By Dipo Olowookere
Shareholders of 11 Plc (formerly Mobil Oil Nigeria) have expressed concerns over the company’s marginal drop in profit in the 2017 business year.
The shareholders aired their views on this issue at the firm’s 40th
Annual General Meeting (AGM) held recently in Lagos.
In the financial year ended December 31, 2017, Mobil Oil Nigeria recorded a 1.4 percent decline in profit, closing at N15.3 billion against N15.5 billion in 2016.
However, its financial sales revenue grew significantly by 33 percent to N125.26 billion in 2017 from N94.11 billion a year earlier.
At the AGM, the shareholders charged the board and management to come up with initiatives to improve profit of the company.
Responding, Chairman of Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc, Mr Ramesh Kansagra, attributed the drop in profit to the challenging environment in the country.
“I thank you all for recognizing and acknowledging our efforts in 2017, the positive year we saw a result of huge effort towards enhancing sales and marketing to bring further awareness to our products and services as far as the public is concerned,” the Chairman said.
“As regards reduction in profitability, I will like distinguished shareholders to be aware that the cost of oil product business in Nigeria is essentially government regulated.
“We are all expecting the government to deregulate, but instead of deregulating, not only have they continued to regulate, they set the price at which we can sell some of our key products and what we can buy them.
“Government has not largely encouraged private enterprise to thrive in this industry; private enterprises have very little money to make in the sale of oil products,” Mr Kansagra explained to shareholders.
During the AGM, shareholders approved N2.6 billion for payment as dividend translating to N8 kobo per share for the year ended December 31, 2017.
