Oando PLC, Nigeria’s leading indigenous energy group listed on both the Nigerian and Johannesburg Stock Exchange, has announced a N4.1 billion profit in Q1, 2016 which buoyed investors and rallied the company’s share price on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE)
Oando’s reinvigorated strategy is reliant on key corporate initiatives to drive the company back to profitability and optimise its balance sheet via aggressive debt reduction and recapitalisation.
Despite the prevalent challenging operating landscape, the company echoed in a Facts Behind the Figures session at the NSE, a desire to return the Group to consistent profitability by growing its dollar earning higher margin upstream and export trading businesses.

Commenting on the company’s confidence in its diversified business model and the long-term prospects for growth in Nigeria and beyond, Mr. Wale Tinubu, Group Chief Executive, Oando said: “This first quarter of 2016 demonstrated our dedication to return our business to profitability by the end of the 2016.

We have implemented constructive corporate initiatives which are driving forces for our business in this new global reality of economic restraint and lower oil prices in our industry.

The successful and ongoing implementation of these initiatives reiterates our strategy of growth, deleverage and a return to profitability by the end of 2016. As a group we have placed our focus on growing our upstream higher margined business while still holding fundamental interests in the midstream and downstream sectors. We look forward to a rewarding year, where we solidify our aspirations and return to profitability.”

In keeping with corporate best practice and to assuage investors’ concerns, the company has moved to swiftly issue an earnings guidance to report materially lower earnings for the second quarter of 2016 due to the impact of the Naira devaluation against the US dollar (“USD”), resulting in unrealized foreign exchange losses. The announcement is based on the company’s unaudited financial statements for the period ended 30th June 2016.