Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
Shareholders of Total Nigeria Plc will receive a N4 interim dividend for the first half of the 2021 financial year, the board has confirmed.
On Thursday, the energy firm released its financial statements for the period ended June 30, 2021, and analysis showed that the company had an impressive performance, recording double-digit growth in its earnings.
The organisation said in the period under review, its revenue improved to N151.1 billion from N106.7 billion achieved in the same period of last year, with the major contributor being the sale of its petroleum products, which rose to N144.0 billion from N83.7 billion, while lubricants and others grew to N37.3 billion from N23.0 billion.
With the cost of sales of N125.8 billion in H1 2021 versus N94.3 billion in H1 2020, Total Nigeria was left with a gross profit of N25.5 billion, higher than the N12.4 billion declared a year ago.
In the period under consideration, the company recorded an operating profit of N12.5 billion compared with the operating loss of N716.8 million recorded in the COVID-19 ridden 2020, when the oil sector was dealt a devasting blow.
However, in the first six months of this year, Total Nigeria recorded negative net finance costs of N747.4 million in contrast to the positive N192.9 million. This was driven by the low finance income of N94.6 million posted compared with N2.2 billion last year, which could not swallow the finance costs of N842.0 million incurred in the reporting period.
In the same period of last year, the finance costs were N2.0 billion, but the higher finance income, mainly from the Petroleum Subsidy Fund (PSF), which was not available this time, was able to soak the pressure.
Business Post observed that in H1 2021, Total Nigeria recorded administrative expenses of N13.8 billion in contrast to N11.9 billion of the same period of last year.
In H1 2021, Total Nigeria said its pre-tax profit stood at NN11.8 billion as against the pre-tax loss of N523.9 million of H1 2020, while the post-tax profit stood at N8.1 billion versus the post-tax loss of N537.2 million in the same period of 2020.
Ostensibly because of this improvement, the board decided to reward shareholders with the interim dividend, which would be paid September 13, 2021, to those whose names appear on the register of members at the close of business on August 13, 2021, and who have completed the e-dividend registration and mandated the registrar to pay their dividends directly into their bank accounts
In a notice to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) today, the organisation said the register of shareholders would be closed from Monday, August 16, 2021, to Friday, August 20, 2021.
