Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc. – one of the leading players in the Nigerian oil and gas industry, released its unaudited financial statement for the first quarter of 2020, on Wednesday, April 29, 2020.
The company’s revenue declined by 13.35% in Q1’2020 to print at ₦42.41 billion, compared to ₦48.94 billion recorded in Q1’2019. This decline was solely driven by the underperformance of the company’s crude oil and gas business (i.e. weak sales) within the period under consideration. This (we believe) came on the back of the steady decline in the global crude oil and gas prices since the begging of the year owing to fall out from the protracted U.S. – China trade tension and the emergence of a new global pandemic, the Coronavirus.
The company also recorded an increase in its Net Finance Cost which rose by 64.20% to ₦6.60 billion in Q1’2020 from ₦4.02 billion in the corresponding period of 2019. This was solely driven by a 45.21% increase in interest paid on bank loans.
Furthermore, the company in Q1’2020 recorded a decrease of 631.02% and 445.51% in Profit Before Tax (PBT) and Profit After Tax (PAT) respectively, with PBT declining from ₦5.96billion to a loss of ₦31.63 billion and PAT declining from ₦10.02 billion to a loss of
₦34.62 billion. This decline was majorly driven by the high Cost of Sales and Administrative Expenses as well as the aforementioned top-line item and the Net Finance Cost pressure.
Consequently, Investors earning’s an indicator (Earnings per Share) decreased by 440.30% to a loss of ₦59.95 in Q1’20, as compared to an EPS of ₦17.56 in the corresponding period of 2019.
Despite the negative performance reported in Q1’2020, the Liquidity ratios of the firm improved compared to the previous year. The current ratio settled at 1.75:1 compared to 1.50:1 in Q1’2019. Also, Acid ratio printed at 1.59:1 when compared to 1.36:1 in Q1’19. This mirror an improvement in the company’s liquidity position compared to Q1’2019.
Going forward, we expect the performance of Seplat to remain tepid in the remaining three quarters of 2020 due to the negative impact of the Covid- 19 pandemic on global crude oil demand and prices, as well as the expectation of the global economy sliding into recession beginning from Q2’2020.
