NNPC Posts Record ₦3.3 Trn Profit in 2023, Eyes Stock Market Listing

In a landmark announcement, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) has revealed a record-breaking profit of ₦3.3 trillion for the 2023 financial year. This impressive figure marks the highest profit ever reported by the company since its establishment in 1977.

Alhaji Umar Ajiya, Chief Financial Officer of NNPC Ltd., shared the news on Monday, August 19, highlighting the impressive financial milestone.

“Our fiscal performance reflects both strategic foresight and operational resilience. Despite inherent challenges of our operational and economic environment, we have improved the productivity and the financial performance of this great company,” Ajiya stated.

The new profit figure represents a remarkable increase of over ₦1 trillion from the ₦2.548 trillion profit reported for the 2022 financial year.

“The NNPC Limited has released its 2023 Audited Financial Statement (AFS), declaring a net profit of ₦3.297 trillion at the close of the financial year which ended in December 2023, an increase of over ₦700 billion (28%) when compared to the 2022 profit of ₦2.548 trillion,” the statement, signed by Olufemi Soneye, the company’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, reads in part.

NNPC Eyes Listing on Nigeria’s Stock Market

The statement revealed that the state-owned company is considering listing on Nigeria’s stock market, four years after recording its first profitability in over 40 years.

“NNPC Ltd. will announce its Initial Public Offering (IPO) once the shareholders and Board make a decision,” the statement said.

While it remains unclear what the specifics of the IPO will be, the announcement comes just months after Aliko Dangote disclosed that his company, Dangote Refinery, in which NNPC holds a 7.2 percent stake, will list on the stock market by the end of the year.

This revelation comes in the wake of accusations that the company continues to subsidize petrol, despite the removal of the subsidy by President Bola Tinubu.

Sources earlier reported that President Bola Tinubu has given the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) the go-ahead to divert its 2023 dividend payments to the federal government towards funding fuel subsidies.

It was reported that the national oil company has cited significant subsidy costs, which it refers to as a ‘subsidy shortfall/FX differential,’ as the reason for its inability to remit taxes and royalties to the federal account.

“NNPC was only covering the PMS importation shortfall between it and the Federation,’ Olufemi Soneye said in the statement.