Japaul plans to raise fresh funds as foreign investors indicate interest

THERE are plans by Japaul Oil & Maritime Plc to raise fresh funds to boost its business, even as it cleans its balance sheet for the year 2015. Vanguard gathered that there are foreign investors that have indicated interest in the company and are ready to inject millions of dollars as a result of the intricate value seen in the company, more so that the company has cleaned up its books for profitability. 

A statement obtained by Vanguard reveals that the management of Japaul would be proposing to its shareholders during its Annual General Meeting, AGM scheduled to hold in June, a capital raising either by way of rights, foreign investors, private placement among others. 

The management noted that the decline in the pace of economic activities and weak economic fundamentals in the oil and maritime industry has continued to hamper growth in the sector. This has resulted in underwhelming financial performance for industry players, including Japaul Oil and Maritime Plc. The unfavourable operating environment and other challenges notwithstanding, the board and management of Japaul has declared its desire to reposition the company for growth and improved performance. It stressed further that in order to achieve profitability in 2016, the company plans to restructure its operations to focus on its core competences. 

In this regard, some of its equipment that’s under-utilized or not functioning as a result of the business environment would be sold and the proceeds ploughed back into areas of its operations with better prospects for growth. 

The financial statement released on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE shows that the company’s revenue dropped from N10.57 billion in 2014 to N8.15 billion in 2015 operating (loss) profit stood at N3.98 billion against N897.33 million profits in 2014, administrative expenses jumped from N3.5 billion in 2014 to N6.36 billion for the year under review as a result of impairment losses of N1.62 billion and foreign exchange loss of N2.43 billion, while loss before tax stood at N7.89 billion in 2015 against the 2014 figure of N2.25 billion.