Seplat Energy Plc, a leading energy group founded and partly owned by Nigerian energy magnate Ambrosie Bryant Orjiako, delivered an impressive financial performance at the end of its fiscal year 2022, with revenue exceeding $950 million.
Seplat Energy is an independent oil and gas company focused on the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Nigerian energy magnates Ambrosie Bryant Orjiako and Austin Avuru, who founded the company in 2009, are credited with turning it into the largest listed energy group on the Nigerian Exchange.
Seplat Energy’s recently published financial results demonstrate impressive growth, with revenue increasing by 29.8 percent from $733.2 million to $951.8 million.
The surge is mainly due to a 35.8-percent increase in crude oil revenue from $618.4 million to $839.5 million, fueled by higher average realized oil prices of $101.7 per barrel in comparison to $70.5 per barrel in 2021.
The increase in revenue can be attributed to multiple factors, including the conflict in Ukraine’s impact on global energy prices and a steady post-pandemic recovery in global oil demand, especially in China and the United States.
This growth resulted in a 15.3-percent surge in the group’s pretax profit from $177.3 million to $204.4 million. However, the profit after tax experienced a slight decline from $117.17 million to $104.7 million.
If it weren’t for the impact of global inflationary trends on expenses, which led to a 71.5-percent increase in general and administrative expenses during the year, and a deferred income tax of $32 million that increased the tax expense during the year to $99.7 million, the profit after tax for the company would have been significantly higher.
Despite these challenges, the company’s resilient financial performance enabled the board to recommend a special dividend of $0.05 per share in addition to the final dividend of $0.025 per share. These dividends will be paid into shareholders’ accounts on April 18, 2023.
Orjiako and Avuru, both credited with turning the energy group into the largest listed company on the Nigerian Exchange, are expected to earn millions of dollars in dividends from their stake in the company.
