Seplat

Mr Basil Omiyi, the Chairman of Board, Seplat Energy, said the company’s total revenue rose by 29.8 per cent to $951.8 million as at financial year ended Dec. 31, 2022.

Omoyi said this during his address  at the company’s 10th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held virtually on Wednesday with shareholders, regulators, company directors, and the media.

He also said that the profit before tax rose by 15.3 per cent to $204.4 million during the period under review.

The Seplat Energy Plc, a Nigerian independent energy company is listed on the Nigerian Exchange Ltd. (NGX) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

The Seplat Energy Board recommended a special dividend of U.S. five cents per share to be paid to shareholders, in addition to the final quarterly dividend of US 2.5 cents per share.

This brings total dividend for the year to US 15 cents per share.

The shareholders at the meeting approved the dividend payout, which will be made on or around May 16 to shareholders whose names appear in the company’s Register at the close of business on April 18.

Omiyi said the company’s oil business started the year on a strong footing, with working interest production of 29,078 barrels of oil per day (bopd) and 30,338bopd in Q1-2022 and Q2-2022 respectively.

He added that: “However, in the third quarter, production was impacted negatively by evacuation problems at the Forcados Oil Terminal (FOT), not being available for a period.

“Thankfully, the much-delayed launch of the Amukpe-Escravos Pipeline (AEP) provided some relief as we were able to flow c.10,100bopd (working interest production) during the period.

“The AEP is now a major export route for our largest assets at OMLs 4, 38 and 41. As a result, our reliance on the Trans Forcados Pipeline and FOT is significantly lower, reducing risks of downtime while providing a solid base for stronger export volumes and revenues.”

Omiyi said that the company’s gas business remained strong through the year, as progress was made with the construction of the ANOH Gas Processing Plant.

The Seplat chairman, however, said that the plant awaited  the completion of third-party infrastructure before it could commence operations, projected for the final quarter of 2023.

“The positive impact of renegotiated Gas Sales Agreements (GSAs) in H2-2022 provided healthy support for revenue growth and profitability and we continue to focus on increasing capacity utilisation at our Oben Gas Processing Plant,” he added.

Over the past 12 months, Omiyi said the company had taken significant steps toward fulfilling its new purpose and vision with regards to energy transition, and was scaling up its  midstream gas business.

He added that this would help to increase the amount of natural gas supplied toward powering Nigeria’s electricity grid, thereby displacing diesel use in power generation.

According to him, the company’s new energy business has been tasked with developing power and renewable energy.

Omiyi said, “At the same time, we have strengthened our approach to understanding and evaluating climate risk, which we have re-designated as a key risk to our business.

“We have adopted a new Board-approved Climate Change Policy and have advanced a major component of our decarbonisation strategy.

“This eliminates routine flaring by the end of 2024 through our Flares Out initiative, which is six years ahead of Nigerian regulatory requirements and the World Bank’s initiative to achieve Zero Routine Flaring by 2030.

“These steps form part of a transition plan that will align our business strategy with the overarching goal of the Paris Agreement to limit mean global temperature rise to well below 2°C and contribute to supporting Nigeria’s pathway to achieving carbon neutrality by 2060.

“This plan is subject to evaluation, approval and oversight of our Board and Management teams and is underpinned by actionable, specific initiatives for decarbonising our operations and increasing the overall sustainability of our business model.”

The chairman also said that the company had published its first Climate Risk and Resilience Report, which is a separate and comprehensive document that outlines its approach to climate change risk.

Reacting to the  comment, a shareholder, Mr Patrick Ajudua, said: “I want to commend the company for the special dividend of 5 cents, in addition to the final dividend of 2.5 cents, bringing the total to 15 cents.

“We are, indeed, very grateful and we appreciate the board for being consistent in dividend payment and ensuring a generous reward to the shareholders at a very difficult time, when most companies are even finding it difficult to maintain profitability.”

Mr Matthew Akinlade, President, Noble Shareholders Solidarity Association, commended the Board and management of Seplat for a good performance.

“In spite of the challenges of year 2022, you were able to raise revenue by about 38 per cent and cost of sales at just 18 per cent, which shows an effective management of the company’s cost,” he said.

Also, speaking at the meeting,  Chief Operating Officer, Seplat Energy, Mr Samson Ezugworie, said the company was exploring  ways to become a leading supplier of lower[1]carbon and renewable energy.

“We are exploring ways to expand into these new and exciting markets.

“The first and most obvious option is to provide more gas for Nigeria’s power sector, to reduce the country’s reliance on imported diesel fuel, which is highly carbon intensive and a drain on the nation’s wealth.

“We will also look at hybrid systems where we install solar or other renewable technology alongside gas, which will provide baseload power at all times.”

The Human Rights Writers Association (HURIWA) has commended the Federal Government (FG) for protecting the rights and dignity of Nigerian workers at Seplat Energy PLC.

 HURIWA hailed the Federal Ministry of Interior for investigating and sanctioning Seplat’s Chief Executive Officer, Roger Brown, over alleged racist practices, discrimination against Nigerian workers and favouring of expatriate workers, by revoking his visa, work and resident permits.

The National Coordinator of the group, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, stated this in a statement to mark the International Workers’ Day in Abuja.

The civil rights advocacy organisation said no Nigerian should be made to suffer such humiliation on his or her own soil.

The group, however, frowned at the reported withdrawal of the four-court criminal charge against the company, Mr Brown; its Board Chairman, Mr. Basil Omiyi, and six others in relation to the alleged breach of the Nigerian Immigration Act 2015.

HURIWA said that if it was okay for the UK government to put a serving Nigerian Senator, Ike Ekweremadu, through trial without bail in a “clearly bailable offence,” there was nothing wrong in trying a UK citizen for the violation of Nigerian laws.

The Federal Government had, in March, revoked the immigration documents of Brown, citing racist practices and breach of Immigration Laws and Regulations.

The Ministry of Interior, in a letter written on March 3, read in part: “I write to inform you that the ministry is in receipt of a petition from the solicitor to the concerned workers and stakeholders of Seplat Energy PLC, accusing Mr. Rogers Thomson Brown, the CEO of the companies of various allegations.”

The company, however, announced recently that the FG had withdrawn and discontinued the charges.

Seplat Energy has posted N86.7 billion as Profit Before Tax (PBT) in its year ended, Dec. 31 2022, audited results.

The company said this in a statement signed by Dr Chioma Nwachuku, Director, External Affairs & Sustainability of Seplat Energy, on Tuesday and made available to newsmen in Lagos.

The figure represents a rise of 15.3  per cent growth when compared with the N71 billion recorded in the corresponding period in 2021.

The company also generated cash from its operations to the tune of N242.4 billion from N150.9 billion  year-on-year, rising by 51.6 per cent.

The energy company’s also grew its revenue by 29.8 per cent to N403.9 billion from N293.6 billion year-on-year.

Its gross profit increased to N197.2 billion from N114.2 billion recorded in 2021, rising by 63 per cent.

Also, Seplat Energy is paying a 7.5  cent final dividend, despite the significantly disrupted production experienced in the second half of the year.

This amounts to a full-year dividend of 15 cents, representing a dividend yield of around 11 per cent at the current London Stock Exchange (LSE) share price.

The company’s working interest production averaged 44 kboepd, impacted by outages of key infrastructure predominantly in third quarter.

The company completed 13 wells, including two wells for the ANOH gas processing plant.

ANOH Gas Processing Plant is 95 per cent mechanically complete and is awaiting third-party infrastructure completion.

The board recommends a special dividend of five cents per share in addition to the final dividend of 2.5 cents per share.

Mr Roger Brown, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Seplat Energy Plc, said he was delighted that the company’s strong financial performance.

According to him, the performance will enable the company to pay 7.5 cent final dividend, despite the significantly disrupted production experienced in the second half of the year.

Brown said that the year dividend of 15 cents represents a dividend yield of around 11 per cent at the current LSE share price.

He said: “As we enter 2023, the business is in a very healthy state, with new wells coming onstream, encouraging appraisal drilling underway at Sibiri, and alternative export routes ensuring good export performance in January and February this year.

“Our gas business continues to develop, with first gas expected from ANOH in fourth quarter this year, and we are now in the process of separating our Midstream Gas business from the Upstream unit to unlock new value for shareholders.

“We are continuing to pursue the Presidential approval received on the 8 August 2022 for the MPNU acquisition and we remain focused on concluding the transaction within the remaining term of President Buhari before a new president is sworn into office at the end of May 2023.

“We are implementing our roadmap to net zero and have made encouraging progress with a 35 per cent reduction in emission intensity last year.”

The CEO noted that major reduction in carbon emissions was routine flaring, saying, “we are on target to eliminate by the end of 2024”.

“Alongside these efforts, and as part of our stated strategy to become Nigeria’s energy champion across the entire value chain, we are planning to invest in gas-to-power and solar power projects with FID targeted for later this year if the projected returns meet our internal hurdle rates.

“We are confident in our outlook for 2023, with the new Amukpe-Escravos Pipeline working well, our drilling cost reductions and efficiencies being delivered.

“ANOH’s first gas expected in fourth quarter once third party infrastructure is completed, our business is on a firm footing to facilitate significant growth and higher returns for stakeholders,” Brown said.

The Board of Directors has appointed Ms Koosum Kalyan as an independent non-executive director of the company.

Dr Chioma Nwachuku-Directo, External Affairs & Sustainability of Seplat Energy, said in a statement in Lagos on Tuesday that Kalyan would be joining the Board with effect from Feb. 28.

Kalyan, a South African businesswoman, began her career began in the Electricity Commission in Melbourne Australia as an economist.

Kalyan, subsequently joined Shell South Africa as an economist and became a member of the Shell Global Scenario Planning Team, after which she embarked on her expatriate posting to Shell International London for nine years.

“The scope of her work included projects in Nigeria, Gabon, Mozambique, Tanzania; etc.

“Kalyan assisted governments in transforming its energy policies and in joining the extractive Industries transparency initiative during her tenure at Shell and also assisted in digitising government institutions.

“She has served on the Boards of several prestigious companies where she expertly contributed her wealth of knowledge to the progress of these companies and was recently appointed the Chairperson of Control Risk for Southern Africa”, the statement said.

Kalyan has a degree in B. Com Law and a degree in Economics from the University of Durban Westville.

She has also completed the Senior Executive Management Program at London Business School and a Leadership Management Program at Shell Leadership Institute.

Commenting on the appointment, Mr Basil Omiyi, CON, Chairman of SEPLAT Energy said: “The Board of SEPLAT Energy is pleased to welcome Koosum Kalyan.

“Koosum has a proven track record of operating across the African continent and her experience spans over decades and cuts across the oil and gas industry as well as the wider energy industry.

“SEPLAT Energy eagerly looks forward to the enormous contribution she will make towards the Company’s growth plans achieving global success,” she said.