NIPCO Plc, an integrated oil and gas company, said it had converted over 4,000 vehicles to run on Compressed Natural Gas.
The company said in a statement that it declared a turnover of about N115bn and a profit after tax of N1.4bn for the year 2015 in spite of the plethora of challenges in the industry during the period.
The Chairman, NIPCO, Chief Bestman Anekwe, who was said to have disclosed this at the company’s 12th Annual General Meeting in Abuja, described the company’s turnover as moderate enough, considering the prevailing difficult environment in 2015.
He said the company’s entry into the CNG market in a joint venture with Nigerian Gas Company had continued to grow with over 4,000 vehicles currently running on gas.
Anekwe said, “The impressive increase in patronage from industries is also evident as more of them are converting to CNG to power their plants. The surge is gathering momentum and we will not stop until appreciable number of vehicles in Nigeria runs on natural gas.”
He noted that the company’s 2015 performance showed a 20 per cent decline in turnover from the 2014 figures of N145bn, while the profit after tax dipped by 30 per cent from N2.314bn to N1.419bn in 2015.
He said, “We are well prepared to weather this rather grim period in our industry as management will not rest in achieving superior shareholders value in the industry in line with the board’s long-standing policy of exceeding shareholders’ expectations”
Anekwe said the Board of Directors was proposing a total dividend of N563m, translating into 300k per share from the profit after tax, while management had retained N1.2bn profit to strengthen the company’s working capital requirement.
The chairman said the company would continue to build an integrated petroleum company that would fit better into the energy reforms of the government, while delivering greater value to both its customers and shareholders.
