Yemisi Izuora
Forte Oil Plc, said it plans to raise as much as N100 billion ($502 million) in equity or debt this year to double profit and expand its operations.
The company plans to get approval this month and raise the capital by the third quarter, Chief Financial Officer Julius Omodayo-Owotuga said.
The company is “already looking at” acquiring retail outlets to boost petroleum products sales after a cut in the pump price by the government led to a 27 percent decline in its revenue in 2015, he said.
It expects an expansion in the downstream business and increase in the operations of its Geregu power station to 435 megawatts capacity by July from about 150 megawatts currently, which will cushion any slowdown from the decline in oil prices, according to Omodayo-Owotuga.
The company forecasts profit to almost double this year to 11 billion naira from 5.8 billion naira in 2015, while revenue is expected to grow to 224 billion naira from 124.6 billion naira.
Nigeria is struggling to cope with a plunge in crude, which accounted for about two-thirds of government revenue in 2014.
Marketers which are contending with Central Bank of Nigeria foreign-exchange controls that have slowed imports and created a scarcity of refined petroleum products, but currently in talks with the government on ways to improve supply.
Forte Oil operates 500 petrol stations in Nigeria as well as eight retail outlets in Ghana.
It took control of the Geregu power station in 2013 following the sale of electricity generation and distribution companies by government to private investors, in an attempt to end blackouts.
The plant is expected to generate about a half of the company’s projected 2016 profit, from 20 percent, following an overhaul and the signing of a 10-year gas supply agreement with the aim to get it operating at full capacity, Omodayo-Owotuga said.