By Zaveshe Ofei
Following up on President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent announcement of the declaration N287 billion profit after tax in year 2020 by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the Corporation has consolidated on the remarkable achievement, by publishing the Audited Financial Statements (AFS) on its official website.
It would be recalled that while announcing the outstanding feat a little over a fortnight ago, Buhari, who is also the Minister of Petroleum Resources, had said: “I have further directed the NNPC to timely publish the AFS in line with the requirements of the law and as follow up to our commitment to ensuring transparency and accountability by public institutions.”
In compliance with the President’s directive, the NNPC has fulfilled this very important statutory requirement by publishing its Audited Financial Statements today.
Among the highlights of the 2020 AFS is the Corporation’s group profit which rose from a loss position of N1.7 billion in 2019 to a profit of N287 billion in 2020, for the first time in 44 years.
The Group Managing Director of the NNPC Mal. Mele Kyari, had at various times since the President’s declaration of profit, attributed the turnaround to aggressive cost cutting, automation of the system and renegotiation of contracts downwards by about 30 per cent, among other tough measures.
Further highlights of the AFS revealed that while the Corporation’s group financial position increased in total current assets by 18.7% compared to that of 2019, its total current liabilities increased by 11.4% within the same period.
The group’s working capital remained below the line at N4.56trillion in 2020 as against N4.44 trillion in 2019, the AFS further revealed.
However, the Corporation’s group revenue for the 2020 financial year stood at N3.718 trillion as against N4.634trillion in 2019, a decrease that could be attributed to the decline in the production and price of crude oil due to the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is the third consecutive year that the NNPC is publishing its AFS, having done so for 2018 and 2019.
The full document of the NNPC 2020 AFS is available on the Corporation’s website.https://www.nnpcgroup.com/Pages/Home.aspx
