VFD Group sees 96% profit rise in nine months driven by investment income

Investment firm VFD Group, which focuses on growing companies instead of value ones, is close to doubling its net profit for the first nine months of 2026. This increase is compared to last year and comes from strong growth in important income streams.

A rise in investment income, along with interest from placements and debt instruments, pushed gross earnings up by 34.8 percent to N81.9 billion, according to its latest earnings report.

Net investment income grew by 58.8 percent to N72.2 billion, thanks to lower investment and related expenses.

Net revenue also improved significantly, rising by 42.1 percent to N77.5 billion. This growth was affected by a drop in net gains on financial assets that are valued at fair value through profit or loss compared to last year.

VFD Group uses the capital it gathers from various institutional investors to invest in Nigerian companies, mainly as equity in other businesses.

Its portfolio includes companies like mortgage-focused Abbey Bank, which just got a commercial banking license, digital identity startup VerifyMe, the Nigerian Exchange Group, and Veritas Kapital Assurance, among others.

Recently, it has expanded beyond Nigeria to attract foreign equity investors in other parts of sub-Saharan Africa, the UK, and the US, according to its website.

During the review period, operating profit jumped to N58.5 billion from N39.9 billion. This lifted Earnings Before Interest, Taxation, Depreciation, and Amortization margin to 71.5 percent, up from 65.6 percent a year ago.

The main challenge for earnings was finance costs, which rose by 35.7 percent to N43.3 billion due to higher interest expenses on loans.

Profit before income tax increased by 91.9 percent to N15.3 billion, while profit after tax grew to N13 billion from N6.6 billion.

Beyond the strong earnings, the investment company also made good progress on its balance sheet. Total assets grew by 29.6 percent to N577.6 billion, and equity increased by 86.7 percent to N130 billion, both compared to last December.

Return on equity was at 10 percent, compared to 9.5 percent at the end of last year.