Transcorp Records N4.2bn Profit After Tax in Half Year

• Transcorp Records N4.2bn Profit After Tax in Half Year

The shares of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) Plc led the price gainers yesterday as investors reacted to the improved results announced for the half year ended June 30, 2017.

The shares rose 8.1 per cent to close higher at N1.61 each following a profit after tax (PAT) of N4.164 billion recorded in H1 of 2017, compared with a loss of N12.191 billion posted in the corresponding period of 2016. The company’s 2016 performance was impacted by the devaluation of the naira that led to foreign exchange loss of N13.8 billion.

However, the conglomerate, which has interest in hospitality, power, agriculture, oil and gas, has bounced back in the H1 of this year.

Going by the results released yesterday on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Transcorp Plc recorded revenue of N32.174 billion in 2017, up from N24.779 billion in 2016.

Cost of sale stood at N19.3 billion, as against N13.3 billion in 2016, while administrative expenses rose to N5.663 billion, compared with N5.265 billion in 2016. Net finance cost fell from N17.268 billion in 2016 to N4.988 billion in 2017. Consequently, Transcorp ended H1 2017 with PAT of N4.164 billion, a recovery from a loss of N12.191 billion in 2016.

Mr. Emmanuel Nnorom, who was the Chief Executive Officer of Transcorp until June, 2017, had said: “Transcorp’s resilient performance is drawn from the diversity of our various business offerings. The closure of the Abuja Airport negatively affected occupancy for our hotel business, however, this was buoyed by top line year-on-year growth in our power business following improvements in gas supply.

“We expect to recover the lost ground brought on by the Abuja airport closure in Q2 2017. The reopening of the airport will pave the way for aggressive marketing that will improve traffic and occupancy at Transcorp Hotels. In addition we expect to see continued improvement in our power sector revenue as gas supply stabilises following the increased capacity of our plant arising from the recent commissioning of Gas Turbine 15.”

He had also added that the recent federal government’s guarantee of N700 billion to the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trader (NBET), through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which he said, would will help ease liquidity challenges in the power sector and incentivise further investment in power generation.

“With this laudable initiative, the risk of not getting paid for power supply has been mitigated and should thus improve our cash-flow and appetite for further investment, as against current situation where we have notable outstanding receivables for our supply. We are now encouraged to generate more, especially as gas supply improves,” he said.