The chief executive of C&I Leasing Plc, Mr Ugoji Lenin Ugoji, has said the company will continue to maintain its high standard of product offerings so as to sustain its profitability in the near future.
He gave this assurance while reacting to the financial performance of the organisation in the 2024 fiscal year, where revenue grew to N36.7 billion from N22.4 billion in 2023 and post-tax profit jumped to N1.6 billion from N273.3 million in the previous year.
C&I Leasing is the country’s foremost Integrated leasing, and other ancillary services company, with its fleet management unit offering a full range of fleet management solutions which include vehicle rentals, vehicle tracking/fuel monitoring and vehicle maintenance, reservation for business, school bus and third-party businesses.
Mr Ugoji, in a statement, said despite current market realities, the firm was able to deliver an impressive set of results on account of business expansion and the resilience of the business model.
“The year 2024 was another challenging year for the company as prevailing harsh market conditions ranging from rising interest rates to potential economic downturn and high inflation put pressure on the cost of doing business in the country which greatly impacted our business operations.
“However, we have remained focused on the fundamentals of our business such as efficiency of business operations through optimal cost management, superior customer service and diversification of earnings to take advantage of growth opportunities in the available market space,” he stated.
Explaining the performance, he noted that Nigeria’s oil and gas sector saw a mix of positive developments and persistent challenges.
While crude oil production increased compared with the previous year, it still fell short of the budget benchmark and OPEC quota.
Infrastructure projects like LNG expansion gained momentum, reducing reliance on imported products. However, issues like oil theft, pipeline vandalism, and security risks continued to impact operations and increase costs.
He, however, stated that the in-spite of these conditions, the company would continue to “explore more options of exceptional support services to our numerous clients, as we maintain the high quality of our product offerings to meet their diverse business needs and sustain our profitability in the near future.”
While expressing his view that 2025 is expected to have a moderation in oil prices which may result in reductions in marine rates, he said the C&I Leasing would continue to “create superior service to our stakeholders, particularly our esteemed customers and shareholders whose confidence and support have been the driving force behind our achievement.”