MRS Oil Nigeria Plc reported that gross profit for its lubricant segment fell 64% in 2022 due to negative impacts of inflation.
The segment earned 367.4 million naira (U.S. $797,913) last year, according to a stock exchange filing by the oil products marketing company, which is headquartered in Lagos. That was down from ₦1 billion in 2022.
Sales revenue for the year increased 6% for the year, from ₦3.6 billion to ₦3.9 billion, but cost of sales jumped 34%, from ₦2.6 billion to ₦3.5 billion. Those numbers reflect challenges faced by much of the industry as base oil costs skyrocketed against a backdrop of generally high inflation worldwide.
According to the filing, the situation for the MRS lubricants segment did not appear to improve as the year progressed, as the fourth quarter went much like the whole year. Revenues for the final three months of 2022 swelled 31% to ₦805.7 million, up from ₦615.3 million for the same period of 2021. However, cost of sales jumped by the same proportion, from ₦615.3 million to ₦805.7 million.
The result was a 57% dive in quarterly profit, from ₦322.4 million to ₦138.5 million.