The Group Chief Executive Officer of Forte Oil Plc, Mr. Akin Akinfemiwa, has attributed the impressive half-year performance of the company to aggressive sale drive, strategic retail acquisition, and prudent approach to cost containment.

Forte Oil reported a revenue of N84.475billion for the half year ended June 30, 2016, showing an increase of 38 per cent, from N61.168billion in the corresponding period of 2015.

Profit before tax (PBT) rose by 31 per cent from N3.255billion to N4.250billion in 2016.
Speaking at the ‘Facts behind the figures’ presentation of the company at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) yesterday, Akinfemiwa said revenue grew as a result of ongoing strategic retail acquisitions across the country, increase in pump price of premium motor spirit and increased commercial customer base for both fuels and lubricants.

According to him, gross margins increased by 48 per cent to N12.3 billion, from N8.32 billion largely due to aggressive drive and focus on higher margin products, efficient product sourcing and sales through profitable channels.

“PBT rose 31 per cent to N4.25 billion in H1, 2016 compared to N2.53 billion in the same period in H1 2015 largely due to our prudent approach to cost containment. Forte Oil’s total assets increased by 12 per cent from N121.8 billion to N136 billion driven by over N10 billion paid so far for the major overhaul exercise at Forte Oil’s 414MW Geregu power plant aimed at optimising and increasing its generation capacity from 414MW to 435MW. This business segment of Forte Oil Plc remains our key growth driver,” he said.

He explained that the power business contributed five per cent to revenue of the group and 15 per cent to PBT as a result of low generation due to ongoing overhaul project and gas supply constraints due to the security challenges in the Niger delta region.

Looking ahead, the Forte Oil boss said the company would focus on high margin products, fully exploit LPG business particularly, LPG retailing, bottle refilling, optimise and expand Geregu Power Plant Asset, diversify into upstream space through profitable acquisition of upstream assets and uptmising working capital structure.

“Also in the second half of 2016, we shall focus on increased supply of petroleum products imports as full deregulation kicks in and forex availability increases,” Akinfemiwa said.

Source: http://www.thisdaylive.com