After declaring first profit in years, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is considering the first Initial Public Offer (IPO) of its shares.

The Street Reporters Newspaper recalls that the NNPC after 44 years of operation declared profits in the 2020 financial year.

The move, our correspondent learnt is in line with the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) as signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari in August.

According to the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mele Kyari, at a press briefing in Abuja, Kyari revealed that the listing of NNPC’s shares will draw on the experience of the Saudi Arabian oil giant, Aramco, which listed its shares in 2019.

He said: “There is no date on it, but there is a possibility of doing this.

“Obviously because you have made profit today doesn’t mean you are ready for IPO. It is a very, very long, tedious process.’’

The Nigerian oil giant, NNPC had declared a profit after tax of N287 billion in 2020 following the completion of the statutory annual audit exercise for the year 2020.

President Buhari, in his announcement of the feat by the state owned corporation, revealed that the NNPC reduced its losses from N803 billion in the year 2018 to N1.7 billion in year 2019 and the eventual declaration of Net Profit in Year 2020 for the first time in its 44 years.

Moving towards registering as a commercially focused entity as contained in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), at the conclusion of its planed Initial Public Offer (IPO), sales of NNPC shares will be listed on the Nigerian Exchange.

While explaining the facts behind the ₦287bn profit, the Group Managing Director, Mallam Mele Kyari, gave insight into the measures adopted by his management to achieve the feat.

Speaking at a press conference Thursday at the NNPC Towers, Abuja, the GMD attributed the turn-around of the Corporation from a loss of ₦803bn in 2018 to profit of ₦287bn in 2020 to the aggressive implementation of cost-cutting measures, improved efficiency through business automation, emphasis on commercially-focused investments and non-interference in the management of the Corporation from any quarters.

The GMD also added that the Corporation saved a lot of cost through contract renegotiation by up to 30% on the heels of the Covid-19 pandemic, introduction of technology that drastically cut travel cost through reduction in in-person meetings and the general automation of processes that enhanced efficiency across the group’s businesses.

He said Management’s focus on the prioritization of investment and staff welfare also helped in boosting the Corporation’s overall productivity and bottom line.