Prime Business AfricaChemical and Allied Products Plc (CAP) has been struggling to attract stock market investors in the second quarter (Q2) of 2025, compared to its industry rival, Berger Paints.
According to Prime Business Africa’s analysis, CAP’s share price has declined by 14.89 percent in Q2 – against the first quarter’s 5.26 percent appreciation – from N47 per share on April 2 to N40 on May 16.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelWith the decline reflecting a drop in investors’ confidence towards CAP, the company’s shareholders have suffered a combined loss of N5.7 billion in almost two months, compared to the N1.62 billion gained in the three months within Q1.
Further analysis showed that the company’s market valuation also plunged within the reviewed period from N38.29 billion to N32.58 billion, at a period the market value of Berger Paints rose by 24.93 percent.
The downward trajectory of CAP’s share value in Q2 followed a disappointing financial period in the first quarter, when a decline in finance income and an increase in finance expense negatively impacted the company’s bottom line.
In Q1 2025, CAP recorded a 19 percent increase in its revenue, which rose from N8.5 billion in the first quarter of 2024 to N10.08 billion in the same period this year.
Also, the cost of sales climbed 4.06 percent year-on-year, from N5.46 billion to N5.68 billion, while gross profit was up by 44.72 percent, from N3.04 billion to N4.4 billion within the reviewed period.
At the end of Q1 2025, CAP secured N1.51 billion as operating profit after eliminating administrative, selling and marketing expenses, compared to the N1,06 billion recorded in the corresponding period last year, reflecting an increase of 43 percent.
However, after recording zero exchange gain, CAP closed the first quarter of this year with finance income of N263.78 million – thanks to interest income on short-term bank deposits – compared to the N840.84 million posted in Q1 2024.
The company’s income was further affected by a whopping 18,325.8 percent year-on-year increase in finance cost (driven by an exchange loss of N66.52 million), which increased from N363,000 to N66.88 million.
Consequently, the paint manufacturer’s net finance income plunged by 76.57 percent to N196.89 million in Q1 2025, from N840.47 million in the corresponding period last year.
As a result, profit before taxation declined to N1.71 billion in the first quarter last year, dropping by 10 percent compared to the N1.90 billion reached in Q1 2024.
After filing income tax of N565.03 million in Q1 2025, against N627,95 million in Q1 2024, CAP had profit after tax (PAT) of N1.14 billion in the reviewed period, falling short of the N1.27 billion net income recorded in the corresponding period last year.
