Indigenous downstream oil company, NIPCO Plc, stated at the weekend that it declared N254 billion turnover and a profit after tax of N1.58 billion for 2018 financial year based on its petroleum product outlets expansion and boost to its Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) market share in Nigeria.
Chairman of the company, Chief Bestman Anekwe, who – according to a statement – declared this at 15th Annual General Meeting of the company in Abuja, maintained that these achievements were recorded in the face of the prevailing difficult environment, which had prevailed in the sector in the last few years.
The Board of Directors proposed a total dividend of N563 million translating into 300k per share from the profit after tax, which was unanimously approved by the shareholders.
A statement issued by NIPCO’s spokesperson, Taofeeq Lawal, quoted Anekwe to have said the result achieved, even in the face of the challenging business environment, made the company feel proud.
Anekwe noted that NIPCO Plc had maintained its culture of outstanding performance and industry leadership by focusing on pursuing its major objectives.
“We are yet improving on our core competencies and remain committed to our vision of being the First choice company in the Oil & Gas Industry to all stakeholders. We have maintained a constant expansion of our retail outlets and furthermore our company has maintained the lead in the LPG subsector by doubling the number of LPG skids and plants all over the country.
“Our strategy and approach in venturing into the upstream sector hopefully will give us a competitive advantage to explore even new frontiers in the business environment,” he said.
The chairman noted that regardless of the prevailing difficult environment in the downstream sector in 2018, NIPCO was able to sustain its steady growth through strategic expansion of some of its core business activities and made a turnover of about N254 billion and a profit after tax of N1.5 billion.
According to him, the result is rather commendable considering the prevailing operating environment in the sector, which NIPCO was not immured to, adding “we are hopeful that we will sail on calmer waters in the coming year.”
Meanwhile, NIPCO Plc has announced plans to go into production of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in new investments surge.
Managing Director of the company, Mr. Sanjay Teotia, who disclosed this on the sidelines of the AGM, pointed out that conscious efforts were in place in preparation for the take off of LPG production.
“Your company is thinking of venturing into LPG production against the background of the nation’s richness in natural gas. In the near future, we are going into its production,” he said.
The strategy to diversify and grow the streams of income through the expansion of the company’s oil and gas business, Teotia said, would gain more momentum.
Currently in LPG storage space, NIPCO, the company’s helmsman said, “we not only possess the largest but the most active as well as the supplier of choice.
“Our shareholders will continue to smile with good returns on their investment year in year out but with a caveat that challenges in the sector are addressed headlong by concerned stakeholders.”
