Compagnie Fruitière-owned PHP sees revenue fall by nearly one-third, despite shipping virtually same volume of fruit
Cameroon’s biggest banana exporter, Compagnie Fruitière subsidiary Plantations du Haut Penja (PHP), saw its total revenue fall by almost a third in 2025, despite shipping broadly the same volume of bananas as it did in the previous year, according to a report published by Business in Cameroon.
Revenue fell 32.4 per cent to €87.39mn, from €129.25mn in 2024. PHP also posted a loss of CFAfr5.78bn (€8.8mn) for the year, following a slightly smaller loss of CFAfr4.62bn (€7.04mn) in 2024.
The downturn in revenue appears to buck the overall trend in the country’s banana export sector. As reported earlier this year, Cameroon exported 225,345 tonnes of the fruit during 2025, up 7 per cent from 210,686 tonnes in 2024.
According to a recent export bulletin published by the Cameroonian government, international banana prices averaged about 11.2 per cent lower in 2025 – considerably smaller than the 32.4 per cent fall in PHP’s overall revenue.
PHP’s exports for the year were just 1 per cent smaller at 151,713 tonnes, whereas state-owned Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC) reportedly grew its export volume by 33.6 per cent and Compagnie Fruitière’s other Cameroon subsidiary, Compagnie des Bananes de Mondoni (CDBM), secured a 69.5 per cent increase.
Nevertheless, PHP retained a dominant share of national exports, accounting for 67.3 per cent of the total.
Stronger backing
Despite posting a second consecutive annual loss, PHP’s financial backing appears to have strengthened. In 2024, Compagnie Fruitière put around CFAfr18.37bn (€28mn) into new PHP shares, taking its holding to 99.9 per cent. The company’s 2025 accounts now record it as wholly owned by the French group.
PHP’s banana production potential has also grown, with the October 2025 acquisition of the Mbonjo plantation from Boh Plantations. The same deal saw CDBM take over Boh’s Missaka site in the south-west.
Those acquisitions further consolidated Compagnie Fruitière’s position in Cameroon’s banana industry, with PHP and CDBM now accounting for more than 80 per cent of national production.
