Three oil and gas firms have projected a total of N290 billion in terms of revenue for the first quarter of 2024.
These projections were stated in their earnings forecast filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited.
The firms, making the projections include Eterna Plc, TotalEnergies Marketing Nigeria Plc and MRS Oil.
In its projections, Eterna Plc set a target of N53.65bn as revenue, however, its projected cost of sale, N51.09bn, will gulp most of the revenue to bring its gross profit to about N2.56bn. A further deduction via marketing, distributions and admin expenses of N1.68bn, interest payment and forecast taxation of N184.25m will see its profit after tax amounting to N391.54m.
In terms of cash flow, Eterna is expecting to have cash and cash equivalent of N1.75bn at the beginning of the quarter and N3.10bn at the end of March 2024. The projection for cash used in operation activities was N3.95bn while the projections for cash used in investing activities and financing activities were in the negative of N216.45m and N2.38bn respectively.
TotalEnergies Marketing Nigeria Plc in its projections is targeting a revenue of N190.88bn; the highest of the three, which will be impacted by N164.54bn in projected cost of sales. It is targeting a finance income of N25.62m, however, a finance cost of N4.24bn will drag the profit before tax to N4.48bn. A projected income tax expense of N1.52bn is expected to return a profit of N2.96bn.
During the period, TotalEnergies Marketing Nigeria Plc is projecting to buy fixed assets worth N2.49bn. Its cash flows from investing activities as well as financing activities are also projected to be in the negative of N2.41bn and N37.74bn. Its cash and cash equivalents as of March 31, 2024, are projected at negative of N39.81bn.
MRS Oil Plc projected a turnover of N46.34bn with cost of sales projected at N44.98bn and a gross profit of N1.36bn. Distribution, admin. & other expenses are projected at N1.05bn, with operating profit coming in at N339.87m and other income projected at N25.96m. The finance costs have been forecast at N45.79m, profit before tax at N294.07m, tax at N95.57m, and profit after tax at N198.50m. Earnings per Share for the quarter is expected to be N0.58.
MRS Oil is eyeing net cash generated from operating activities of N281.75m, cash flow from Investing activities at a negative of N330.05m, while cash and cash equivalent at the beginning of the first quarter is projected at N8.22bn. Cash and cash equivalent is projected to be N8.17bn at the end of the first quarter.
In terms of year-to-date returns, the oil and gas index on the NGX had recorded 125.12 per cent, one of the indexes with the highest returns on the local bourse so far.
The revenue of oil firms had trended positive this year driven by a surge in fuel prices and increasing global demand. Recall that fuel subsidy was removed during the period, which led to an increase in the price of petrol across Nigeria.
