Seplat Energy, Nigeria’s biggest oil and gas company by market value, reported a 39 per cent improvement in after-tax in naira terms for the first nine months of the year, its unaudited results issued on Monday showed.
The oil driller, which is listed in Lagos and London, however, posted lower earnings in dollars and would have suffered the same in local currency but averted the setback, thanks principally to a 63.5 per cent drop in income tax expense.
Revenue was up by 84.8 per cent at N478.1 billion, supported by average production levels during the period, which advanced 11 per cent. Activities at the company benefitted largely from better uptime at Forcados Oil Terminal and the availability of the Amukpe-Escravos pipeline, according to the earnings report.
Seplat recorded N89.8 billion in other loss, partly driven by foreign exchange loss, and almost a double increase in administrative expenses to N61.7 billion in blow to operating profit, which dipped 7.4 per cent to N91.3 billion.
“Our focus for the rest of 2023 is on safe and reliable operations, revenue assurance and cost management, all of which will deliver further strengthening of our cash position,” said CEO Roger Brown.
“Ongoing third-party delays to ANOH’s export infrastructure remain a source of frustration, but we are confident that the quality of the project will support dividend growth for Seplat in the coming years as we diversify the business and deliver on our strategy to provide more affordable energy for Nigeria.”
The company reported N28.4 billion in net finance cost compared to N21.2 billion a year earlier. Profit after tax came to N46.9 billion relative to the N33.9 billion reported in the same period of last year.
A foreign currency translation difference of N547.1 billion helped lift the total comprehensive income for the period to N594.1 billion. The figure had been N63.5 billion a year ago.
Meanwhile, the telco has announced a quarterly dividend of 3 cents per share translating to a $17.7 million payout.
“The company maintains a policy of a core dividend of 3c per share payable quarterly (12c per share annually), and an additional special dividend. The special dividend will be considered by the board as part of the full year 2023 results,” Seplat said.
The telecom operator has returned 73.2 per cent so far this year but still lags behind peers like MRS and Conoil, which have yielded 680 per cent and 203 per cent respectively.
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