Ten major quoted companies have recorded a combined N14.4 trillion revenue and N4.99trillion profit before tax (PBT) in the first half of the year (HI 2026), reaping from the reforms initiated by President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
According to an assessment by the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), the improved corporate performance increasingly reflected the impact of a more stable macroeconomic environment, improved market efficiency and stronger investor confidence.
It stressed that the country’s economic recovery is increasingly translating into stronger corporate earnings.
The performance represented a sharp improvement over the corresponding period of 2025, when the companies collectively generated about N10.59 trillion in revenue and N2.99 trillion in profit before tax.
Essentially, the earnings surge came against the backdrop of the far-reaching economic reforms introduced by Tinubu from mid-2023, including the removal of petrol subsidy, foreign exchange market reforms, tighter monetary management, tax reforms and measures aimed at restoring investor confidence and improving fiscal sustainability.
Among the companies driving the corporate earnings growth were MTN Nigeria Communications Plc, Dangote Cement Plc, Seplat Energy Plc and Aradel Holdings Plc, which recorded substantial increases in both revenue and profit before tax during the period.
MTN Nigeria led the revenue table with N2.99 trillion, representing a 25 per cent increase from N2.38 trillion recorded in the first half of 2025.
The company recorded N1.09 trillion profit before tax, up 75.2 per cent from N622.26 billion, while Dangote Cement posted N981 billion, compared with N730 billion in the previous year.
Dangote Cement followed with N2.51 trillion, up 21.4 per cent from N2.07 trillion in the corresponding period.
Seplat Energy reported N2.5 trillion revenue, representing a 16.5 per cent increase from N2.17 trillion a year earlier. The company’s profit before tax rose to N700 billion from N454 billion, an increase of 54.2 per cent. Other companies in the group also recorded notable revenue growth.
Also, Aradel Holdings recorded one of the strongest increases, with revenue rising to N2.49 trillion from N368.08 billion, representing a 576.9 per cent increase. It recorded N752 billion profit before tax, representing a 293.7 per cent increase from N191 billion.
The companies’ combined profit before tax also rose sharply to N4.99 trillion in H1 2026, representing a 66.7 per cent increase from N2.99 trillion in the corresponding period of 2025.
In addition, Nigerian Breweries increased revenue by 8.9 per cent to N803.68 billion, while BUA Foods grew revenue by 16.2 per cent to N765.12 billion.
BUA Cement also recorded a 25.6 per cent increase to N728.93 billion, while HBM Nigeria Conglomerate grew revenue by 31.2 per cent to N678.41 billion.
Also, Nestlé Nigeria reported a 12 per cent increase in revenue to N581.04 billion, while Transcorp recorded a 13.4 per cent decline to N279.04 billion.
This is as Executive Chairman of NRS, Dr. Zacch Adedeji, defended the economic reforms by the Bola Tinubu administration, arguing that Nigeria’s petrol subsidy would have risen to N53 trillion if the Nigerian leader had not removed it in 2023.
He said the figure represented the potential annual cost of maintaining the subsidy regime amid rising international oil prices and global energy disruptions, pointing out that by now the naira-dollar exchange rate could have also deteriorated to about N3,500.
According to NRS, the performance of the blue-chip companies represented a significant turnaround from the difficult conditions experienced by many large businesses following the initial implementation of the administration’s reforms.
Tinubu, upon assumption of office in 2023, removed the petrol subsidy and moved to unify the foreign exchange market, while the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under Governor Olayemi Cardoso subsequently pursued tighter monetary management and measures aimed at restoring confidence in the foreign exchange market.
The reforms initially triggered significant pressure on businesses with foreign currency obligations, with several companies reporting huge exchange-rate losses that affected profitability, share prices and dividend payments.
However, Adedeji said the transition to a more market-determined exchange-rate regime had enabled companies with substantial foreign-exchange exposure to better reflect the value of their dollar-denominated earnings and assets.
According to the NRS, improving exchange-rate stability, moderating inflationary pressures and better liquidity conditions have subsequently strengthened business confidence and improved the ability of companies to undertake longer-term investment decisions.
NRS also pointed to the recapitalisation of the banking sector, describing it as a development that has strengthened the financial system’s capacity to provide large-scale corporate financing.
The combination of monetary, fiscal, tax and structural reforms, it said, had created a more predictable operating environment for capital-intensive and export-oriented companies.
The impact had been particularly visible in the oil and gas sector, where companies such as Seplat Energy and Aradel Holdings have benefited from higher production, foreign-currency-linked revenues and increased investor confidence.
The government’s approval of major upstream transactions involving Aradel Holdings and Seplat Energy also strengthened the companies’ long-term growth prospects.
Aradel is part of the consortium involved in the acquisition of Shell Petroleum Development Company assets, while Seplat completed the acquisition of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited.
The transactions are expected tofurther expand the companies’ reserve bases and production capacity while reducing regulatory uncertainty around major upstream investments.
NRS said the improvement im revenue was supported by the digitalisation of tax administration, including the rollout of the national e-invoicing system for large taxpayers, as well as the implementation of four new tax laws from January 1, 2026.
The laws include the Nigeria Tax Act, Nigeria Tax Administration Act, Nigeria Revenue Service Establishment Act and Joint Tax Board Establishment Act.
The transformation of the former Federal Inland Revenue Service into the Nigeria Revenue Service has also expanded the government’s revenue consolidation framework by bringing together non-tax revenue streams previously collected by other agencies.
The service said non-oil sources accounted for 76 per cent of total collections, describing the development as evidence of progress in diversifying government revenue, although oil revenues remain significant.
Despite the improvement, the agency said the tax-to-GDP ratio still has considerable room for expansion toward the government’s 18 per cent target.
It projected that wider adoption of e-invoicing and the full implementation of the new tax laws could further strengthen collections in 2026 and 2027.
The NRS report also highlighted developments in the petroleum sector, saying crude oil production had recovered to about 1.73 million barrels per day by August 2026, equivalent to about 104 per cent of Nigeria’s OPEC quota.
It attributed the recovery to intensified security operations against pipeline vandalism and crude theft, as well as the continued implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act, which it said had improved fiscal and regulatory certainty for upstream operators.
Domestic refining capacity was also reported to have risen from about 30,000 barrels per day in May 2023 to approximately 700,000 barrels per day by mid-2026.
NRS said about 90 per cent of domestic petrol supply was now being met through local refining, while diesel imports had fallen to zero by May 2026.
The Dangote Refinery had been central to the shift, with the government’s crude-for-naira arrangement with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited helping to reduce dollar demand associated with petroleum imports.
The NRS said the developments showed the growing impact of private-sector investment supported by greater policy and regulatory certainty.
According to the revenue agency, Nigeria has moved from what it described as acute macroeconomic distress in May 2023 towards a more stable and increasingly resilient economic position.
It identified fuel subsidy removal, foreign-exchange unification, implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act, disciplined monetary policy and the tax law overhaul as the principal reforms behind the shift.
It also noted that Nigeria’s debt-to-GDP ratio had declined from 35.5 per cent in 2025 to 32.3 per cent in 2026, attributing the improvement largely to nominal GDP growth outpacing the growth in debt.
The service added that the November 2025 Eurobond was oversubscribed, which it said reflected improving investor confidence in Nigeria’s fiscal outlook.
However, the NRS cautioned that debt-service-to-revenue remained an important indicator requiring continued attention, stressing that further improvement in domestic revenue mobilisation would provide the government with greater fiscal space for capital expenditure without relying excessively on new borrowing.
While the reforms initially generated considerable pain for businesses and households, the stronger first-half performance of major quoted companies suggests that the economy is gradually moving from adjustment towards consolidation, with improved market pricing, stronger fiscal capacity and greater investment certainty beginning to translate into higher corporate earnings.
The apex revenue serivice said the combination of greater exchange-rate stability, moderating inflationary pressures and improved liquidity conditions had “enhanced business confidence,” allowing companies to make longer-term investment decisions with greater certainty.
It further noted that the recapitalisation of the banking sector had strengthened the capacity of financial institutions to support large-scale corporate financing, providing businesses with improved access to capital as they expand operations.
The NRS said the impact was particularly important for capital-intensive and export-oriented companies, which had previously been exposed to significant foreign-exchange and financing risks.
It stated, “Taken together, these reforms have enhanced the operating environment for capital intensive and export-oriented firms by improving market efficiency, strengthening macroeconomic stability, increasing investor confidence, and facilitating more efficient allocation of capital.”
NRS in report titled “ National Economic Performance: Baseline (May 29, 2023 vs current outlook (Mid-June 2026): A comparative review of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Administration’s Economic Reform Programme”: stated that the non-oil share of collections grew, but oil-dependence still significant, stressing that 76per cent of total collections — a genuine diversification result.
NRS noted that the gains drivers are attributable to: the digitalization of the tax systems such as national e-invoicing system rolled out to large taxpayers; Four new tax reform laws — the Nigeria Tax Act, the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, the Nigeria Revenue Service Establishment Act, and the Joint Tax Board Establishment Act — effective January 1, 2026 and the FIRS to NRS transformation, which folded in non-tax revenue streams previously collected by other agencies, thereby creating a central revenue consolidation system.
NRS in its outlook said, the tax-to-GDP ratio, while already improving, still has room to grow toward the government’s 18per cent target —representing a clear and achievable runway for the Service to build on its current momentum, particularly as e-invoicing coverage and the new tax laws take fuller effect through 2026 and 2027.
When Tinubu was inaugurated on 2023, Nigeria’s economy was carrying four mutually ere inforcing distortions: a fuel subsidy that had become fiscally unsustainable, a fragmented and opaque exchange-rate system that discouraged investment, an oil sector producing well below capacity, and a tax base far below its potential.
Within days of taking office, the administration removed the fuel subsidy and unified the exchange rate — the two structural adjustments from which nearly every indicator in this report can be traced,
The report by NRS stated that, Nigeria’s debt-to-GDP ratio fell from 35.5per cent (2025) to 32.3per cent (2026, IMF Fiscal Monitor) — below the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) 55per cent risk threshold — as nominal GDP growth outpaced debt growth.
“The naira-denominated debt stock rose mainly because dollar-denominated debt was revalued at the new exchange rate (N463/US$1 → N1,400–1,500/US$1), not from fresh borrowing. Investor confidence reflects this: the November 2025 Eurobond was oversubscribed 12x, with a record order book, signaling markets are pricing in improved fiscal credibility,”the report stated.
NRC in its outlook said, the share of revenue absorbed by debt servicing remains the metric most worth continued attention.
“Bringing the debt-service-to-revenue ratio down further — most durably achieved through continued growth in NRS collections Rather than through additional borrowing restraint alone — would meaningfully widen the government’s capital-spending space in the years ahead,” the report by NRS explained.
NRS attributed the 1.73 million bpd as of Aug 2026-104 per cent of Nigeria’s OPEC quota from 1.2–1.3 million bpd – well below quota to intensified security operations against pipeline vandalism and crude theft in the Niger Delta, continued implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) which has improved fiscal and regulatory certainty for upstream operators.
“Monthly output has fluctuated along the way to this recovery, which is a normal feature of a sector rebuilding investor confidence and operational consistency after years of under investment the overall trajectory since 2023 remains clearly upward,” the report said.
The May 29th, 2023 removal of the fuel subsidy and unification of the exchange rate were the two foundational reforms behind GDP growth, among others.
NRS stated that the subsidy removal freed federally collectible revenue previously consumed by fuel under-recovery, stressing that the foreign exchange unification ended round-tripping and arbitrage, restoring price discovery and credibility to Nigeria’s currency market.
Domestic refining that was at 30,000 bpd May 2023 moved to 700,000 bpd mid 2026 as 90per cent of domestic petrol supply now locally refined; diesel imports at zero (May 2026).
“This is the most consequential shift in the entire report. It reflects the success of the administration’s broader strategy of using policy and regulatory certainty to unlock large-scale private capital rather than relying solely on public financing. The DangoteRefinery, commissioned in May 2023, became commercially operational through 2024–2025 under a regulatory and fiscal environment shaped by the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
“The NNPC-Dangote crude-for-naira arrangement has reduced dollar demand for fuel imports, easing pressure on the exchange rate, while NMDPRA licensing decisions have actively supported the shift toward local refining. NNPC’s legacy refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna remain an area of continued attention, and government strategy has increasingly shifted toward partnership models with proven operators to bring these assets back into productive usez, ”the report said.
The report by NRS added that, “Measured against its May 2023 starting point, the Nigerian economy has moved decisively from acute macroeconomic distress toward a more stable and increasingly resilient footing.
“The reforms most responsible for this shift are the fuel subsidy removal, FX unification, the Petroleum Industry Act, disciplined monetary policy, and the tax law overhaul culminating in the establishment of the Nigeria Revenue Service. External reserve buffers have been rebuilt in short time, the debt-to-GDP ratio is falling for the first time in over a decade, and international capital markets are once again pricing Nigerian risk favorably.
“NRS sits at the operational center of this transition, its expanded mandate, record collections, and central role in Federation Account distribution make it one of the clearest institutional beneficiaries of the reform programme, and one of the institutions best positioned to convert further macro stabilisation into durable, real revenue growth.”
However, Adedeji, who later spoke on Channels Television,
argued that the subsidy, which he described as an “under-recovery” rather than a conventional subsidy, was already financially unsustainable when the Tinubu administration assumed office.
The argument by the Chairman of the NRS, comes against the backdrop of the economic hardship that has accompanied some of the major reforms introduced by the current government since May 2023.
The removal of the petrol subsidy and the unification of the foreign exchange market, among other measures like electricity tariff increase triggered a sharp rise in the prices of fuel, food, transportation and other essential goods and services, significantly raising the cost of living for households and businesses.
Although the federal government has maintained that the reforms were necessary to address longstanding structural weaknesses, boost government revenue and place the economy on a more sustainable footing, their immediate impact has been particularly severe on low and middle income Nigerians.
The reforms have also fuelled public debate over whether the economic gains being reported by the government are translating into improved living standards for citizens. While the administration has pointed to rising revenue, increased investment and other macroeconomic improvements as evidence that the reforms are beginning to yield results, Nigerians have continued to grapple with high inflation, elevated energy and transport costs and declining purchasing power.
“If Mr President has not removed it (subsidy), given what is happening in Iran, given what is happening globally, the subsidy today will have been N53 trillion. Imagine that this unsustainable, unsubstantiated burden is now 76 per cent of the Nigeria budget on subsidy alone,” the NRS boss argued.
According to him, retaining the subsidy would also have placed further pressure on the exchange rate, with the naira potentially trading at about N3,500 to the dollar. “The exchange rate today would have been roughly at N3,500 if that had not been done,” he stated.
Adedeji said the argument that the government had simply taken money previously available to Nigerians and stopped distributing it was based on a misunderstanding of the subsidy regime.
He maintained that the Tinubu administration inherited an economy characterised by four major distortions: An unsustainable petrol subsidy, an opaque foreign exchange market, an underperforming oil sector and a narrow tax base.
Adedeji also cited a trade deficit, negative foreign investment flows, a foreign exchange backlog of about $7 billion and ways and means obligations of roughly N23 trillion as part of the conditions inherited by the administration.
He argued that the reforms, although painful, were intended to correct those structural problems rather than merely provide short-term relief.
“I understand the pain, because it has to be painful,” he said. “But we should commend Mr President for not being a politician and forgetting whether he wants to have an election or not, but focusing on having a solid foundation for this economy,” he emphasised.
According to him, the most important question should not be why the government took the decisions, but what the country would have looked like had it failed to do so. “If Mr President had not stopped it, only God knows where this country would have been,” Adedeji said.
He also defended the administration against criticism that its reforms had produced stronger macroeconomic indicators without corresponding improvements in the lives of ordinary Nigerians.
The NRS chairman pointed to the increase in corporate earnings, market capitalisation, bank capitalisation, foreign investment and government revenues as evidence that the reforms were beginning to change the structure of the economy.
He said the market capitalisation of the Nigerian Exchange had risen from about N30 trillion to N150 trillion, while companies had recorded significant improvements in earnings, with the banking sector recapitalisation attracting N4.6trillion, and with about 75 per cent of the funds raised locally.
He argued that the development demonstrated that domestic investors were beginning to have greater confidence in the Nigerian economy.
The NRS chairman also cited the increase in Federation Account distributions as one of the clearest effects of the reforms. According to him, monthly allocations had risen from about N711 billion in May 2023 to N4.5 trillion in July 2026.
He put the increase at 532 per cent and argued that the additional resources had strengthened the finances of state governments.
Adedeji said the stronger revenue flows had helped states pay salaries and undertake projects, arguing that the federal government should not be held solely responsible for the welfare of citizens because Nigeria operates a federal system.
“You see governors commissioning projects,” he said. “You don’t hear that state governments are looking for money to pay salaries the way you used to hear before,” he pointed out.
Adedeji also linked the reforms to developments in the downstream oil sector, particularly the growth of domestic refining capacity, saying that prior to 2023, Nigeria only had a refining capacity of 30,000 barrels per day, but has now hit 700,000 bpd.
He maintained that the development was directly connected to the administration’s decision to remove the subsidy and create a market environment that would allow private refineries to operate profitably.
According to him, the increase in domestic refining capacity has also improved Nigeria’s energy security and reduced the country’s vulnerability to international supply disruptions, explaining that the country is now better positioned to withstand global oil market shocks, including those arising from the Iran conflict.
The NRS chairman also defended the government’s social interventions, particularly student loans and CreditCorp. He said more than one million students in about 300 higher institutions had benefited from more than N303 billion in student loans during the past three years. “This has never existed,” he stressed.
Adedeji argued that these interventions demonstrated that the government was attempting to expand opportunities rather than simply increase taxes, revealing that the NRS was not primarily interested in extracting money from Nigerians but in creating conditions that would expand the tax base. “For us, it is not about extracting. We are not there to extract,” he maintained.
He explained that the revenue service would ultimately collect more revenue if businesses and individuals became more prosperous.
Adedeji also rejected criticism of President Tinubu’s lifestyle and the cost of running the presidency, particularly claims that the government was living lavishly while Nigerians faced economic hardship.
Asked about the perception that the President and senior government officials lived large while ordinary Nigerians struggled, Adedeji offered a blunt defence of Tinubu.
He argued that Tinubu’s personal lifestyle should not be confused with broader government expenditure, questioning what he described as the fixation on the President’s convoy and official transportation.
“So before he became President, what was he riding? So is it because he’s now President? So how much is an Escalade? How much is Escalade that the President of Nigeria cannot afford? Please, don’t embarrass this country.
“…What do you call living large? In the last three months, he has not even left this side of this country. …Remember, this is a former governor, this is a former treasurer of Mobil, this is an accomplished accountant, an investor. Now, he’s President, what is Escalade?, Adedeji queried.
He also rejected claims that Tinubu was excessively extravagant, saying the President had spent much of his time working rather than attending social events. “In the last three months, he has not even left this side of the country,” Adedeji said.
He further argued that government expenditure should be assessed within the bigger economic cycle, noting that public spending also generates income for contractors, service providers and other businesses.
“The government is both debit and credit,” he said. “When you say austerity, don’t forget that it is a cycle,” Adedeji argued.
On the criticism that Nigerians were becoming poorer despite improving macroeconomic indicators, Adedeji said the government should be judged by the progress made from the conditions inherited in 2023.
He disputed the interpretation of poverty statistics that suggested the reforms had worsened the welfare of Nigerians, arguing that the alternative would have been an even deeper economic crisis. “I am telling you that more people would have been poorer,” he said.
He acknowledged that food prices and purchasing power remained major concerns but maintained that the government had already moved the economy away from what he described as a crisis-management phase. “We have moved from crisis management in our economy to the consolidation stage,” he said.
Adedeji also pointed to improved foreign reserves, saying Nigeria had moved from a position where its reserves could barely cover two months of imports to one where they could cover about 10 months. He attributed part of the improvement to the reduction in petrol imports following the expansion of domestic refining.
On electricity, he said the government had begun addressing structural impediments to investment by allowing states to participate more actively in generation, transmission and distribution. He said the reforms were necessary to attract private capital into the power sector.
He acknowledged that power remained critical to Nigeria’s industrialisation and productivity but said the foundation had now been laid for greater investment, noting that the economy has passed through a turbulent take-off and entered a period of cruising.
He therefore urged Nigerians not to support another economic reset that could reverse the reforms, arguing that the country should consolidate the changes already made.
According to him, the new tax laws, bank recapitalisation, student loan scheme, CreditCorp, domestic refining and foreign exchange reforms were all components of the same economic restructuring.
Adedeji said the ultimate test of the reforms would be whether they produced a more productive economy capable of generating jobs, increasing incomes and improving household welfare. He maintained that the administration had already created the foundation for such an outcome.
“The greatest gift to this republic is the leadership of Mr President,” he said. “I work with him day and night. I’ve never seen anybody that has Nigeria in his mind like him,” he claimed.
The NRS chairman consequently urged Nigerians to assess the reforms against the economic conditions inherited in 2023, arguing that reversing them would risk returning the country to the distortions that had made the previous system unsustainable. “We just need to consolidate on what we have,” he said.
Adedeji maintained that the government’s immediate task was no longer to rescue an economy in crisis but to deepen the reforms and ensure that the benefits of improved macroeconomic stability increasingly translated into better living conditions for Nigerians.
Emmanual Addeh and James Emejo
Follow us on:
