₦airaland Forum

Bagwa:
https://punchng.com/afreximbanks-subsidiary-onboards-oando-as-strategic-partner/?amp

Oando’s Moment: From Doubt to Determination



By Tanimu Yakubu



For years, Oando PLC has been the subject of public scrutiny and investor anxiety, navigating storms ranging from oil price volatility to regulatory disputes. Yet today, the company stands at an inflection point—one that could redefine its future and, just as importantly, silence the doubting Thomases.



Recent headlines surrounding Oando’s selection as the Government of Trinidad and Tobago’s preferred bidder for the lease of the Pointe-a-Pierre refinery raised eyebrows. Critics were quick to latch onto the term “accounting insolvency”—a technical classification that suggests a company’s liabilities exceed its assets. But a closer examination of the situation, particularly in the broader context of Oando’s strategic repositioning, offers a much more reassuring picture for shareholders and observers alike.



Let’s begin with the facts. In 2023 and 2024, Oando reported back-to-back profits—N60 billion and N65.5 billion respectively. This recovery follows a challenging stretch marked by multiple years of losses, and it didn’t happen by accident. Improved operational efficiency, disciplined cost management, and restructuring efforts have all contributed to this turnaround. While balance sheet pressure remains, these profits signal a shift in momentum and growing financial resilience.



Now, enter the Pointe-a-Pierre refinery. This is not just a symbolic win—it’s a strategic one. The refinery, if fully restarted, positions Oando as a significant downstream player in the Caribbean energy landscape. It offers geographical diversification, potential new revenue streams, and a rare foothold in a region where African energy companies have traditionally had little presence.



Understandably, the cost of restarting the refinery—estimated at over TT$1 billion—is daunting. But this is where the Government’s due diligence process matters. The selection was made following independent international advisory reviews and a Cabinet-level approval process. Furthermore, the ongoing negotiations with Trinidad Petroleum Holdings Limited (TPHL) suggest a structured and cautious approach. The risk is being managed—not ignored.



But the refinery deal isn’t the only card in Oando’s hand.



In 2023, Oando announced the landmark acquisition of a 100% stake in Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) Limited from Eni. This transaction has the potential to transform Oando’s upstream portfolio. NAOC’s assets include equity production from several oil mining leases (OMLs), stakes in key infrastructure like the Trans Niger Pipeline and the Okpai Power Plant, and a historically robust production base. This acquisition positions Oando to significantly increase its daily output, reduce operating costs per barrel, and regain stature as a major player in Nigeria’s upstream sector.



Oando’s acquisition of NAOC’s assets represents not just a strategic business expansion—but a textbook case of structured finance, often misread by surface-level analysis. The company deployed short-term leverage—estimated at around $750 million through a bridge or short-tenor facility—to finance the acquisition of assets conservatively valued at $2 billion. On the face of it, this is an accretive transaction, with significant embedded value.



The design of this transaction is fundamentally sound. The acquired assets are cash-flow generative from day one and have been ring-fenced to service the facility. This approach—where acquisition financing is directly serviced by the revenue streams of the acquired asset—is a standard in structured acquisition finance. It is a controlled, risk-allocated transaction model used in global M&A practice, particularly in capital-intensive sectors like energy.



Yet, predictably, critics are quick to point fingers: some suggest Oando is facing a liquidity crisis, others speculate on insolvency, and a few insist on immediate equity recapitalization. These criticisms, while common in public discourse, miss a key point—those who provided the capital, the financiers, undertook the actual underwriting risk. These are institutions with fiduciary mandates, robust risk frameworks, and capital at risk. Their due diligence, not public commentary, is the credible benchmark.



Indeed, the acquired assets underwent rigorous scrutiny by lenders and advisors. They passed every major threshold: solvency, liquidity, debt service coverage, and going concern. The financiers didn’t just approve a facility—they backed an acquisition whose balance sheet and cash flow impact met their internal credit risk and capital adequacy criteria.



Moreover, these assets have not only paid for themselves in debt servicing terms—they have improved Oando’s market position and future earnings outlook. Post-acquisition, Oando is more vertically integrated, holds more upstream control, and commands a stronger portfolio that enhances its appeal to both creditors and equity investors. This is not financial stress—it is financial engineering with a clearly defined exit strategy.



Critically, Oando’s approach mirrors a phased refinancing plan: secure the asset using short-tenor debt, consolidate and extract operational synergies, and then refinance with a blend of longer-term instruments—possibly including equity, convertible debt, or corporate bonds—under better terms and at improved credit standing. This is what any CFO or structured finance team would design under similar macroeconomic and asset market conditions.



This isn’t a company gambling on leverage. It’s a company using structured debt as a bridge to strategic growth—deploying acquisition finance intelligently in a resource-rich, capital-constrained environment. To interpret such a move as recklessness is to misunderstand the fundamentals of structured corporate finance.

So where does this leave shareholders?

Cautious optimism is the most prudent stance. Yes, the company still carries a heavy debt burden. Yes, it must demonstrate that recent profits are not a fluke but a trend. But the signs are promising. The NAOC acquisition deepens Oando’s core, the refinery deal extends its reach, and profitability signals internal discipline.



There’s still work to be done—particularly in refinancing liabilities—but the narrative has changed. Oando is no longer defined by its challenges; it is increasingly defined by how it’s confronting them.


For those who held on through the turbulence, this could be the start of the return. And for those still watching from the sidelines, the company may soon offer proof that a turnaround isn’t just possible—it’s underway.


Mr. Yakubu was an investment banker and until recently an independent non-executive director at Oando Plc.

Ades1:
Afriprud, if it goes on full offer again, I am buying a lot!

You will get plenty at N5

crownprince2017:
Fidson declared #1 dividend

@FIDSON_NGN


https://doclib.ngxgroup.com/Financial_NewsDocs/43608_FIDSON_HEALTHCARE_PLC-_QUARTER_5_-_FINANCIAL_STATEMENT_FOR_2024_FINANCIAL_STATEMENTS_MARCH_2025.pdf

Fidson dividend
About 5.54%

Full Bid loading?

Mpeace:
They tried. EPs moved up from 1.6 to 8.7 kobo
But 8.7 kobo EPs is not good enough for current price

Hopefully, this should make Chams to go on continuous Full Offer, so that its price goes down very well, for bargain entry.

EXCLUSIVE: NBC Faces Regulatory Shift as Presidency Orders Review on Pay-TV Prices, Ads, and Broadcast Practices


Abuja – The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) may be on the brink of a major regulatory shake-up as concerns over the pricing strategies, content access, and advertising monopolies of Nigeria’s dominant pay-TV operators come under intense scrutiny.
Though no formal directive has been issued, remarks made by NBC Director-General Charles Ebuebu during an informal exchange with journalists after attending an industry event in Lagos have set the industry on edge, fueling speculation that the regulator is finally moving to rein in exploitative market practices


The urgency of the situation has been further underscored by a formal petition from DAAR Communications, owners of Africa Independent Television (AIT), which accused major pay-TV platforms of stifling competition and using their market power to restrict access to free-to-air (FTA) content. But if that wasn’t enough to trigger alarm bells in government, what followed surely did—a sudden subscription price hike by one of the country’s biggest pay-TV operators, despite the naira gaining strength and inflation beginning to ease.
The timing of the price increase has sparked outrage, with consumer groups questioning why a company would raise costs at a time when the price of other goods and services is falling. The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has since challenged the draconian pricing strategy, and in a rare public alignment, the NBC has now declared full support for the FCCPC’s intervention.
Behind the scenes, the presidency has now directed the establishment of high-level ad-hoc teams within the regulatory agency to conduct a short-term review of the sector, signaling that the federal government is not only watching but may be preparing to act decisively.

PuristForest:
0.57

Ok noted.

SonofElElyonRet:
Still head above N2 water.. Japaul don submerge.. Jegede get us back to N2 and above

Japaul is presently in coma. When it revives, it will fly. But for now, trade cautiously...

yMcy56:
Cornerstone
CONHALLPLC
CUTIX
ACADEMY PRESS
JAIZBANK
LINKASSURE


** Some of them have moved out of the N2/N3 region...e.g. CWG, Learn Africa

* Will check for others and update this post
* Remember nothing is cast in stone anyway

Ok noted.

essentialone:
BASED ON THEIR RECENT REPORTS, WHICH OF THESE 9 COMPANIES WILL MOST LIKELY PAY DIVIDEND, IN THIS YEAR 2025?

1) Champion Breweries
2) Chams Plc
3) Daar Communications
4) E-Tranzact International
5) Guinea Insurance
6) Japaul Gold and Ventures Plc
7) Oando Plc
8. RT Briscoe
9) Veritas Kapital Assurance Plc

So far, Champion Breweries and ETranzact already pulled the big surprises by paying Dividends in 2025...

Any likely other?

Probably because the 'actual' third world countries allowed their 'glory' leave for America...

Agbalowomeri:
America is a glorified third world country

Is this high IQ or Native Intelligence?

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHnkqT8IdGT/?igsh=Y2xsNmU3bWlnZDBy

essentialone1:
So far, Champion Breweries and ETranzact already pulled the big surprises by paying Dividends in 2025...

Any likely other?

Etranzact wasn't a surprise to me though

essentialone1:
Japaul is presently in coma. When it revives, it will fly. But for now, trade cautiously...

I am down but holding on.. might add up if I get free funds

essentialone1:
Hopefully, this should make Chams to go on continuous Full Offer, so that its price goes down very well, for bargain entry.

🤔😡

Ades1:
Correct then! As long as you no japa like that Rogers boy, then you can say whatever about America.

Everyone knows that 90% of japa people including Rogers’ end goal is to end up in America. Forget the noise Rogers is making.

His hate for Trump prolly stems from the fact that Trump has put a wrench in his escape plan 😂😂

This guy is so damn delusional

You must think everyone is an American worshipper
Well I am not one of them, never wanted to live in America, never will live in America

Why will a liberal like me wanna live in a country with that many right wing lunatics, racists and white supremacists lol ?

Country that allowed a serial crook, convicted criminal and pathological liar into office despite his baggage

Such a person CANNOT win anywhere in Europe, and that's what makes Europe ahead of the USA.

No universal healthcare, gun violence, wide inequalities, etc
Abeg abeg

KarlTom:
Probably because the 'actual' third world countries allowed their 'glory' leave for America...

Lol

VFD group proposed #2 dividend and 1:1 bonus.

crownprince2017:
VFD group proposed #2 dividend and 1:1 bonus.

Gba beski !

crownprince2017:
VFD group proposed #2 dividend and 1:1 bonus.

Link please?

Good appointments. Very solid private sector Oil and Gas experience all round
[quote author=Raider76 post=134810928]BREAKING: President Tinubu has sacked NNPCL GCEO Mele Kyari

https://x.com/Imranmuhdz/status/1907257443098489194?s=19[/quote]

Sunrisepebble:
Good appointments. Very solid private sector Oil and Gas experience all round

The new GMD of NNPL happens to be the current Chief Operations Officer of Renaissance group.

crownprince2017:
VFD group proposed #2 dividend and 1:1 bonus.

Not yet clarified.

crownprince2017:
VFD group proposed #2 dividend and 1:1 bonus.

Day 2 of April Fool?

You gerrit!
If you don gerrit forgeh abarit...

Mpeace:
The new GMD of NNPL happens to be the current Chief Operations Officer of Renaissance group.

seyisanya:
Day 2 of April Fool?

seyisanya:
Day 2 of April Fool?

April fool does not have a day 2. Where were you yesterday ?

Ding