The board of petroleum products marketing major- Conoil Plc, on Monday set a new record, by becoming one of the earliest filers on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, with the presentation of its unaudited financials for the nine-month ended September 30, way ahead of the previous champions.
Recall that Conoil only filed its audited report for the year ended December 31, 2017, on June 30, as against the regulatory deadline of March 31, 2018; while the unaudited report for Q1 ended March 31, 2018, was presented on August 7, nearly five months after the April deadline for such. The result came two weeks ahead of the October 30, 2018 date projected by Investdata Research (READ MORE).
According to the financials, profit after tax and subsequently, Earnings Per Share (EPS) rose relatively faster than revenue for the period, even as shareholders’ funds crawled at just 2.4% up.
Turnover from sales, for example improved by 8% from N70.229bn in September 2017 to N75.838bn; out of which cost of sales climbed to N65.35bn from N59.662bn; resulting in gross profit of N10.488bn, a marginal drop from N10.567bn recorded in the corresponding period of 2017.
Other operating income fell to N134.904m from N184.522m; recording “other gains” of N14.127m was recorded, an item that did not occur in 2017.
Distribution expenses rose to N1.665bn, compared to N1.352bn; administrative expenses however dropped slightly to N5.219bn from N5.488bn; just like finance cost which slowed down from N1.883bn to N1.483bn (being interest on bank overdraft which are paid on demand); leaving Profit before tax at N2.267bn, 11.9% better than the previous N2.026bn.
Income tax of N680.347m, as against N668.867m, left net profit at N1.587bn, which was 16.9% better than the N1.358bn reported in the 2017Q3. The bulk of the net profit was recorded in the third quarter (between July and September 30) and remains the company’s strength, as net profit stood at N1.036bn of the N1.587bn for the nine-month period; up from N930.712m, also the lion’s share of the N1.358bn in the corresponding period of 2017. The net profit represented EPS of N2.29, from N1.96 each in 2017Q3.
A breakdown of the financials shows that white products, namely: sale of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), Aviation Turbine Kerosene (ATK), Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK), Low-pour Fuel Oil (LPFO) and Automotive Gasoline/grease Oil (AGO) remained the company’s mainstay, fetching N71.901bn, or 95% of turnover; N62.622bn, or 96% of cost of sales; and N9.278bn gross profit. It was followed by N3.936bn earned from the lubricants segment- involving lubricants transport, Lubricants industrial, greases, process oil and bitumen; which also accounted for N2.727bn cost of sales and N1.209bn gross profit. There was however no activity in its Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) segment- Bulk, Liquefied Petroleum Gas – Packed, cylinders and valves.
The situation was slightly the same as in the prior nine-month, as turnover from white products stood at N66.473bn; N56.947bn cost of sales (both 95% of total), as gross profit came to N9.525bn. Lubricants contributed N3.755bn and N2.714bn to turnover and cost respectively.
Meanwhile, Conoil also notified the NSE of the appointment of Hardeep Kheterpal, an Indian, as acting managing director.
The appointment, according to the notice by Conrad Eberemu, the company secretary, is subject to ratification of shareholders at the next annual general meeting.
Investdata findings show that Kheterpal is the third Acting MD and Indian that is occupying the position since September 2017.
On October 20, 2017, for example, Pandey Ajay appointed as replacement for Sanjay Mathur, who resigned on September 25 when there was a major shake-up on the top management with the resignation of three executive directors (READ MORE).