Nigerian Exchange Group Plc reported profit before tax of ₦20.6 billion for the nine months ended 30 September 2026, an 83.3% increase from ₦11.2 billion in the same period of 2025.
Profit after tax rose 86.4% to ₦14.7 billion already 40% higher than the Group’s full-year 2025 profit after tax of ₦10.5 billion, with a full quarter still to go.
Strong Top-Line Growth
Gross earnings climbed 64.8% to ₦29.6 billion, while total revenue advanced 79.8% to ₦27.3 billion. Transaction fees more than doubled, rising 112.4% to ₦20.7 billion from ₦9.7 billion, as higher trading volumes and a wider investor base fed through to the Exchange’s core business. Listing fees grew 24.4% to ₦3.7 billion.
Operating expenses increased to ₦14.7 billion from ₦9.4 billion, reflecting investment in people, infrastructure and technology. Operating profit still rose 73.5% to ₦14.9 billion. The cost-to-income ratio improved by 2.6 percentage points to 49.7% from 52.3%.
Share of profit from associates rose 69.6% to ₦5.7 billion, helped largely by the Central Securities Clearing System. Earnings per share came in at ₦5.33, compared with a restated ₦2.68 for the prior-year period, after a 1-for-3 bonus issue approved by shareholders in April 2026.
Digital Investors Drive Volumes
Management attributed much of the growth to rising participation by retail investors using digital self-service channels from account opening to order execution on platforms linked to the Exchange. That shift has supported deeper trading and higher transaction revenue.
Group Chairman Alhaji Umaru Kwairanga said the results showed what a well-governed market institution could deliver as Nigeria’s capital market deepens. He stressed the board’s focus on growing products, listed companies and investor participation while allocating costs carefully to investments that strengthen the market’s foundations, and on returning value to shareholders through dividends and bonus issues.
Group Managing Director and CEO Temi Popoola said more Nigerians are investing, and more of them are doing so digitally. He added that the Group is investing ahead of further growth in people, infrastructure and technology so the market can absorb the next wave of investors efficiently and securely. Priorities for the rest of the year and beyond include scaling platforms, deepening market data and digital access, and expanding partnerships across Africa.
Market Backdrop
The results coincide with strong gains in the wider equity market. As at 30 September 2026, the NGX All-Share Index was up 61.43% year-to-date, while equity market capitalisation had risen 64.12% from ₦99.38 trillion at the end of 2025 to ₦163.10 trillion an increase of ₦63.72 trillion.
Total assets stood at ₦79.1 billion and shareholders’ equity at ₦61.1 billion at the end of September. Shareholders received ₦8.2 billion in dividends during the period, up 86.7%, alongside the bonus issue.
Cost growth, management said, reflects deliberate investment in talent for technology, market surveillance, product and investor engagement, as well as upgrades to operational infrastructure and market-development initiatives. Those investments are intended to support a larger, faster and more digital market and to generate further operating leverage as volumes scale.
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