By Yakubu LAAH InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Oil marketing firm, Oando Plc on Tuesday said its post tax profit climbed up 11 percent to 8.980 billion in its half year (H1) period ended June 31 2014 from N54.271 billion in the same period of 2013, the company said in a filing to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

Also, Oando declared a 70 kobo interim dividend for the H1 period of 2014 and a 30 kobo final dividend for its 2013 audited year end.

A further review of the HI period of the oil marketing firm shows that pretax profit also grew 103 percent to N12.532 billion from N6.155 billion reported in the corresponding period of 2013.

Gross profit also increased 68 percent to N50.505 billion in the H1 of 2014 from N30.233 billion in same period of 2013. However, revenue declined 30.6 percent to N194.557 billion compared with N280.327 billion recorded in the HI period of 2013.

The impressive result is an indication the oil marketing firm is beginning to reap the rewards of its purchase of the Nigerian upstream oil and gas business from ConocoPhillips for $1.5 billion in July.

With the acquisition of ConocoPhillips, Oando has transformed into Nigeria’s largest oil and gas producer. The company’s upstream subsidiary Oando Energy Resources (OER) has a total hydrocarbon production capacity of approximately 45,000 boe/d, 2P Reserves of 230.6MMboe and 2C Resources of 547MMboe, and expects annual revenue of over $600 million, and annual free cash flows of $150 million.

Wale Tinubu, group chief executive officer (GCEO) at Oando while commenting on the result said the company’s strategic refocus on the higher margin upstream foresees immense value add for its stakeholders in the near term. ‘’We have succeeded in repositioning ourselves within the sector, and through future acquisitions and innovative efficacy we will seek to up our market share in sub-Sahara’s Upstream sector within the next five years to 100,000 boe/d in net production,” Tinubu said in a statement.

He affirmed that the oil marketing firm has also made significant progress in extracting value from its legacy assets. OML 125 production increased by 17 percent to 651,000 bbls, while OML 56 production increased by 30 percent to 171,000bbls compared to last year, significantly impacting revenue and profit streams.

According to Tinubu, company’s midstream business Oando Gas and Power is currently undergoing an extension of its natural gas distribution network by 8km from Ijora to the Marina business district in Lagos state, positioning the company to benefit from the growing demand for gas and power infrastructure in the country.

‘’In the downstream, the company recently completed construction of the Apapa Single Point Mooring (ASPM) Jetty, a first in Africa. The project is expected to improve overall downstream efficiency through cost savings on imports and the elimination of the current high cost of lightering and demurrage. The cost saving across the industry is estimated to be in excess of $120 million per annum,’’ the CEO Oando said.

The Oil marketing compaany said qualification date for the 30 kobo dividend declared for its 2013 audited year end is September 30, 2014; while payment date is November 17, 2014.

Similarly, qualification date for the 2014 interim dividend is November 17, 2014; while payment will be made December 15, 2014.

At the close trading on the Nigerian bourse, the company topped the gainers chart as it gained N1.31 kobo share price of the company went up N25.01 kobo from N23.70 kobo increasing by 5.53 percent.