TotalEnergies Marketing Nigeria (TMN) saw profit from its lube operations fall in the first three months of the year as costs rose faster than sales.

The lube operations’ gross profit of 6.85bn Nigerian Naira ($14.85mn) in the three months to end-March fell by 27pc from year-earlier levels.

Profit edged up by just 2pc from the fourth quarter of last year.

Profit fell as an 11pc rise in costs from year-earlier levels contrasted with a 1pc fall in sales.

Diverging costs and revenue squeezed gross profit margin to 22.6pc in the first quarter of the year.

The margin fell from 23.8pc during the previous three months and from 30.8pc during the same period last year.

Profit fell and costs rose even as European Group I base oils prices fell in the first quarter of the year compared with year-earlier levels.

Nigeria’s currency fell even more steeply versus the US dollar, negating the benefit of lower base oil prices.