Sopecam Returns to Profit, but CFA11 Billion in Current Liabilities Strains Cash Flow
Cameroon's state-owned publishing company Sopecam returned to profit in 2025 after a sharp rebound in revenue. However, its financial statements point to persistent cash flow pressures driven by rising unpaid customer invoices and growing short-term liabilities.
The company, led by Marie-Claire Nnana and publisher of the state-owned daily Cameroon Tribune, ended the year with CFA13.59 billion ($23.7 million) in trade receivables—payments owed by customers for services already delivered but still outstanding as of December 31.
That compares with CFA11.35 billion a year earlier, an increase of 19.7%, or CFA2.24 billion. More notably, outstanding receivables amounted to 1.72 times the company's annual revenue of CFA7.89 billion. Despite those unpaid invoices, Sopecam reported a net profit of CFA531.1 million in 2025, reversing a CFA361 million loss recorded in 2024. The company's bottom line improved by CFA892.1 million year over year.
Revenue also climbed 69.9%, rising from CFA4.64 billion to CFA7.89 billion. However, much of that growth had yet to translate into cash by year-end because a significant share of sales remained unpaid.
Receivables Outpace Annual Revenue
In its financial statements, Sopecam classifies the CFA13.59 billion in customer receivables as current assets, meaning the company expects to collect the money within the short term.
The accounts also show no impairment charge against those receivables. In other words, management had not recognized any expected losses on the outstanding balances as of the reporting date.
That accounting treatment does not guarantee the invoices will all be collected on schedule. It simply indicates that the company did not consider the receivables likely to result in losses at the close of the fiscal year.
The figures nevertheless show that a large share of Sopecam's reported revenue had not yet become available cash. That creates a financing gap. While waiting for customers to pay, the company must continue covering salaries, suppliers, taxes, and other operating expenses.
Working Capital Needs Rise
Sopecam's working capital requirement increased by 44.6% in 2025, climbing from CFA3.46 billion to nearly CFA5 billion.
The indicator measures the amount of cash tied up in day-to-day operations, particularly through receivables and inventories, after accounting for operating liabilities. On paper, the company generated CFA1.41 billion in operating cash generation capacity, a measure of the resources its business can potentially produce to finance investments and operating needs.
In reality, however, operating activities consumed CFA135.8 million in cash during 2025. A year earlier, they had generated CFA262.4 million.
The difference was largely driven by higher receivables and inventory levels, which tied up additional cash. As a result, the company reported a profit while having less liquidity available to meet immediate obligations. Investment spending added further pressure. Sopecam invested CFA312.3 million during the year, bringing the total decline in cash to CFA448.2 million.
Net cash, measured as available cash less short-term bank financing, deteriorated from negative CFA44.5 million in 2024 to negative CFA492.6 million in 2025. Cash held in bank accounts and on hand fell 21.2% to CFA245.8 million. Meanwhile, bank overdrafts and other short-term borrowing more than doubled to CFA738.5 million.
Current Liabilities Near CFA11 Billion
The company's liquidity constraints are also reflected in the amounts it owes to suppliers, tax authorities, and social security institutions. At the end of 2025, trade payables reached CFA8.09 billion, up 9.8% from the previous year. The amount owed to suppliers exceeded the company's annual revenue.
Tax and social security liabilities rose even faster, increasing 47.7% from CFA1.89 billion in 2024 to CFA2.79 billion in 2025. The total includes CFA1.75 billion in social security obligations, including CFA988.8 million owed to the National Social Insurance Fund (CNPS). Tax liabilities climbed to CFA1.04 billion from CFA534.4 million a year earlier.
Including trade payables, tax and social security obligations, and other current liabilities, Sopecam's short-term liabilities reached CFA10.98 billion at year-end. The figure was up 17.7% from 2024 and represented nearly 1.4 times the company's annual revenue.
In practical terms, Sopecam is waiting to collect substantial sums from customers while simultaneously owing large amounts to suppliers, tax authorities, and social security institutions.
Those liabilities are effectively helping finance part of the cash gap created by unpaid customer invoices. As a result, some of the company's liquidity pressure is being absorbed by suppliers, public institutions, and short-term lenders.
Services Drive the Recovery
The company's turnaround was driven primarily by strong growth in service-related activities. Revenue from works and services reached CFA7.81 billion in 2025, up 68.4% from CFA4.64 billion a year earlier. Those activities now account for roughly 99% of Sopecam's total revenue.
By contrast, sales of manufactured products, including newspapers and other printed publications, generated only CFA78.9 million.
The financial statements do not break down the source of the increase in service revenue. They therefore do not indicate how much came from printing contracts, advertising, government orders, or other activities, nor do they identify the customers behind the additional CFA3.17 billion in revenue recorded during the year.
The improvement came despite a reduction in government operating support. The subsidy fell 31.3% from CFA1.16 billion in 2024 to CFA800 million in 2025. Even with lower public support, Sopecam's operating performance improved significantly. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) reached CFA1.59 billion, compared with a negative CFA173 million a year earlier.
Operating profit also turned positive, rising from a loss of CFA242.7 million in 2024 to a profit of CFA719.9 million in 2025. The return to profitability confirms that Sopecam's underlying business improved during the year. However, stronger earnings have yet to resolve the company's liquidity challenges.
The company is generating more revenue and posting profits again, but it continues to accumulate unpaid customer invoices while relying on suppliers, tax authorities, social security institutions, and banks to help bridge its short-term financing needs. Its main challenge is therefore no longer limited to increasing sales. It must also convert those sales into cash more quickly. Without faster collections, part of its recovery will continue to be financed by creditors rather than by internally generated cash.
Sopecam's financial statements were subject to a limited review by accounting firm GAP Consult. The firm said it found no evidence calling into question the fairness of the accounts, while noting that its work "does not constitute an audit."
