Updated: Pursley Resources pays N640m for 900,000 units of Seplat shares

Pursley Resources Limited (Pursley), a Company owned by the wife of A.B.C Orjiako, Chairman of Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc has paid about N639.9million for the purchase of 900,000 units of Seplat.
Seplat notified the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) about this bulk sale in letters signed by its company secretary, Mirian Kene Kachikwu. The notification was made in accordance with Rule 12 of the Amendments to the Listing Rules of the Nigerian Stock Exchange and Article 19 of the EU Market Abuse Regulations.
Listed on the Premium Board of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc which is also listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a leading Nigerian indigenous oil and gas company.
Following the purchase of 900,000 units of Seplat shares, Pursley now holds a direct interest in 900,000 ordinary shares in the Company which equates to a voting interest of 0.15percent based on Seplat’s issued share capital of 588,444,561.
The equity transaction was consummated in Lagos on June 11, 2018. The share price of Seplat has risen by 3.8percent this year based on its closing price of N650 as at Tuesday August 8, 2018.
BusinessDay’s check on directors’ interest in shares of the company as at February 2018 shows 16,151,325 ordinary shares of Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc are held directly by A.B.C. Orjiako and Shebah Petroleum Development Company Limited; 18,500,000 ordinary shares are held by Vitol Energy Limited for the benefit of Shebah Petroleum Development Company Limited, which is an entity controlled by A.B.C. Orjiako and members of his family; and 12,600,000 ordinary shares are held directly by A.B.C. Orjiako’s siblings.
Also, 27,217,010 ordinary shares are held by Professional Support Limited and 1,920,000 ordinary shares are held by Abtrust Integrated Services Limited, each of which is an entity controlled by Austin Avuru.
Furthermore, 44,160,000 ordinary shares, are held by Platform Petroleum Limited, which is an entity in which Austin Avuru has a 23percent equity interest and 1,249,730 ordinary shares are held by Austin Avuru.
At 1 February, 2018, the Company’s issued share capital increased by 25millions shares in furtherance of the Company’s Long Term Incentive Plan. Seplat’s share capital now consists of 588,444,561 ordinary shares of 0.50kobo each, all with voting rights.
On March 6, 2018, the Nigerian Stock Exchange was notified about the purchase of 10,000 ordinary shares of Seplat by Michael Alexander, a senior independent non-executive director of the Company.
The transaction made Alexander have direct holding of 20,000 ordinary shares and indirect holding of 95,238 ordinary shares of Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc through Lexican Consulting Limited.
Also, following the sale of a portion of the shares registered in the name of Charles Okeahalam, an Independent Non-Executive Director of the Company, who held a direct interest in 597,238 ordinary shares of Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc representing approximately 0.10percent of the voting rights of the Company’s issued share capital, Okeahalam now holds a direct interest in 495,238 ordinary shares in the Company.

“Year to date (Ytd), Seplat shares are flattish outperforming the broad index by 4.2percent. We rate the stock Outperform,” said Uwadiae Osadiaye’s team of analysts at Lagos-based FBNQuest Limited in a July 31 note to investors. The analyst expects Seplat stock to outperform the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All Share Index over the next 12 months.

During its second-quarter (Q2) conference call, Seplat management stated that the company has received a confirmation of approval from the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) for the renewal of licenses on OMLs 4, 38 and 41 for a period of 20 years, subject to a final consent from the minister of petroleum resources.

The unaudited half year financial results for Seplat Petroleum Development Company Limited for the period ended June 30, 2018 as released by The Nigerian Stock Exchange shows revenue grew by 160 percent to N104.794 billion, from N40.317 billion in the corresponding H1 period of 2017.

Gross Profit increased by 225 percent to N53.307billion from N16.403billion. Profit before Taxation (PBT) increased by 559 percent in H1’18 to N37.093billion from Loss before Tax (LBT) of N8.090billion in H1’17. Profit for the period increased by 276 percent to N14.844 billion, from N8.432 billion Loss After Tax in H1’17.

 

Iheanyi Nwachukwu