Soaring input cost dents Africa Prudential’s earnings

BUSINESS DAY

Africa Prudential, an investment service provider in Nigeria, has seen its input cost rise by 383 per cent in the first nine months of 2023.

This development can be hinged on IT infrastructure, IT outsourcing, and software which cost N653.23 million, N186.45 million, and N9.16 million respectively in 9M’2023.

Africa Prudential’s input cost surged to N848.84 million in 9M’2023 from N175.9 million in the same period of 2022.

The firm’s revenue from contracts with customers, however, grew marginally to N1.56 billion from N1.15 billion during the period.

Gross profit inched down to N706.53 million in 9M’2023 from N974.45 million in the same period of 2022.

Credit loss expense increased to N15.28 million in 9M’2023 from N1.43 million in the similar period of 2022.

The firm’s net operating income surged to N3.01 billion in 9M’2023 from N2.82 million in the same period of 2022.

Net operating income is driven by interest income which amounted to N2.28 billion and other income which amounted to N23.52 million.

Africa Prudential’s personnel expenses surged to N727.9 million in 9M’2023 from N538.37 million in the same period of 2022.

Profit after tax dipped to N871.39 million in 9M’2023 from N1.29 billion in the similar period of 2022.

Earlier this year, Africa Prudential bagged ISO 9001: 2015 (Quality Management System) and ISO 23001:2019 (Business Continuity Management System) certifications.

These certifications are in addition to the already existing ISO 27001:2013 (Information Security Management System), which the company received in 2020.

The certifications followed a comprehensive audit and…