By Dipo Olowookere
The board of Conoil Plc has expressed optimism that the oil firm will give its shareholders something to cheer about in the nearest future.
This assurance was given in a statement issued by Conoil on its financial scorecard for the first half of 2018.
According to the statement from the Corporate Communications Department of the company, Conoil Plc has lived up to its pledge to maintain a growth momentum with the “impressive performance” recorded in the first half of this year.
According to the financial statements released to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Tuesday, the Nigerian total energy provider grew its profit by 29 percent to N809.78 million during the period under review.
The firm, notwithstanding the tough economic environment, increased its revenue to N54.48 billion in the first six months of this year, 21.3 percent better than the N44.93 billion recorded during the same period in 2017.
Profit after tax rose by 29 percent to N550.6 million from N427.3 million, a performance the company’s management attributed to effective cost management and aggressive marketing and improved sales.
Earnings per share increased from 62 kobo to 79 kobo, raising the capacity of the company to increase dividend payment and placing it in a good stead to fulfilling its promise to build a stronger financial position and creating higher values for its shareholders.
“The board of directors is optimistic that barring any unforeseen circumstances, this trend would be improved in the remaining period of the financial year,” Conoil assured shareholders.
At its last Annual General Meeting (AGM) held few weeks ago in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Conoil had assured its shareholders that conscious efforts would be directed at achieving better execution of value-added products and services especially in the areas of marketing and customer management.
Chairman of the firm, Mr Mike Adenuga (Jr), at the occasion, had assured the shareholders that the company’s long-term future was guaranteed as it would continue to explore opportunities to deliver solid financial results and increase competitive returns on its shares.
“Our focus will be to further consolidate our competitiveness in the industry, remain committed to explore and develop emerging markets while holding our grounds in areas where we have competitive advantage,” Mr Adenuga had stated.
“Greater attention will be devoted to cutting operational costs in the different segments of our business, while still maintaining and improving the quality of our products and services,” the chairman added.
Adedapo Adesanya