Seplat Energy Plc will pay N28 billion in interim dividends to its shareholders for the second quarter of 2024.
A corporate disclosure on the NGX website reveals that the company will use an exchange rate of N1,570.99 per dollar—NAFEM’s closing rate on August 12—for its Q2 2024 interim dividend payment.
With an interim dividend of $0.03 per share, it amounts to N47.13 per share, thus totaling a dividend payout of N28 billion.
Combined with its interim dividend payout of N26.5 billion for the first quarter of 2024, the company will distribute N54.5 billion in dividends for the first half of 2024.
This marks a 152% year-on-year increase from the N21.6 billion dividends paid in the first half of 2023.
In the first half of 2024, Seplat Energy posted a profit after tax of N68.6 billion. Hence, in H1 2024, the company hit a dividend payout ratio of 80%. In H1 2023, the company had a dividend payout ratio of 51.4%.
Due to its listing on the London Stock Exchange, Seplat Energy announces its dividends in USD, however, it is obligated to announce a selected exchange rate for shareholders who elect to receive their dividends in Naira.
Since listing on the NGX in 2014, Seplat has paid out over $575 million in dividends to its shareholders, including $88.3 million for FY 2023. Adding the $35.3 million dividends to be paid for H1 2024, this figure has surpassed over $610 million.
For FY 2023, the company had a 71% dividend payout ratio, considering its FY 2023 profit after tax of $123.9 million. In Naira terms, the company distributed about N85.5 billion as dividends for 2023.
Seplat generated a revenue of $421.6 million in the first half of 2024, marking a 23% YoY decline from $547 million in H1 2023.
However, due to the devaluation of the Naira, it was a 107% increase in Naira terms, from N278.3 billion as of H1 2023 to N575 billion.
During the half year, Seplat recorded a year-on-year drop in production, as the company’s production capacity was about 48,407 barrels of oil equivalent per day, a 4.7% decline from the 50,805 barrels of oil equivalent per day recorded in H1 2023.
In H1 2024, Seplat produced 5.4 million barrels of oil, however it lifted only 4.21 million barrels of oil, reflecting an under lift of 1.21 million barrels.
This is in contrast with H1 2023 when the company produced 5.47 million barrels and lifted 6.07 million barrels, marking an over lift of about 600,000 barrels.
