Forte Oil mulls upstream business, to raise $500m for expansion

A major oil marketing firm, Forte Oil Plc, has unveiled its plans to raise up to N100 billion ($503 million) to expand its operations in the country.

Specifically, the company, which is planning to seek shareholders’ nod at its forthcoming yearly general meeting on April 26, said it plans to venture into the upstream business.

According to a statement issued at the weekend,,the company may raise the funds through a rights issue, bond or share offering, or global depository receipts,

Forte Oil’s Chief Compliance Officer, Akinleye Olagbende, was quoted as saying that “the capital raising is part of our preparations to take advantage of opportunities in the economy,”

Olagbende said the company could explore opportunities in the upstream sector of the oil industry and tap into other viable businesses to bolster its bottom line.

In January, Forte Oil posted a profit before tax of N7.02 billion for its 2015 financial year, compared with N6.01 billion it recorded in the previous year.

Commenting on the result, the Group Chief Executive Officer, Akin Akinfemiwa,said; “This result in a testing economic climate which we operate, is the reward from the investments made by the company in its core business and its people. It also clearly demonstrates the resilience of our business.

“Furthermore, our vision to diversify into power generation has proven to be very successful, not just in the near term but in the long term and we see tremendous growth opportunities in that space.”

He further attributed the group’s sustained good performance to highly motivated and skilled employees, as well as excellent customer service delivery across all business lines.