Oando Plc Records N4.1b Net Profit In Three Months

 Oando Plc’s  audited financial statements indicate that the Nigeria  energy group recorded a net profit of N4.1 billion in the first quarter of this year.

The three-month report is for the period ended March 31, 2016. It was released at the weekend.

The report raises hopes on the prospects of the energy group in the current business year, after global and domestic headwinds left the company in the red in the previous two years. Oando also released its full-year audited report and accounts for the year ended December 31, 2015.

Flowing from the results, Oando’s share price rose by 2.92 per cent on Friday, the fourth highest gain in a trading session that saw average decline of 0.99 per cent at the stock market.

The results were delayed, the company said, due to an exhaustive audit process overseen by external auditors, Ernst & Young. As a result, it an extension was sought and approvals received by Oando from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN).

Investors will be buoyed by the N4.1 Profit-After-Tax increase, representing a 120 per cent increase compared to this Q1 2015 figures. The company’s financial highlights also indicated that turnover decreased by 34 per cent, with N64 billion realised compared to N97.1 billion for the same period last year. Global crude pricing fluctuation has changed the corporate landscape for oil companies, and has had far-reaching economic implications on Oando and many other indigenous firms in the industry.

The Group’s Chief Executive, Oando Plc, Wale Tinubu, said the first quarter performance demonstrated the group’s dedication to return to profitability by the end of the 2016.

“We have implemented constructive corporate initiatives which are driving forces for our business in this new global reality of economic restraint and lower oil prices in our industry. The successful and ongoing implementation of these initiatives reiterates our strategy of growth, deleverage and a return to profitability by the end of 2016. As a group, we have placed our focus on growing our upstream higher margined business while still holding fundamental interests in the midstream and downstream sectors. We look forward to a rewarding year, where we solidify our aspirations and return to profitability,” Tinubu said.

According to him, as oil prices gradually increased, Oando had commenced 2016 with a reinvigorated strategy hinged on key corporate initiatives to drive the company back to profitability and ensure fiscal efficacy, including optimisation of its balance sheet the company focused on aggressive debt reduction and recapitalisation.