2026 with earnings per share of ₦2.68, a steep drop from ₦6.01 per share a year earlier.

Looking ahead, whether revenue can pick up in the second half and whether direct and administrative cost growth can be curbed will be critical to SAHCO’s profit performance for the remainder of the year.