The auditors of NNPC have raised doubts over the inability of the Corporation to continue as a going concern following rising and humongous losses.
According to the recently published 2019 Audited Financial Statements, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Group and Corporation had an accumulated loss of N1.9 trillion and N474 billion respectively. The Auditors of NNPC, made up of Pricewaterhouse Coopers, SIAO Partners, and Muhtari Dangana & Co. have raised serious doubts over the inability of NNPC to continue as a going concern following rising and humongous losses, resulting in the negative capital base.
In their report, the auditors disclosed that there is an existing material uncertainty that casts significant doubts on the ability of the NNPC to escape bankruptcy – as there are serious impairments on the company’s ability to generating sufficient revenues to meet its immediate obligations as at when due.
What you should know
- In its joint report to the stakeholders, the auditors gave an unmodified opinion and drew attention to the fact that the NNPC Group and Corporation recorded net losses of N1.8 billion and N107.8 billion respectively in 2019, compared to N803.1 billion and N254 billion in 2018 respectively. While its current liabilities exceed its current assets by N4.4 trillion and N1.1 trillion for the Group and Corporation respectively, compared to N3.3 trillion and N968.7 billion in 2018 respectively.
- NNPC Group and Corporation’s current assets, according to the financial statements, stood at N5.3 trillion and N4.5 trillion in 2019, while total current liabilities stood at N9.7 trillion and N5.6 trillion respectively.
- In 2018, NNPC Group and Corporation’s total current assets stood at N5.4 trillion and N4.8 trillion respectively, while total current liabilities stood at N8.7 trillion and N5.7 trillion respectively.
- The accumulated losses according to the financial statement are approximately N1.5 trillion and N474 billion, compared to N1.6 trillion and N490.7 billion for the Group and Corporation in 2018 respectively.
What to expect
- The Management of the corporation is currently executing robust mitigation procedures, as it is receiving the requisite support from the Federal Government to ensure that the Group and Corporation have adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future.
- To make the Group and Corporation commercially viable, the Federal Government had commenced the elimination of cost drivers responsible for the accumulation of the shortfalls in settling Domestic Crude Obligation; and the introduction of the Price Modulator mechanism in the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) template, designed to eliminate the major cause of the losses.
- The Federal Government is also minimizing breaches to the country’s pipeline networks; pursuing the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, and its implementation, which would restructure the petroleum industry, improve transparency and governance, and also give the NNPC the autonomy to operate profitably.
- The NNPC Management further revealed the plans to recapitalize the NNPC with steps to resolving all the outstanding related party payables and receivables and enable a clean slate start prior to recapitalization.
SOURCE: Naieametrics