Economy
FY17: NNPC’s NETCO Pays N750m Dividend Amid 34% Drop in Profit
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A subsidiary of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the National Engineering and Technical Company Limited (NETCO), has recorded a profit before tax of N3.257 billion for 2017 financial year.
This showed a decreased by 34 percent in the year under review when compared with N4.90 billion of the previous years.
The drop, according to the NETCO Board Chairman, who is also NNPC Chief Operating Officer, Upstream, Mr Bello Rabiu, was attributable to the foreign exchange gains which constituted 56 percent before tax in 2016 as compared to 4.8 percent gain in 2017.
A breakdown of the firm’s 2017 earnings showed that there was an increase in revenue by 122 percent from N10.13 billion in the previous year to N22.46 billion in the year under review.
Speaking last Thursday at the company’s 2017 Annual General Meeting (AGM) held at the NNPC Towers in Abuja, Mr Rabiu said the operating profit of NETCO increased by 134 percent from N0.89 billion in 2016 to N2.07 billion in 2017.
He noted that the impressive result was the outcome of improved performance in project execution and cost reduction measures put in place during the period, in addition to and the new addition of construction and procurement portfolios in the company’s activities basket.
The COO Upstream said the remarkable figures were made possible through sustained efforts on the part of the Company to cash in on the strong support of the Group Managing Director of the Corporation, Dr Maikanti Baru and the shareholders.
“The strong support of the GMD, that of the shareholders, in addition to award of some big-ticket jobs which NETCO delivered on time, within budget and without compromising on quality of service delivery, made it possible for the remarkable figures. The performance has reinforced to all stakeholders that given the right environment, NETCO is poised to greater heights,” he said.
Mr Rabiu said for the first time since the establishment of NETCO, the company was declaring the highest dividend in any given year of N750 million to its shareholders at the AGM.
Speaking while receiving the cheque for the dividend, Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mr Maikanti Baru, commended the management of NETCO for the unprecedented performance.
He assured the company of his continued support, stressing that based on its performance, he would ensure NETCO got more projects, especially in the gas sector.
He congratulated the outgoing MD of NETCO, Engr. Siky Aliyu, for leaving a legacy behind for his successor and expressed optimism that the company would perform better next year.
Earlier, Managing Director of NETCO, Engr. Siky Aliyu, said the company set a target to perform 600,000 man-hours of work in 2018, adding that it would continue to explore new opportunities and improve on service delivery to engender more confidence in its clients and stakeholders.
The MD, who announced his retirement from the corporation with effect from May, 2018, said he was happy to leave behind a company that has the largest Information Technology facilities in the Engineering field with a wide range of choice software for process simulations, plant modelling, structural analysis, stress analysis, designing of control systems engineering, drafting and project management.
NETCO was established in 1989 to acquire Engineering Technology through direct involvement in all aspects of Engineering in the Oil and Gas and non-oil sectors of the economy. NETCO is Nigeria’s premier indigenous Engineering Company with the strategic vision of providing Basic and Detailed Engineering, Procurement, construction Supervision and Project Management services, using state-of-the-art technology. It recently added construction and procurement to its portfolios in the industry.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The value of the Naira crashed against the United States Dollar by N2.70 0r 0.2 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Monday, June 29, to N1,383.63/$1 from last Friday’s exchange rate of N1,380.93/$1.
This was influenced by FX pressure on the domestic currency, which also weakened its exchange rate against the Pound Sterling in the same market segment during the session by N6.06 to N1,831.64/£1 from the previous value of N1,824.90/£1. It also depleted the Nigerian currency against the Euro by 45 Kobo, trading at N1,578.03/€1 versus the preceding session’s N1,577.58/€1.
However, it maintained stability against the greenback at the parallel market and the GTBank forex desk yesterday at N1,395/$1 and N1,387/$1, respectively.
Despite the pressure on the Naira, it is still trading within the expected range, as a result of ongoing FX reforms, stronger market liquidity, and increased transparency in the FX market.
Unlike in previous years, the improved stability is reflected in the relatively narrow spread between the official exchange rate and rates in the Bureau de Change (BDC) segment, suggesting that reforms introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) are helping to improve price discovery and reduce distortions.
Also, Nigeria’s external reserves, which provide the apex bank with the capacity to support the Naira and meet the country’s external obligations, have continued to trend upward. Most recent data published on the apex bank’s website showed that reserves rose to $51.29 billion as of June 26, 2026.
In the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin (BTC) lost momentum after it dropped below $60,000, remaining under its 200-week moving average as currency markets swung following the Japanese Yen slipping to four-decade lows against the US Dollar.
Strategy, the largest public holder of bitcoin, plans to sell more than $1 billion of BTC as part of a $1.25 billion monetisation program, a sharp break from Michael Saylor’s long-held “never sell” stance. BTC traded at $59,463.89.
Dogecoin (DOGE) went down by 0.9 per cent to $0.0723, TRON (TRX) slipped by 0.8 per cent to $0.3196, Cardano (ADA) dipped 0.2 per cent to $0.1446, and Ripple (XRP) dropped 0.1 per cent to close at $1.04.
On the flip side, Solana (SOL) gained 2.5 per cent to sell at $73.99, Ethereum (ETH) improved by 0.4 per cent to $1,587.51, and Binance Coin (BNB) added 0.01 per cent to sell for $552.58, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
By Dipo Olowookere
Panic sell-offs by investors have left the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited losing weight very fast, as it further gave up 1.57 per cent on Monday.
Yesterday, only 17 equities ended on the advancers’ log, while 45 equities finished on the laggards’ chart, representing a negative market breadth index and weak investor sentiment.
All the major sectors of the bourse tasted defeat during the session, with the insurance counter down by 1.33 per cent. The banking space lost 1.22 per cent, the consumer goods index depreciated by 0.63 per cent, the industrial goods segment shed 0.39 per cent, and the energy sector tumbled by 0.06 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) stumbled by 3,682.70 points to 228,366.32 points from 232,049.02 points, and the market capitalisation slipped by N2.363 trillion to N146.542 trillion from N148.905 trillion.
Learn Africa lost 10.00 per cent to close at N9.00, MTN Nigeria also declined by 10.00 per cent to N747.00, Unilever Nigeria crashed by 10.00 per cent to N126.00, Austin Laz dropped 9.94 per cent to settle at N3.17, and Universal Insurance dipped by 9.90 per cent to quote at N28.12.
Conversely, Sovereign Trust Insurance gained 4.08 per cent to end at N2.04, Cornerstone Insurance chalked up 3.45 per cent to trade at N6.00, Neimeth appreciated by 3.03 per cent to N8.50, Livestock Feeds climbed by 1.92 per cent to N7.95, and C&I Leasing grew by 1.90 per cent to N5.35.
Business Post observed a surge in activity level on the first trading day of this week, with the trading volume, value, and number of deals up by 156.37 per cent, 137.50 per cent, and 38.50 per cent.
This was because market participants transacted 996.5 million stocks worth N43.7 billion in 61,813 deals on Monday compared with the 388.7 million stocks valued at N18.4 billion traded in 44,631 deals last Friday.
Ikeja Hotel exchanged 305.5 million shares for N13.2 billion, Access Holdings sold 289.9 million equities worth N6.6 billion, Dangote Sugar traded 29.4 million stocks valued at N1.9 billion, Chams transacted 22.0 million shares worth N87.9 million, and Zenith Bank traded 21.2 million equities for N2.4 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices settled higher by more than 1 per cent on Monday after attacks by the United States and Iran underscored the fragility of their interim peace deal.
Brent crude futures gained $1.16 or 1.61 per cent to sell at $73.15 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude appreciated by $1.52 or 2.2 per cent to $70.75 per barrel.
The latest price movement appears to suggest that the market is concerned about a reduction in tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz following attacks on two commercial vessels on Thursday and Friday last week, and a further flare-up over the weekend.
The Thursday attack on the container ship Ever Lovely prompted some shipowners to pull back and wait for additional information about how safe transiting the Strait is. The US military on Friday carried out strikes on Iran in response to the attack on the vessel.
On Saturday, an Iranian attack on a Panama-flagged oil tanker, Kiku, while it was transiting the Strait of Hormuz, prompted additional strikes by the U.S. forces.
After the flare-up this weekend, the US and Iran appear to have agreed to cease attacks ahead of tentatively planned new talks this week.
Iranian and US technical teams working on the implementation of an interim peace deal are expected to meet in Doha in the coming days, even after both sides carried out strikes over the weekend that threatened to derail the accord.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Iranian and Omani experts will start talks on redefining transit paths through the Strait of Hormuz in the coming days, adding that his country will try to obstruct vessels outside of defined paths.
Analysts cautioned that traffic through the strait is far from being fully recovered, helping keep prices somewhat elevated as outbound Persian Gulf crude exports are quickly rebounding to at least 75 per cent of pre-war levels.
Middle East producers are pushing ahead with loading oil and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) despite fresh ship attacks in the Strait of Hormuz and renewed strikes between the US and Iran in recent days.
Saudi oil giant Aramco resumed crude oil loadings on Friday at its Ras Tanura terminal, west of the Strait of Hormuz, after they were halted for nearly four months. Loadings continued even after a helicopter belonging to the company crashed on Sunday at Ras Tanura, killing 14 nationals. The cause of the crash was unknown.
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