Nigeria, May 3 -- Conglomerate Transnational Corporation Plc (Transcorp) anchored the phenomenal expansion in its net profit for the first quarter of the year on a more-than-threefold increase in the cash earned from energy sales.

That alone provided 57.2 per cent of its revenue for the period, figures from the corporation's latest earnings report showed.

Cost efficiency was a significant, additional factor that helped lift the bottom line more than nineteen times to N35.9 billion compared to a year ago, with net profit margin - a pointer to how much turnover has turned into profit - climbing to 40.6 per cent from 5.7 per cent.

Revenue for Transcorp, whose operations crisscross oil & gas, hospitality and power, was up 173.4 per cent at...