Nigerian state oil firm NNPC’s engineering unit said on Friday its 2017 pretax profit fell 34 percent to 3.26 billion naira ($10.4 m) as a result of a lower foreign exchange gain.
The National Engineering and Technical Company Limited (NETCO) posted a pretax profit of 4.90 billion naira in 2016 when foreign exchange gains accounted for 56 percent of profit. However, they contributed just 4.8 percent last year.
NETCO’s chairman Bello Rabiu said measures had been put in place during the year to cut costs and improve project execution, which had paid off. He said the company had delivered some big ticket assignments on time and within budget.
Rabiu said NETCO, which was set up in 1989 to boost engineering technology in the oil and gas sectors in Nigeria, expects to get more projects in the gas sector.
NETCO said in a statement it had declared a dividend of 750 million naira, while revenue grew 122 percent to 22.46 billion naira in 2017 from the previous year. Reuters
