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Lekki Gardens Estate Limited has seen a rebound in project delivery following successful payment terms renegotiation with customers and improved operating efficiency.
The real estate developer successfully delivered 826 units as of September 2025 up from 609 units in the same period (Q3) of the prior year, and 713 housing units in Full Year 2024.
It currently has over 6,700 property units available for sale, of which over 70% has been presold.
While its business remains vulnerable to the current challenging operating environment, the longer-term prospects of the residential property market and the company’s strong presence across key nodes should continue to support its competitive positioning over the long term, according to GCR Ratings in an update.
Lekki Gardens has fast tracked its property delivery leading to a revenue of N29.2 billion ($26.4 million) in 2024, up 71% compared to N17 billion in 2023, and further by an annualised 23.7% during the 9M 2025 period.
This combined with improved operating efficiency led to better earnings with absolute EBITDA rising to N2.4 billion at a margin of 8.3% in 2024 and further to N4.7 billion at an annualised margin of 17.2% during 9M 2025, compared to N1.2 billion, 7.1% in 2023.
Lekki Gardens remains resilient with the earnings recovery largely supported by the strategic cost reduction initiatives implemented to facilitate mutually beneficial contract renegotiations with customers and stimulate demand.
Looking ahead, GCR expects the margin enhancement to be sustained on the back of the stringent cost control measures.
Furthermore, the relative ease in the operating environment indicated by the moderated rebased inflation rate, foreign exchange stability and reduced interest rate should help release investors income for non-discretional purposes.
The company however remains susceptible to the broader macro-economic challenges within the operating environment that could impact demand.
Lekki Gardens is one of the leading property development companies in Nigeria, underpinned by its track record of project delivery, and extensive project portfolio across residential, commercial and retail segments.
The company’s competitive position is also aided by its strategic off-plan business model, which has enabled it to secure early cash flow to fund construction activity, and retain customers.
Lekki Gardens experienced an operational downturn in 2022 through 2023 due to the challenging operating conditions, characterized by general inflationary pressures that led to inflation-induced property value adjustments and the attendant constrained demand.
The property developer’s gross debt rose to N9.2 billion in September 2025 (2023: NGN8.2 billion) following additional loans drawn down for project execution and equipment lease finance.
The impact of higher debt was, however, offset by the improvement in earnings, thus supporting better leverage metrics relative to the prior years. Net debt to EBITDA registered below 1.5x in 2024 and 9M 2025 (2023: 5.3x) and operating cash flow (OCF) coverage of debt was positive against the persistent negative positions in prior years.
Working capital was supported by higher deposit collections from customers. Management does not intend to raise debt over the outlook period as customer deposits should be sufficient to fund construction costs.
Lekki Gardens reported a substantial increase in annual cash collections, which grew by 141.3% to N81.2 billion over the 21-month period to September 2025 with a refund rate maintained below 3% of total cash collections.
This has aided consistent growth in project development and timely delivery.
Liquidity is also supported by the high cash holdings of N5.4 billion as of September 2025, which is sufficient to cover the small outstanding debt service costs of N1.1 billion.
Lekki Gardens Estate Limited has an ongoing ₦25.00bn Commercial Paper Issuance Programme.
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