Oando Plc Nets 90.51% 2025Q1 Profit Surge, But Shareholders Fund Still Negative
Energy giant, Oando Plc, on Wednesday set the Nigerian bourse on fire after releasing its unaudited financials for the first quarter of 2025, showing a mix bag such as a flat growth in revenue, marginal drop in cost of sales. Oando, which at N62.50 each on Tuesday, opened Wednesday at N68.75 per share, a full 10% gain which was maintained till the end of trading, in what many believe resulted from the positive sentiment owing to the timeliness of the submission of the result, compared to previous years.
According to the result, Oando Group took a deep dive into other operating loss, enough to wipe out more than the entire income reported in the corresponding period of last, leaving a significant operating loss. Profit after tax leaped 90% forward of a robust income tax credit for the period, even as the balance sheet showed the group’s need for a recapitalisation as hinted by the external auditors in the 2024 audited account, with total liabilities outweighing total assets on the back of a negative shareholders’ fund.
According to the result, revenue for the period rose by a marginal N18.153bn or 1.87% from N915.419bn in the first quarter of 2024 to N932.573bn; while cost of sales dropped to N847.287bn from N884.01bn, representing a decrease of N36.862bn, or 4.16%. The cost cutting efforts also impacted administrative expenses crashed by almost half. It dropped by N72.749bn or 45.78% from N158.903bn to N86.154bn; following which operating loss stood at N120.339bn compared to the previous operating income of N117.201bn.
Finance cost increased from N81.818bn to N55.077bn; while finance income jumped to N149.595bn from just N8.222bn in the corresponding period of last year; resulting in a net finance income of N67.776bn, compared to the N46.655bn net cost.
Loss before income tax stood at N52.562bn, compared to the previous N70.346bn profit; income tax credit significant, at N165.61bn, as against the expense of N11b reported in the corresponding period of last year. This significantly boosted the net profit, swelling it to N113.057bn, a N53.711bn or 90.51% rise over the previous N59.345bn., translating to an Earnings Per Share of N9.00, up from N5.00 in the preceding first quarter.
According to the balance sheet, total assets for the period rose slightly from N6.434tr to N6.833tr, driven by non-current assets like property, plants and equipment valued at N3.223tr while intangible assets stood at N1.031tr, compared to N3.166tr and N1.031tr respectively. Total liabilities, on the other hand, stood at N7.074tr, from N6.706tr, driven by trade and other payables which increased marginally from N2.547tr to N2.637tr. Total equity or shareholders’ fund remained negative, even as it dropped from N360.979tr in the comparable period of last year to N240.121tr.
