Forte Oil Plc’s total assets grew by N147.24 billion, for the first quarter ended March 31, 2018, The Point’s investigations have revealed.
The company, which is the first to fill in its first quarter result for 2018 on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, reported a N2.963 billion profit after tax, while total liabilities went up to N98.53 billion, from N91.96 billion in 2017.
The oil company in 2017 put a planned N20 billion share sale on hold, after it received regulatory approval for the offer, due to restructuring. Its profit after tax went up by 57.27 per cent from N1.884 billion in the first quarter of 2017. Revenue for the period under review grew by 20.63 per cent to N39.81 billion, from N33.003 billion in 2017.
Forte Oil’s cost of sales gained 21.36 per cent to N33.01 billion, from N27.2 billion in the corresponding period of 2017, while gross profit rose to N6.8 billion as against N5.8 billion in 2017.
Operating profit went up to N4.38 billion, from N3.63 billion; finance income depreciated from N563.59 billion to N533.68 billion, while finance cost also declined to N1.75 billion, when compared to N2.14 billion recorded in 2017.
The company notified the NSE, investing public and its stakeholders that the Securities and Exchange Commission had approved its proposed offering by way of Rights.
Forte Oil said that the board of the company had taken a strategic decision to put the offering on hold pending the conclusion of an ongoing corporate restructuring with respect to maximising the emerging opportunities in the Nigerian energy sector.
The Group Executive Director, Finance and Risk Management, Mr. Julius Omodayo-Owotuga, said that the proceeds realised from the fund raising exercise would be used for business expansion.
