Caverton Offshore narrows quarterly loss as marine revenue accelerates

Caverton Offshore Support Group Plc (NGX: CAVERTON) published unaudited results for the six months to 30 June 2026 on 10 August 2026, reporting revenue of ₦14.7 billion, a half year loss of ₦8.7 billion and a basic loss per share of ₦2.57. The Lagos aviation and marine logistics group presented the numbers as evidence of a recovery taking hold, with second quarter revenue of ₦8.6 billion running 41 per cent above the ₦6.1 billion of the first quarter and the quarterly loss narrowing to ₦3.7 billion from ₦5.0 billion. The following trading session, the market moved the shares the other way.

What the results table contains

The company published a quarterly split rather than a conventional half year comparative. In thousands of naira, revenue was 6,088,816 in the first quarter and 8,592,648 in the second, for 14,681,464 across the half. Net finance cost was 4,485,050 and 3,887,911 respectively, or 8,372,961 for the period. The loss for the period was 4,960,690 and 3,749,156, totalling 8,709,846. Basic loss per share ran ₦1.48, then ₦1.09, for ₦2.57 across the six months.

Operating profit before administrative costs reached ₦7.3 billion, which the company describes as a margin of roughly 50 per cent on revenue and attributes to cost management that first appeared in the first quarter figures. It also discloses that its ratio of EBIT to capital employed stands at -0.07 per cent, against 14 per cent in 2020.

The only year on year comparison in the release covers the first quarter. Revenue of 6,088,816 was 32.2 per cent below the 8,975,300 of the first quarter of 2025. Operating profit rose to 3,329,209 from 528,966, an increase the company puts at 529 per cent. Marine vessel revenue rose to 727,263 from 33,663. Net finance cost rose 71.1 per cent to 4,485,050 from 2,621,390, and the loss for the quarter widened to 4,960,690 from 1,812,363, with basic loss per share moving from ₦0.54 to ₦1.48.

The businesses the company says will carry the recovery

Caverton attributes the improvement to its marine division. Through a relationship with Stena Bulk, the group says it now participates in three Suezmax tankers trading internationally, which it describes as a rare source of foreign currency revenue for a Nigerian listed company. That relationship is being extended through Unity Shipping Worldwide, a joint venture with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company and Stena Bulk.

In inland waters, the OMIBUS platform developed with the Shanghai based electric propulsion manufacturer Explomar is bringing battery electric passenger ferries to Lagos waterways. The company says a prototype is in service and that it holds a firm order from Lagos State for ten vessels, a position it believes can be repeated in other states as ferry operations mature into recurring revenue.

In aviation, the group’s recovery is anchored on a partnership with the Belgium based helicopter operator NHV, with the restructuring of charter operations targeted for the second half of 2026. In the interim, the company says it is monetising its maintenance, repair and overhaul facility and its aviation training centre, while an unmanned aerial vehicle business developed with the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure continues to scale from a small base after more than doubling year on year in the first quarter.

The group also says it has reworked its remaining dollar denominated bank facilities to improve long term sustainability and reduce the foreign exchange exposure that has driven finance costs. Group chief executive Olabode Makanjuola said the half “tested us, but the direction of travel is now visible in the numbers”, and that the aviation relaunch is on track for the second half.

Analysis: the loss is a financing loss, and the comparative is missing

Set the two largest numbers side by side. Operating profit before administrative costs was ₦7.3 billion. Net finance cost was ₦8.4 billion. The half year loss was ₦8.7 billion. On the company’s own presentation, the operating business very nearly covers its direct costs, and almost the entire loss is the price of the balance sheet. That makes the debt restructuring the determining variable, not the marine order book, and it is the item on which the release gives least detail. The company says it has reworked its remaining dollar denominated facilities. It does not say how much debt remains, at what rate, over what tenor, or what the restructuring cost.

The second thing to notice is what the release does not compare. It gives a full year on year table for the first quarter and none for the half year. A reader can therefore see that first quarter revenue fell 32.2 per cent against the first quarter of 2025 and that the first quarter loss more than doubled, but cannot see the half against the equivalent half. The improvement the release leads with is a sequential one, measured from a first quarter that was itself well below the prior year. Sequential acceleration from that base is a different measure from year on year growth.

Scale is the third point. Marine vessel revenue in the first quarter was 727,263 thousand naira out of total revenue of 6,088,816 thousand. The Suezmax participation, the NNPC joint venture and the Lagos ferry order are the reasons given for the recovery, but the marine line is still a small fraction of group revenue and none of the three has been quantified as forward revenue. The ten ferries are an order, not a delivery. The tanker participation is described without a share, a charter rate or a duration. The aviation restructuring is targeted rather than completed.

The company’s own long run measure is disclosed alongside that narrative. EBIT to capital employed at -0.07 per cent against 14 per cent in 2020 says that the asset base is currently earning nothing on the capital tied up in it.

The next session’s market report puts the shares against a rising index. On Monday 11 August 2026, the session after the results, the NGX All-Share Index rose 1.21 per cent to a record 248,529.75 points and market capitalisation gained N1.91 trillion to N160.42 trillion, taking the year to date return to 59.71 per cent. Breadth was negative, with 36 decliners against 23 gainers, and Caverton Offshore Support Group was named among the major decliners. In an equity market that has moved from roughly ₦30 trillion in market capitalisation in 2023 to ₦160 trillion, with the index rising from 52,000 points to over 244,000 over the same period, the company’s placement among the decliners came on a session in which the index closed at a record.

What the disclosure establishes is a sequential improvement in revenue and a narrowing quarterly loss. What it does not establish is whether the group is growing against last year, what the restructured debt now costs, or when any of the marine and aviation initiatives convert into revenue. The half year financial statements, with the borrowings note and a full comparative income statement, are the document that would settle those questions.