Read the Growth Rate With the Acquisition in Mind
The headline percentages flatter the underlying business, and the company does not hide why. UACN acquired C.H.I. Limited in October 2025, so the nine months of 2026 consolidate a full period of the Chivita and Hollandia owner's results against a 2025 comparative that contains none of them. Group Managing Director Fola Aiyesimoju attributed the performance to the Packaged Food and Beverages and Paints businesses, which is another way of saying the enlarged group's centre of gravity now sits in CHI's drinks portfolio.
That distinction matters for valuation. A 228% revenue increase that arrives through consolidation tells an investor the group is bigger; it does not yet say the combined business grows faster than the sum of its parts. The cleaner signal in this release is profitability at the operating line: operating profit of ₦60 billion on ₦523 billion of revenue is an 11.5% margin, respectable for a food and beverages group working through an integration year.
The Cash Flow Is the Strongest Line in the Release
Earnings quality is where this result separates itself from a simple consolidation effect. Free cash flow of about ₦98 billion, generated with help from a working capital release, is more than four times the reported profit after tax. Total assets stood at ₦516.89 billion against equity of ₦70.85 billion, a leveraged structure that makes cash generation, rather than accounting profit, the metric that determines how quickly the group can deleverage, a priority management named explicitly alongside completing the announced divestments.
