Forte Oil Plc (formerly African Petroleum Plc) has given an assurance to its shareholders and operators that it has put things in place to ensure that it increases its profitability in the next few years.
The company’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Akin Akinfemiwa, said this during the presentation of its fact behind the figures at the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Thursday.
He said as part of its short-term goals, the company planned to increase its market share by ensuring that it embarked on strategies that would make it succeed in the petroleum market business.
He said, “We have short-term, medium term and long-term goals that we seek to achieve to push our company to the forefront and make our shareholders enjoy the dividends of their investments.
“We plan to consolidate our market position and grow our profitability through business expansion, which would ultimately lead to increased revenue and elimination of wastages/losses and cost leadership in Nigeria.”
Akinfemiwa said the company planned an expansion through strategic acquisition of retail assets, adding that it would consolidate its presence in the international market.
He said the firm had concluded plans to leverage on its ongoing transformation programme to consolidate its presence in West African markets such as Liberia, Togo, Sierra Leone and other countries.
He explained that the company operated in Ghana through APOG, its fully-owned marketing subsidiary, with a network of retail outlets for the sale of fuel and lubricants, as well as supply to industrial customers, thus significantly improving the business operations of marketing refined petroleum products.
He said, “The execution of this segment of the plan has also been initiated. Sales volumes, revenue and profitability have notably improved within Nigeria. The plan’s objective is to improve and sustain growth along the West Coast of Africa.
“We have commenced execution of the short-to-medium term plan through a power-asset purchasing consortium. The consortium; Amperion Power Distribution Company, has purchased Geregu Power generating plant in Kogi State.”
The company’s audited result showed 21 per cent increase in revenue, from N49bn in 2012 to N59.9bn in 2013, while profit after tax stood at N1.3bn from N855m posted in 2012, which represents 63 per cent growth.
Akinfemiwa added that the company had fully aligned its activities in the past few years to ensure that they were in line with what the shareholders of the company required of them.
“The fact remains that we used to have negative liquidity, but now, that has become a thing of the past. We are on the verge of ensuring that our shareholders’ wealth is increased maximally,” he said.