Oando Plc, recorded impressive turnover of N383.5 billion or 16 per cent in the third quarter of 2017 against N329.9 billion recorded same period last year, while its N247 billion debt was reduced to N229 billion by N18 billion as at December last year.
The company’s gross profit increased from N28.6 billion to N71.2 billion or 148 per cent while profit-after-tax scaled to N7.1 billion by 120 per cent from the company’s loss of N35.8 billion in same quarter last year.
Commenting on the results, Wale Tinubu, Group Chief Executive, Oando PLC said “After five consecutive quarters of contraction, Nigeria’s official exit from the recession buoyed by improved performance in the oil, agriculture, manufacturing and trade sectors of the economy is laudable news. The continued increase in oil prices to a 2017 high of $58 in September, coupled with ongoing peace efforts in the Niger Delta have significantly impacted our fourth successive profit declaration.”
Tinubu said “Our third quarter financials are reflective of the continued implementation of our strategic initiatives of Growth through our dollar earning upstream portfolio; Deleverage through recapitalization and asset divestments and the expansion of our oil export trading business. The proceeds from our business restructuring and asset sales have been successfully used to improve our balance sheet with a reduction of N18 billion in our debt position from N247 billion as at December 2016 to N229 billion today.”
He predicted “Our tenacity to continuously create value despite prevailing headwinds is evident in our improved performance four quarters in a row; we remain optimistic about our future performance and focused on delivering robust returns to shareholders.’’
In 2015, Oando concluded the recapitalization of its downstream business with a consortium of Helios Investment and Vitol Group for US$210 million. The partnership re-invigorated Nigeria’s downstream sector to create one of Africa’s largest downstream operations. Oando further divested its midstream business now known as Axxela to Helios partners for US$115.8 million to increase its gas footprint.
