According to the Nigerian upstream exploration and Production Company, gross profit grew by 84 percent from N65 billion in 2017 to N120 billion in 2018 while operating profit grew by 177 percent from N34 billion in 2017 to N95 billion in 2018.
Austin Avuru, Seplat’s Chief Executive Officer, said the company has delivered an excellent operational and financial performance resulting in robust profitability and cash flow generation providing it with an extremely solid foundation for growth in the coming years.
Profit before deferred tax grew by 480 percent from N13 billion in 2017 to N73 billion in 2018 while net profit after all taxes decreased by 45 percent from N81 billion in 2017 to N45 billion in 2018.
“At our core assets in the West, OMLs 4, 38 and 41, the extension of the license to 2038 means that we can confidently plan and invest long into the future to realize the full potential of those blocks,” Avuru said.
Basic earnings after share decreased by 45 percent to 79.04 in 2018 from 143.96 in 2017 while cash flow from operating operations grew by 12 percent from N137 billion in 2017 to N154 billion in 2018.
Alongside its oil business, the Company is also prioritized the commercialization and development of the substantial gas reserves and resources identified at its blocks and is today one of thebiggest suppliers of processed natural gas to the domestic market in Nigeria.
“As we continue to enhance production and revenue diversification with new wells scheduled at OML 53 in the East, the board took the Final Investment Decision (FID) to invest in the large scale ANOH gas and condensate development which will form the next phase of transformational growth for our gas business,” Avuru said.
With line of sight on the availability of three independent export routes, Seplat said its ultimate intention is to utilize all three to ensure there is adequate redundancy in evacuation routes. This will reduce downtime which has adversely affected the business over a number of years, significantly de-risking the distribution of production to market.
Avuru said disciplined capital allocation continues to remain at the core of Seplat’s activities evidenced by its continual deleveraging on debt levels to the current balance of $350 million.
“In 2018, we reinstated the dividend, increased capital investments and with the resources and headroom in our capital structure, we are equipped to capitalize on organic and inorganic growth opportunities as they may arise,” Avuru concluded.