Transcorp Hotels Plc, the hospitality subsidiary of Transnational Corporation Plc, recorded a 36 per cent rise in its Profit Before Tax to N22.4bn for the third quarter ended September 30, 2025.

This was disclosed in a statement on Monday as the firm announced its unaudited results for the third quarter, which indicated a positive performance across key metrics.

In terms of revenue, the company delivered N72.31bn, a 49 per cent increase from N48.49bn in Q3 2024. Gross Profit Margin expanded to 76 per cent, up from 71 per cent in Q3 2024, which the firm said was driven by operational efficiency and superior service delivery.

Transcorp Hotels revealed that it had a future-ready growth strategy anchored on sustainability and innovation with the aim of unlocking value for shareholders. The recently commissioned 5,000-seat Transcorp Centre is fast positioning Nigeria as Africa’s hub for world-class meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions.

Commenting on the company’s performance, the Chairman of Transcorp Hotels Plc, Emmanuel Nnorom, said, “This impressive Q3 performance underscores our time-tested strategy focused on cost discipline, operational efficiency, and putting the customer at the heart of everything we do. We remain committed to delivering sustainable profitability and long-term value for our investors.”

Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Transcorp Hotels Plc, Uzo Oshogwe, added, “Our Q3 2025 results reflect our unwavering drive for excellence and our commitment to redefining hospitality in Africa. With the success of our newly commissioned 5,000-seat event centre, we are proud to be positioning Nigeria as the preferred destination for global conferences and events, while scaling sustainable value for our shareholders.

“With its iconic hospitality assets and dedicated team, Transcorp Hotels continues to strengthen its leadership in the sector, setting new standards for growth, innovation, and service excellence.”

Meanwhile, Transcorp Hotels recently won triple honours at the Seven Star Luxury Awards, where the brand won Best Luxury Business Hotel (Nigeria & Africa), Best Luxury Event and Conference Centre (Nigeria & Africa) and Best CEO of the Year.

The Bank Customers Association of Nigeria has expressed support for the Central Bank of Nigeria’s draft exposure on the use of Automated Teller Machines, which proposed a 24–48-hour refund rule.

This was disclosed by the president of BCAN, Dr. Uju Ogubunka, in an exclusive chat with The PUNCH on Monday, where he noted that the faster refund period would make life easier for bank customers.

The CBN, in an exposed draft of guidelines on the operations of automated teller machines in Nigeria, seeks to enforce strict rules for transaction processing, reconciliation, and refund timelines for failed transactions (instant for “on-us” transactions, manual reversal within 24 hours, and within 48 hours for “not-on-us” transactions). The proposed guideline also sought to mandate specific security features, such as camera surveillance, anti-skimming devices, and physical security measures, while also ensuring accessibility and continuous service with limited downtime and proper maintenance.

Speaking on the faster fund reversal period, Ogubunka said, “I think the CBN makes a lot of sense. If I go to an ATM to withdraw money, and it’s not paid, and then you don’t refund me the money within one day, you are strangling me, because that may even be the last money I have in my account.  So, 24 hours is ideal, if you ask me, and 48 hours is even too much for other banks. But again, we can give up some kind of benefit of doubt to another bank and say, ‘Okay, if my own bank is taking 24 hours, let’s give them 48 or 36.’

“No customer would like their money to be hanging out there for more than that kind of length of time, especially if you have an important thing to do with that money at that point, that you need to get the money.

So, it makes a lot of sense, but I’m very sure that the banks will pick against that. They need some leverage of time to be able to sort themselves out. But whatever they do, I think CBN makes sense, and we will support the CBN position.”

On ATM downtimes, the proposed rule said, “All ATM deployers shall ensure that: a. The ATM downtime (due to a technical fault) shall not exceed 72 consecutive hours. Where this is not practicable, customers shall be duly informed by the deployer; b. Helpdesk contacts are adequately displayed at the ATM terminals. At the minimum, there should be a dedicated telephone line for reporting faults, and such telephone lines shall always be functional and manned.”

Ogubunka said, “I think that should depend on what the cause of the problem is. If you give 72 hours for a downtime ATM to be brought back to life, it appears you are suggesting that you have an idea what the problem may be, which I am not very sure anybody can just guess from the outside. But it is a good start. That will make banks face the issue squarely, instead of abandoning the ATM when it gets bad.

“Because the experience we have now is when an ATM gets bad, it may take weeks or months before they can take a look at it. It also means that we need to train more technicians who can handle some of these things, too. Because if the number of people who can handle the issue of broken-down ATMs is very few or limited, then the capacity to run around will just be very challenging. So, I think if it is a rule or a regulation, it makes sense to start from there, put pressure on the banks and let them do what is needful. That’s the position I hold.”

Providing an update on the letter that the association wrote to the apex bank over excessive bank charges, the former Registrar of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria said the body was still waiting for a response from the CBN.

“We have written to CBN. There hasn’t been a response. We have also sent a reminder to CBN to see whether they can give us at least a response. But so far as I am speaking to you, there hasn’t been any. What we are writing to CBN is that we are telling CBN to stop the issue of excess charges because we believe it is possible with regulations and all of that.

“I don’t think any bank can justifiably say, “Oh, this is why we are excessively charging our customers.’ There are guidelines already; a guide to bank charges is there. So, if you follow the guide and use your computers to do that, and you have in-house human capacity, I don’t think you have any problem keeping to the regulation. But like I said, we have not got the feedback yet from CBN.”

He added that although some fintechs were already offering zero transfer charges, the commercial banks do not have to follow suit but should operate within the boundaries of the bank charges guideline.

“Even if they don’t want to give us those things free of charge, let them restrict themselves to what the guidelines have said they should charge. You understand? If the guidelines say charge me one naira, don’t go and charge me two naira, three naira, or five naira. Restrict yourself to the one naira, if you cannot even lower it yourself, to encourage your customers.

“The banks that have said, ‘Oh, we are no longer charging this; we are no longer charging that,’ are trying to encourage their customers to do more business with them. So, that’s the position we hold, and I believe that it’s not too extreme,” Ogubunka asserted.

Nigerians consumed a total of 613.62 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly known as petrol, for transportation, power generation, and other domestic uses between October 2024 and October 10, 2025,

This is according to fresh data obtained from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority obtained by our correspondent on Monday in Abuja.

Despite the ramp-up in operations at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and other local plants, imported petrol still accounted for a larger share of the country’s total fuel supply during the period under review.

Out of the total 613.62 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit consumed between October 2024 and October 10, 2025, the NMDPRA data revealed that 236.08 million litres were supplied by domestic refineries, while 377.54 million litres came through imports.

The figures indicate that imported petrol still accounted for the bulk of Nigeria’s fuel needs within the period, with imports dominating supply, contributing about 63 per cent of Nigeria’s PMS needs.

While local refineries, led by the 650,000-barrels-per-day Dangote Refinery, provided the remaining 37 per cent, marking a significant improvement from the previous year’s levels.

The NMDPRA data further indicated that domestic production rose steadily from 9.62 million litres per day in October 2024 to 18.93 million litres per day by October 2025, showing a near 100 per cent increase within the one-year period.

Conversely, import volumes declined sharply from 46.38 million litres per day in October 2024 to 15.11 million litres per day in October 2025, reflecting a 67 per cent drop.

A monthly breakdown of the data revealed a steady decline in petrol importation and a gradual rise in local supply. Import volumes dropped from 46.38 million litres in October 2024 to 36.39 million litres in November and 38.90 million litres in December.

By January 2025, import figures had fallen further to 24.15 million litres, and though there were slight fluctuations in subsequent months – 26.79 million litres in February, 25.19 million litres in March, and 23.73 million litres in April – imports rebounded temporarily to 37.37 million litres in May.

Thereafter, volumes declined again, with 28.54 million litres imported in June, 35.07 million litres in July, 20.66 million litres in August, 19.26 million litres in September, and a year-low of 15.11 million litres as of October 10, 2025.

In contrast, domestic refining output showed notable improvement within the same period, rising from 9.62 million litres in October 2024 to 19.36 million litres in November and 13.13 million litres in December.

The upward trend continued into 2025, with local supply climbing to 22.66 million litres in January and 22.42 million litres in February and maintaining over 20 million litres in both March (20.65 million litres) and April (20.35 million litres).

Though there were minor dips to 17.85 million litres in May, 17.82 million litres in June, and 16.50 million litres in July, output surged again to 21.19 million litres in August before stabilising at 18.93 million litres in October 2025.

The figures reflect a gradual but significant shift in Nigeria’s fuel supply structure, with local refineries, particularly the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, steadily closing the gap on imports within just one year of operation.

The document further showed that total petrol supply averaged 46.6 million litres per day, comprising 29.5 million litres from imports and about 17.1 million litres from local production.

The reduction in petrol imports has also eased pressure on Nigeria’s foreign reserves, as the country spends less on importing refined products. Previously, importers required billions of dollars monthly to settle letters of credit and cover freight and insurance costs.

However, the report noted fluctuations in overall supply, with volumes dipping from 55.21 million litres in May 2025 to 34.04 million litres in October 2025, a sign that logistical constraints and periodic maintenance still affect consistent nationwide distribution.

Oil and gas analysts say the improvement coincides with the first full year of operations of the Dangote Refinery, which began large-scale production earlier in 2025 and now contributes between 15 and 20 million litres of PMS daily to the domestic market.

Since its commissioning in May 2023 and subsequent ramp-up through 2024, the Dangote Refinery has been under global scrutiny as the flagship of Nigeria’s industrial revival agenda.

In its first year of sustained operation, the refinery’s growing output has reshaped Nigeria’s fuel supply structure, reduced foreign exchange exposure, and rekindled confidence in local refining after decades of failed turnarounds at the government-owned Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries.

Commenting, the Chief Executive Officer of Petroleum.ng, Olatide Jeremiah, said that Nigeria’s domestic refining capacity has recorded remarkable progress in the past year, with the Dangote Refinery now supplying about 40 per cent of the country’s daily petrol consumption.

Speaking in reaction to new supply data released by the NMDPRA, the analyst said the progress underscores the growing impact of local refineries on Nigeria’s energy security.

He, however, stressed that the Dangote Refinery and other local refiners require uninterrupted access to crude oil in naira to scale up production and reduce pump prices nationwide.

“The fact that import remains the country’s major source of refined products shows that there are still unresolved issues. In the last year, domestic supply championed by Dangote Refinery has made tremendous progress with about 40 per cent of our daily consumption. Dangote Refinery needs 100 per cent access to crude in naira to increase domestic supply and drive down prices at the pump,” he said.

He lamented that despite being Africa’s biggest crude oil producer and host to the continent’s largest refinery, Nigeria still imports about 60 per cent of its daily petrol needs, a situation he described as inconsistent with the country’s energy potential.

The Petroleum.ng chief urged the Federal Government and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission to strengthen policies that guarantee local refineries full access to domestic crude supply.

“Nigeria, the biggest producer of crude in Africa with the biggest refinery in Africa, should not be importing about 60% of its daily fuel consumption; thus, our pump prices should be amongst the lowest in the world.