The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Thursday declared a loss of N1.7 billion for the 2019 financial year, a 99.7 per cent reduction from a loss of N803 billion posted in the corresponding period of 2018.
According to a statement issued in Abuja and signed by its spokesperson, Kennie Obateru, the state-owned oil firm highlighted the details of its Audited Financial Report (AFS) for the review period, noting that the general administrative expenses fell by 22% from N894 billion to N696 billion.
Umar Ajiya, NNPC’s chief financial officer, observed that the improvement in the 2019 financial year result derived essentially from contract negotiation, cost optimisation as well as operational efficiency.
“Majority of the subsidiaries posted improved performance namely, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company Limited (NPDC) which recorded N479 billion profit in 2019 compared to N179 billion in 2018 representing 167 per cent increase; the Integrated Data Sciences Limited (IDSL) recorded N23 billion profit in 2019 compared to N154 million in 2018 representing 14,966 per cent increase.
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“The Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC) recorded N14.2 billion profit in 2019 compared to N9.3 billion in 2018, representing 52 per cent increase; while the refineries have maintained the same level of losses as in 2018 but which will reduce significantly in 2020 due to cost optimization drive,” Ajiya said.
He promised that the prospects for 2020 seem bright given the NNPC management’s concerted resolve to pare back running cost and expand revenues.
“The 2019 AFS goes further to demonstrate our unwavering commitment to the principle of Transparency, Accountability and Performance Excellence (TAPE) while the outlook for 2020 looks promising in view of the Management’s strong drive to prune down running cost and grow revenues,” he said.
The release of the 2019 AFS is coming some 5 months after the 2018 AFS was published.
(Ripples Nigeria)
