An unprecedented increased demand for the shares of Conoil Plc has lifted the shares of company by 97 per cent following the impressive 2015 full year and 2016 half year results. Despite the economic headwinds that led to poor results by some companies, Conoil Plc posted a performance that beat market expectations.
In reaction to the impressive results, investors have raised their demand for the equity at the stock market, a development that has lifted the stock by a record 97 per cent within seven trading days.
The stock, which was N21.59 before the full year results were released on September 9, soared to close at N42.60 per share yesterday. Conoil Plc has led the price gainers’ table consistently since the announcement of the results.
“I am not surprised at the way the stock is rising given the better-than-expected performance despite the challenging operating environment. But I think profit taking may set in soon as some investors may want to lock part of the gains recorded by the stock,” a stockbroker, Mr. Ayo Oguntayo said.
Conoil Plc posted a profit before tax of N3.448 billion for the year ended December 31, 2015, up by 125 per cent fromN1.532 billion in 2014. The petroleum products marketing firm rode on the back of cost containment strategy to record a higher growth in profit after tax to N2.307 billion, which is 176 per cent above the N834 million in 2014.
As a result of the improved results, Conoil Plc proposed a dividend of N2.08 billion, translating to 300 kobo per share compared with the 100 kobo paid in 2014.
The company followed the full year performance with similarly impressive results for the half year ended June 30, 2016. Conoil Plc grew its profit before tax by 196 per cent to N1.566 billion, from N548 million in 2015, while profit after tax rose by 190 per cent to N1.04 billion.
. “The result shows that we out-performed our previous year both in the top-line and should exceed our bottom-line performance at the current run-rate.
The impressive performance followed the company’s innovative means of manufacturing and distributing products, huge financial investments in developing high-performance products and in the provision of services that matched and surpassed international standards,” the company said.
