Conoil grows half-year profit by 255%

Conoil plc has posted an unprecedented performance for the first half of the year 2013. According to a statement issued by the company, the oil marketing giant recorded 255 percent increase in profit after tax from N450.9 million in 2012 to N1.6 billion in 2013. The performance demonstrated the company’s resilience to overcome the overwhelming challenges in the downstream oil sector.

The company also declared a whopping N1.98 billion as profit before tax against N663.1 million recorded in the corresponding half-year period in 2012. Revenue rose to N79.6 billion from N76.2 billion, while Earnings per Share (EPS) increased significantly from 65 kobo to 230 kobo.

The company attributed this sterling performance to the adoption of robust growth strategies, efficient management of resources and total elimination of waste in its operations, assuring its shareholders of its optimism to sustain and grow the impressive performance in the remaining six months of the year. It also assured juicier returns for shareholders at the end of the current financial year.

Revealing its edge, the company said it strengthened and repositioned its core businesses, with huge investments in retail network expansion, which involved building multi-million naira mega stations across the country.

In the statement issued to announce the result, the company emphasised: “For us, the downstream remains fundamentally attractive now, in the medium and long term. With our clarity of direction and focus, our company’s long-term success is assured.”

It added: “We will sustain our improved performance and realise our aspiration to become the leading petroleum products marketer and one of the most profitable quoted companies. We will continue to benchmark our company against best global standards and practices to ensure that the business is managed in the best interest of all stake holders.”
- BusinessDay