Investors in Seplat Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) commonly known as Seplat have maintained apathy following the decline in the company’s full year 2018 profit.
Revenue increased from N138 billion in 2017 to N228 billion in 2018. Profit before tax jumped from N13.4 billion in 2017 to N80.6 billion in 2018. Profit after tax however fell sharply from N81 billion in 2017 to N44.8 billion in 2018.
The company declared a final dividend of $0.05 per share.
The stock shed 3.57% on Wednesday when the results were released and declined by 3.67% in Thursday’s trading session. Year to date, the stock is down 6.7%, under performing the NE All Share Index which is up 1.84%.
What led to the decline in profit ?
The decline was largely due to the absence of a tax credit compared to the 2017 financial year where the firm got a tax credit of N67.6 billion.
Seplat was incorporated on 17 June 2009 as a private limited liability company and re-registered as a public company on 3 October 2014. The Company commenced operations on 1 August 2010.
The firm was successfully listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the main market of the London Stock Exchange on 14 April 2014. However, Seplat on the 4th April 2018, was migrated to the Premium Board of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
