LAGOS, 27 April. - (ANA) - Nigerian oil and gas firm Oando needs $2.5 billion to remain operational, according to its delayed 2022 audited financial report.

 

The company, which reported its earnings on Tuesday, said it needs the funds in order to clear its debts and cover its operating costs, or risks collapse. 

 

The report reflected the situation in December 2022. It is unclear how much the company, which is listed in Lagos and Johannesburg, has raised since then. 

 

Oando’s stock price dipped by 9.8% in Lagos on Tuesday following the release of the earnings report.

 

Oil and gas firm Oando has released its delayed 2022 audited account, indicating that as of December 2022, it required at least N3 trillion to clear debts and inject cash into its operation.

 

However, it is now about 16 months since the company faced that dire situation and it is unclear how much of that lifeline it has raised so far. In November 2023, it was widely reported that the firm signed an agreement with Afreximbank for a $800 million loan to facilitate its acquisition of 100 per cent shares of the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) in OML 60-63.

 

According to the company’s 2022 audited report, the most pressing of its obligations in the twelve-month period reviewed by its auditors was N686.6 billion (84.1 per cent of outstanding borrowings), which became due and needed to be paid.

 

Oando, listed in Lagos and Johannesburg, said its liabilities to trade partners and other payables as of 31 December 2022 stood at N705.8 billion.

 

However, the company said its management has lined up a list of plans to rescue the company and return it to profitability.

 

One of the measures is a fresh loan of N1 trillion it planned to source in the form of bonds from investors to partly close its N3 trillion funding gap by 32 per cent. What progress the company has made on that front in the past 16 months remains unclear.  - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/27 April 2024 - - -