By NKIRUKA NNOROM & KUNLE KALEJAIYE

Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc has assured that it will continue to evolve strategies that will ensure delivery of superior performance to all stakeholders of the company in the coming year.

The chairman, Mr. Adetunji Oyebanji, made the declaration while laying the financial results for the year ended 31st December, 2011, before the shareholders at the 34th annual general meeting in Lagos. To this end, he said the company will continue to invest in logistics and cutting edge technology as part of efforts to facilitate its facilities upgrade.

Oyebanji noted that in 2011, it completed the refurbishment of a storage tank, while work commenced in a new tank, adding that additional investments in tanks and loading facilities are planned to further strengthen the company’s logistics.

“We made some modest investments in the retail chain and UAC, our alliance partner continued to invest in the back-court food offering. We started a project to upgrade our Blending Control Software and once completed, this will provide us increased efficiency and production capacity in our blending operations.

Similarly, we plan to install additional testing equipment to keep up with advancements in laboratory technology, implement an even more stringent quality testing regime for the products we market and maintain our industry leadership in quality management,” he said.

“We completed a major investment programme that has enhanced the value of our Mobil House office complex in Victoria Island. We are now starting the refurbishment of Mobil Court. At the end of the upgrade, the property will be restored to world-class standards. A long-term lease has been put in place that will guarantee a steady stream of income in the future,” he added.

The Mobil boss explained that the turnover for the period grew to N62.1 billion from N53.3 billion, translating to six per cent increase over the previous figure. The profit before tax dipped to N5.52 billion in comparison to N5.72 billion in 2010, while profit after tax depreciated to N3.75 billion from N3.89 billion in 2010, showing three per cent decrease in both PBT and PAT respectively.

Total assets grew by 29 per cent to N30.76 billion from N23.88 billion. However, the dividend declared for the period slumped by 29 per cent to N5.00 from N9.60.

Oyebanji explained the increase in turnover was due to higher pricing across of PMS and the higher lubricant sales which were partially offset by lower gasoline sales.

He said “Gasoline volume were affected by supply disruption to our retail outlets in some part of the country and increased competition from new entrants in the market.