Just dug into CWG's 2025 audited financials and there's something worth unpacking here. On the surface, the numbers look incredible - ₦65.6bn in revenue, profit after tax hitting ₦4.975bn, dividend nearly doubled to 70 kobo per share. But when you actually read the cash flow statement, the story gets way more interesting.

Here's what caught my eye: CWG went from generating ₦5.8bn in operating cash in 2024 to burning ₦2.2bn in 2025. That's an ₦8bn swing in one year, while profit grew by ₦1.9bn the opposite direction. So the company earned ₦5bn in profit but finished the year with less cash than it started with. That's... a gap worth examining.

The working capital movements are substantial. Trade receivables jumped ₦2.9bn to ₦8.3bn. But the real eyebrow-raiser? Contract assets exploded from ₦1.6bn to ₦11.6bn - that's a 623% increase in revenue the company has recognized but hasn't actually billed or collected yet. Combined with receivables, CWG has over ₦20bn sitting on the balance sheet that hasn't hit the bank account.

Meanwhile, CWG reduced headcount by 15% - from 321 employees to 273 - while expanding the contract book. But somehow staff costs went up 43% anyway. So fewer people, higher salaries, bigger workload.

To bridge the cash gap, the company borrowed ₦15.4bn during the year (net ₦2.7bn increase in short-term debt). The auditors flagged the receivables and contract assets as key audit matters, noting significant judgment is required on expected credit losses.

What's interesting is the directors' report doesn't really explain any of this. No narrative on the cash outflow, the contract assets surge, the workforce reduction, or why they're proposing ₦1.767bn in dividends from a year with negative operating cash flow.

None of this alone screams crisis - tech services companies regularly carry contract assets, working capital swings happen, short-term borrowing is normal. But for a listed company with 2.5bn+ shares and institutional investors, the disconnect between profit and cash is worth watching. The audited accounts raise the question even if they don't fully answer it.