BOST affirms profitability - Posts GH¢342m gains

The Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Limited Company (BOST) has posted a profit after tax of GH¢342 million for last year, the second time in 11 years.

Up from the GH¢160.72 million recorded in 2021, the 112 per cent growth marks the state-owned company’s second successive profit in two years after 10 previous years of losses.

This was on account of BOST's 169 per cent increase in revenue from GH¢3.02 billion to GH¢1.12 billion within the same period.

The Board Chairman of BOST, Ekow Hackman, at the second Annual General Meeting (AGM) of BOST in Accra yesterday, stated that the performance was in the context of a series of losses which had been recorded for more than a decade until 2021.

The AGM was attended by the Minister of Energy, Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh; the Minister of Public Enterprises, Joseph Cudjoe; the Director-General of the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA), Edward Boateng, staff of the company and representatives of partner companies.

“Central to our transformation has been the restoration of our business model, which involves the effective utilisation of our strategically located fuel depots connected by a network of pipelines and barges,” Mr Hackman said.

“The revival of these assets has enabled us to deliver fuel products securely and cost-effectively to consumers across the country,” he added.

Financial performance

On key financial contributors, the Board Chairman said revenue from fuel product sales increased by 387 per cent in 2022.

Revenue from gasoline sales increased by 224 per cent, from GH¢340.63 million to GH¢1.1 billion, while gas oil sales increased by 352 per cent, from GH¢331.1 million to GH¢1.5 billion.

Mr Hackman attributed the positive trading performance to improved financing arrangements, more effective customer engagement and retention initiatives as well as the prudent management of trading risks.

However, the contribution of the BOST margin to revenue declined by 10 per cent to GH¢343.26 million from GH¢380.42 million in 2021, while storage fees increased by 27 per cent from GH¢21.89 million in 2021 to GH¢27.72 million.

BOST’s rack fees also increased by 24 per cent, from GH¢30.75 million in 2021 to GH¢38.17 million in 2022.

“During 2022, BOST consolidated its position as second among the depot operators nationwide and first outside the Greater Accra Region.

I am happy to inform you that as of May 2023, BOST is now the market leader,” Mr Hackman said.

As a result, the Board Chairman said, the company had finally transitioned from a negative equity position of GH¢248.19 million in 2021 to a positive equity position of GH¢86.47 million in 2022.

Mr Hackman shared the sentiments of the board that the members expected that the declaration of profits by BOST would become an annual tradition to be celebrated by all.

Strategy

The Managing Director (MD), Edwin Provencal, said the company’s five-year turnaround strategy journey which started in 2020 and focused on two key pillars had paid off.

The strategy seeks to enhance operational excellence and to aggressively grow the business which were fleshed into rebranding the corporate image and creating a great performance-based corporate culture, with measurable sub-targets.

“I am happy to state that we have achieved our 2024 revenue target of GH¢3 billion in 2022.

We are on course to achieve the remaining targets by 2024,” Mr Provencal said.

Last year, BOST provided world-class training for 431 of its staff, thus about 89 per cent of the human capital put in their all to implement the performance management system across the business, he said.

The Managing Director added that BOST also rolled out 22 new policies geared towards gradually improving the corporate culture. 

“Staff have come to accept that high performance will be rewarded with the commensurate bonus.

In line with this, employees received performance-based bonuses during the third quarter of 2022.

This culture has come to stay,” Mr Provencal stated.

On the way forward, the MD of BOST said the company would continue to explore new markets within West Africa for petroleum products while preparing to transition from a purely oil and gas company to a full energy company.

In doing that, he said: “We will seek to diversify our product mix by investing in the storage of new transition fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), blended ethanol, among others,” Mr Provencal said.

He said BOST would also leverage modern trends, including Artificial Intelligence, to ensure that the company remained relevant in the market space.

Sound footing

The Minister of Energy said the positive performance now placed BOST on a sound footing to enable the company to pay dividends to the government.

“I have had the opportunity to review the company’s performance over the past year, and I must express my satisfaction and admiration for the financial accomplishments of the company’s management within such a short time frame.

“The progress made by BOST exemplifies the path we should continue to follow, and we encourage you to increase the momentum to sustain this performance and strive for even greater heights,” Dr Prempeh said.

The story

For his part, Mr Cudjoe stated that the story of BOST was very different, and the problems of the past years had been surmounted.

“It is also noteworthy that BOST recorded a positive equity of GH¢86 million; the first positive equity in the last 11 years.

As Minister for Public Enterprises, BOST’s turnaround is a significant development aligned with our goal of addressing long-standing challenges that have bedevilled state-owned enterprises and prevented them from fulfilling their full potential,” the minister added.