Oando Plc recorded an increase of more than a half in turnover for 2021, according to its unaudited earnings report issued Wednesday.
The increase helped the oil driller halt its two-year run of losses that began in 2019, the report showed.
Shares in the company had gained nearly 10 per cent, the upper daily limit allowed by the Nigerian Exchange, as of 10:14 WAT in Lagos after the news hit the market. But the stock was yet to see any movement in Johannesburg, where it has a secondary listing, as of the time.
A messy shareholder dispute involving an indirect shareholder, Ansbury Investment Inc, had prompted the Securities and Exchange Commission to bar the firm from holding annual general meetings, making it impossible to release its financials for three years until last June.
At the heart of the conflict were loans granted to the shareholder, which forced Oando to make a huge impairment allowance that tipped the company into a loss after tax of N207.1 billion in 2019 and N140.7 billion in 2020.
Revenue for 2021 grew to N722.4 billion from N477.1 billion, while other operating income slowed to N36.7 billion from N43.6 billion as the company recorded a loss on fair value on commodity options in contrast to a gain one year earlier.
Oando earned N112.1 billion from reversal of impairment of financial assets, where a loss in the sum of N62.9 billion was posted a year ago, boosting operating profit.
Finance income expanded by almost fivefold to N44.1 billion, helping cushion the hit of net finance cost on profit.
Pre-tax profit stood at N48.4 billion compared to a loss before tax of N134.3 billion in 2020, while profit for the period came to N34.7 billion relative to a loss after tax of N140.7 billion one year prior.
Earnings-per-share was N3.04 compared to a loss per share of N9.05 in 2020.
“Bullish oil prices throughout the year saw us record a 105% increase in average realized oil sale price whilst a surge in militancy and sabotage across the Niger Delta resulted in a 40% decline in average hydrocarbon production compared to 2020,” said CEO Wale Tinubu.
“Despite the challenges, a strong revenue performance, coupled with the refund of a longstanding receivable contributed to a Net Profit of N34.7 billion,” he added
