Investment firm VFD Group posts 96% surge in nine-month profit on higher investment income

Investment firm VFD Group, which focuses on growth-oriented companies rather than value companies in investing shareholders’ funds, was just a breath away from doubling its net profit for the first nine months of 2026, compared to a year ago, helped by strong growth across key income streams.

A jump in investment income, as well as in interest from placements and interest from debt instruments, helped drive gross earnings up by 34.8 per cent to N81.9 billion, its latest earnings report showed.

Net investment income climbed 58.8 per cent to N72.2 billion, further boosted by lower investment and similar expenses.

Compared to a year ago, net revenue substantially improved, rising by 42.1 per cent to N77.5 billion, even though the pace of growth was tempered by a slide in net gains on financial assets at fair value through profit or loss.

VFD Group invests the capital it pools together from various institutional investors in Nigerian companies largely as equity in other businesses.

Its portfolio is as varied as mortgage-focused Abbey Bank, which obtained a commercial banking licence lately, digital identity startup VerifyMe, the Nigerian Exchange Group, Veritas Kapital Assurance, among others.

But its tentacles have extended beyond Nigeria lately to target foreign equity investors in other parts of sub-Saharan Africa, the UK and the US, according to the information on its website.

In the review period, operating profit swelled to N58.5 billion from N39.9 billion, lifting Earnings Before Interest, Taxation, Depreciation and Amortisation margin to 71.5 per cent, up from 65.6 per cent a year ago.

The major pressure point for earnings was finance cost, which soared by 35.7 per cent to N43.3 billion, following a higher interest expense on borrowings.

Profit before income tax rose 91.9 per cent to N15.3 billion, while profit after tax accelerated to N13 billion from N6.6 billion.

Beyond the remarkable earnings performance, the investment company also recorded notable progress on the balance sheet side, where total assets advanced 29.6 per cent to N577.6 billion, and equity grew 86.7 per cent to N130 billion, both compared to last December.

Return on equity stood at 10 per cent, relative to 9.5 per cent as of the end of last year.