By Dipo Olowookere
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ardova Plc, Mr Olumide Adeosun, has hinted that shareholders of the company may not receive a dividend in the current 2020 financial year.
Mr Adeosun made this disclosure last Thursday when he engaged members of the investing community at a virtual Facts Behind the Figures (FBF) hosted by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
The event was put in place by the exchange to allow companies on its trading platform present their financial performance, strategic and operational developments, and future plans to the capital market community.
During the event, which had Business Post as one of the participants, Mr Adeosun said the board and management were still monitoring events and would review the company’s overall performance at the end of the year before taking a decision on the cash reward to investors.
However, he pointed out that last year, the company, while still operating as Forte Oil, paid a dividend to its shareholders and this was an interim dividend of N1.15 for the period ended March 31, 2019.
In June 2019, business mogul, Mr Femi Otedola, completed the sale of Forte Oil to another businessman, Mr Abdulwasiu Sowami, who is the Chairman of Ignite and Chief Executive of Prudent Energy Services Limited. The deal was worth about N65 billion.
After the sale of his entire 982,971,950 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each to the new owners, Ignite Investments and Commodities Limited, at N66.01 per unit, shareholders, at an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) held on Tuesday, December 17, 2019, in Lagos, approved the name change of the company to Ardova Plc.
At last Thursday’s event, the CEO said, for now, the firm was making efforts to deliver more value to investors by moving from being an oil company to becoming an integrated energy company.
“In line with our vision of being the most reputable African energy solution brand, committed to driving the continent’s growth, we will leverage innovative technology and commit strongly to delivering superior customer experience.
“In the second half of 2020, our focus will be on: operational efficiency, building a superior customer experience, innovation, and partnerships,” he said.
In his presentation, the Executive Director, Finance and Risk Management, Ardova Plc, Mr Moshood Olajide, stated that in the second quarter of this year, the company grew its gross margin significantly to 7.3 per cent from 5.4 per cent in Q1:2020 and from 6.3 per cent in the corresponding period in 2019.
“This sterling performance in gross margins reflects our resolve to maximise our core earnings and minimize cost.
“Shareholders’ funds also grew by 5.8 per cent YTD to N17.5 billion in H1:2020 (N18.6 billion FY: 2018) as a result of an 11.5 per cent growth in retained earnings.
“Our gearing ratio also improved to 37.8 per cent in H1:2020 compared to 88.6 per cent while our earnings-generating capacity remained sufficient to cover existing debt/borrowing with normalised interest cover printing at 4.3x in H1:2020 relative to 0.7x in H1:2019,” Mr Olajide said.
Adedapo Adesanya 
Modupe Gbadeyanka