NETCO Posts N4.31 Billion Profit For 2021

The National Engineering and Technical Company (NETCO), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd., has declared a profit before tax of N4.31 billion for the year ended Dec. 31, 2021.

Chairman, Board of Directors, NETCO, Adeyemi Adetunji, made the disclosure on Thursday at the company’s 32nd Annual General Meeting in Lagos.

Adetunji said that NETCO scaled the significant hurdles faced by the oil and gas industry as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic and global energy shift which curtailed investment in the sector.

“NETCO has delivered a strong result as it posted a total profit before tax of N4.31 billion which represents an increase of 36 percent from N3.17 billion in 2020.

“The company recorded total revenue of N18.49 billion in the year under review, which represents a marginal increase of three percent from N18.03 billion in 2020.

“This is as a result of wounding up of old projects and revenue from new projects yet to come in.

“NETCO’s operating profit stood at N1.40 billion, an increase of 178 percent, on the operating loss of N1.76 billion in the prior year.

“It is worthy of note that NETCO’s gross profit increased from N5.74 billion in the previous year to N9.24 billion in the year under review, representing a 61 percent increase.

“The total comprehensive income stood at N4.45 billion when compared with N0.841 billion recorded in the year 2020, representing an increase of 430 percent.”

According to him, it is remarkable that the company’s participation in the NNPC Refinery Rehabilitation project has established NETCO as a responsible service provider in refinery rehabilitation.

He said in response to the challenges in the industry and opportunities created by the enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), NETCO had embarked on aggressive marketing of its services.

Adetunji said it had also adopted cost optimisation strategies to reposition NETCO for growth and profitability in PIA times.

He commended the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mele Kyari, the NETCO management and staff as well as other stakeholders for their efforts toward achieving the company’s mandate.

Also, Kanayochukwu Odoe, acting Managing Director, NETCO, said the management had intensified efforts to launch NETCO into a full Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) company with aggressive bidding for major EPC projects.

Odoe said NETCO further diversified its business portfolio to include cost benchmarking, value-for-money-audits and cost estimating services.

He said in 2021, NETCO completed four projects and was currently executing 16 key contracts in the industry and had continued to contribute to the development of in-country Engineering and Technical capacity.

Odoe added that NETCO facilitated a training programme for 13 youths from Iruland who were provided with entrepreneurial skills in fish farming, computer application/web design, catering, leather works, beads making and events management.

He said the management had set a revenue target of N36.58 billion in 2022.

Odoe noted that the company’s board had approved a gross dividend of N500 million, which translated to 50k per share for its shareholders.

Odoe said NETCO would continue to improve on Transparency, Accountability and Performance Excellence (TAPE) initiatives being championed by the NNPC GMD in order to remain commercially viable.