COCOA processor Multi-Trex Integrated Foods Plc has remained in sustained losses since it was taken over in 2011 by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMNCON) from its founder, late Dimeji Owofemi.
Investigations by Economy Post show that the management installed after the takeover has yet to restart cocoa processing at the company nearly 15 years later. Suppliers who once worked with the firm have largely abandoned it, while the company, once regarded as Nigeria’s biggest cocoa processor, no longer processes cocoa due to the absence of functional equipment.
A source within the company told Economy Post that the firm “is still doing refurbishment” of its processing machines. Analysts, however, question why the rehabilitation has taken more than a decade and a half without a return to production.
Findings show that most of the machines used by the late founder remain in the factory, with the new management yet to acquire new equipment required for cocoa processing. Instead, the company now focuses mainly on cocoa trading rather than processing the crop, a shift analysts say represents a sharp decline from its earlier position in Nigeria’s cocoa value chain.
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Industry analysts say the development raises concerns about how a company once efficiently run by Owofemi deteriorated after being taken over by AMCON and subsequent owners.
One company source noted that the current array of losses “are not our fault,” disclosing that the company will bounce back to full operations in the second quarter (Q2) of 2026. The source, however, did not explain whether the struggling firm plans to import new machines and plans to restart cocoa procesing after exiting the market for 15 years.
Years of weak financial performance
Economy Post’s review of the company’s accounts shows that between 2012 and 2025 the cocoa processor reported profits only twice.
In 2012, Multi-trex posted a loss after tax of N1.248 billion despite generating revenue of N3.265 billion. Cost of sales stood at N2.934 billion, leaving a gross profit of N331.008 million. Selling and distribution costs of N79.521 million and administrative expenses of N765.975 million pushed the firm to an operating loss of N489.631 million.
Finance income of N4.843 million offered little relief, while interest expenses of N730.078 million drove the loss before tax to N1.215 billion. The company still paid N32.9 million in taxes, resulting in a loss after tax of N1.247 billion.
Losses deepened in 2013 when revenue of N1.435 billion was outweighed by cost of sales of N2.309 billion. Administrative expenses of N737.216 million and selling costs of N47.25 million led to an operating loss of N1.55 billion.
Heavy borrowing also weighed on performance, with interest expenses reaching N1.430 billion. Finance income of N2.829 million failed to offset the charges, leading to a loss before tax of N2.979 billion. After paying N40.727 million in taxes, the company ended the year with a loss of N3.019 billion.
Losses persisted in 2014 when the company recorded a deficit of N2.354 billion. It briefly returned to profitability in 2015, reporting a profit after tax of N1.84 billion largely due to other operating income of N2.56 billion. This helped offset cost of sales of N541.102 million, administrative expenses of N284.69 million, interest costs of N160.81 million and tax of N53.05 million.
The recovery proved temporary. Multi-Trex returned to losses in 2016 with a deficit of N599.73 million and another loss of N261.25 million in 2017, largely due to rising costs and administrative inefficiencies.
In 2018 the company reported a loss of N564.469 million, which narrowed to N280.35 million in 2019. The downward trend continued with losses of N262.635 million in 2020 and N253.261 million in 2021.
Losses widened again to N636.56 million in 2022 and N1.098 billion in 2023. The company briefly returned to profit with a gain of N510.938 million driven by higher sales, reduced finance charges and increased other income.
However, the improvement was short-lived as Multi-Trex recorded another loss after tax of N471.046 million in 2025. The company’s financial year ends in April of the following year.
Background, loans and fight for survival
Multi-Trex’s capacity once stood at 65,000 metric tons (MT), making it the nation’s largest processor of cocoa. However, trouble started when it borrowed N8.5 billion Afreximbank loan through the defunct Skye Bank in 2010. The loan was later sold to AMCON, which is popularly known as Nigeria’s bad bank.
The fight for the recovery of the company by its founder, Mr Dimeji Owofemi, led to several other battles, including multiple court cases and settlement meetings. However, the meetings did not produce the desired results.
“We decided to approach First Bank United Kingdom. They helped us to find a partner to team up with us to raise equity. And the money was to be be used to repay AMCON. They teamed up with African Finance Corporation. First Bank UK called for a meeting with AMCON and Africa Finance Corporation on June 15, 2015.
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They told AMCON not to do anything yet, assuring that they would come in October to repay the debt. Fourteen days later, AMCON came to shut down our factory. With that, Africa Finance Corporation wrote to us that they could no longer continue with us because of what happened,” Mr Owofemi told this reporter in 2016.
Late Mr Dimeji Owofemi
Mr Owofemi’s factory was later taken over by AMCON and shut down. He died in 2020 of suspected heart attack. In the bank’s 2024 financial statement ended on April 30, the bank revealed that out of the N9.903 billion loan owed AMCON, it repaid N2.5 billion before June 30, 2022, further paying back N3.25 billion before June 30, 2023. The cocoa processor noted that it had repaid the entire loan as of the time of signing the 2024 financial statement.
“The reopening of the company came as a result of the agreed terms of settlement between AMCON and the company. The Corporation has since 3 August 2022 yielded the control of the company and its assets to the owner. Also, as at the date of signing this report, the company’s indebtedness to AMCON has been fully repaid,” Multi-trex said.
