OANDO Plc, led by Mr Wale Tinubu, has once again slipped into technical insolvency as its liabilities exceed assets despite posting a profit of N241 billion in the full year of 2025.
The full-year financial statement posted by the oil major in the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) on Sunday shows that the group reported a profit of N241.312 billion in 2025, representing just 9.6 percent growth over 2024 when the oil major made a N220.120 billion profit in 2024.
The firm’s revenue jumped by 27.2 percent in 2025 to N4.087 trillion in 2025, from N3.213 trillion recorded in the corresponding period of 2024.
However, the oil giant is in financial trouble as its liabilities stood at N7.258 trillion, while assets stayed at N6.704 trillion. This means that Oando owes more than it owns, not minding that it recorded profits in 2025. Its currrent ratio is quite revealing.
The current ratio measures a company’s capacity to pay its short-term liabilities due in one year, according to the Corporate Finance Institute. A good current ratio is typically considered to be anywhere between 1.5 and 3. Oando’s current ratio is just 0.31, which is considered really low. If current assets are less than current liabilities, an entity has a working capital deficiency, also called a working capital deficit and negative working capital, financial experts say.
Oando Plc had been in this situation earlier. Its total assets by December 2022 stood at N1.252 trillion, while total liabilities were put at N1.449 trillion. In 2023, total liabilities stood at N3.379 trillion whereas total assets were put at N1.512 trillion, representing a ratio of 2.23, which was a damning representation of Oando Plc’s financial situation at that time.
Why a company can be technically insolvent
There are many reasons why a company can slip into insolvency. Such reasons range from long years of accumulated debt, poor working capital management, cash flow problems, slow customer payments, among others, analysts say.
READ ALSO: Secret behind Oando’s change in fortunes after Tinubu became president in 2023
Oando has negative cash flow from investing and operating activities, but a positive cash flow from financing activities (N383.329 billion). Oando’s share price as at Friday, January 30, was N40.50 per share. However, the company has accumulated debt for many years as shown in financial statements of 2022 and 2023.
Recent challenges
In 2017, two Oando Plc’s shareholders petitioned the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of mismanagement and infractions, leading to the suspension of the oil firm’s annual general meeting (AGM) in 2019. The company moved to court to challenge the suspension.
In April 2021, SEC said that its action against Oando Plc was due to the company’s “severe breaches of capital market regulations,” noting that some of the breaches were criminal in nature.
Due to conflicting judgments in several courts, SEC said in April 2021 that “parties and relevant stakeholders are enjoined to maintain status quo, which includes the suspension of the Annual General Meeting, pending the determination of the cases and the appeals.” The situation crippled the company, hurting its capacity to operate smoothly. The company did not release its 2022 financial report until March 2024.
Oando’s change of fortunes
President Bola Tinubu, an uncle tonMr Wale Tinubu, approved Eni’s proposal to sell Agip to Oando in 2024.
“Eni has received formal consent from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) for the sale of NAOC Ltd to Oando Plc,” the oil firm said in a statement in July 2024.
The approval did the magic. The firm’s oil production grew by 40 percent after it acquired the Nigerian Agip Oil Company. Oando, in a statement announcing its unaudited report for the nine months ended September 30, 2024, noted that it increased production from 22,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) to 30,675 boed after the NAOC deal was ratified.
In 2025, Oando was a darling to investors in 2025. Due to a strong quarterly earnings in the third quarter (Q3) of 2024, the company’s shares rose more than 14 percent in January. In June 2025, the stock rose by nearly 40 percent to N63.10 due to the positive corporate developments.
