$720m still trapped in Nigeria – IATA
By Omeiza Bilal
The regional Vice-President for Africa and the Middle East at the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Kamil Al Awadhi, has revealed that contrary to reports in the media, international airlines in Nigeria still have around $720 million trapped in Nigeria following the forex crisis in the country.
There has been disagreement between the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and foreign airlines regarding the payment of the total unpaid ticket revenue in Nigeria.
The CBN recently announced that it had settled all verified claims by foreign airlines, disbursing an additional $64.44 million. This brings the total amount paid to the aviation sector to $136.73 million, with the CBN confirming the clearance of all verified airline claims.
However, the International Air Transport Association welcomed the latest $64.44 million payment but highlighted that approximately $700 million remained unpaid, urging further action.
During an interview Kamil said, “You have to take into consideration the blocked funds and the fair value of the blocked funds. If you have $720 million blocked and then you devalue the naira by 30 per cent, you have wiped out over $200 million of airlines’ money, and they have to compensate that”
The IATA V.P. also noted that the CBN has repatriated only about $65 million of the blocked funds owed to airlines but has been in regular communication with the airlines unlike it was during the previous administration.
According to him, “Airlines have lost a lot of money operating in and out of Nigeria and it continues to be so under the current environment. As things improve, then the airlines will start generating something then there is less risk and obviously, these costs will go down.
“You have to remember the cost of operating is one of the most expensive in all of Africa, the charges are definitely going to be more expensive.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its transport report for December 2023, the average cost of air transport rose by 87 per cent between December 2022 and December 2023. However, the devaluation of the naira has seen air transport increase significantly over the last few months.
In recent times the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been gradually clearing the backlog of forex obligations owed to international companies operating in Nigeria. The Governor of the CBN had announced during an interview that the bank had successfully cleared around $2.3 billion of forex obligations and only $2.2 billion of valid forex claims remain.
International airlines operating in Nigeria had earlier claimed to have around $813 million trapped in Nigeria- a figure that is one of the highest in the world. However, the CBN has in recent times announced the disbursement of around $62 million as part of settling the backlog.
TotalEnergies pre-tax profit declines by 28% in 2023
The pre-tax profit of TotalEnergies Marketing Nigeria Plc, a member of the TotalEnergies Group, and a player in the petroleum downstream sector declined by 28 per cent in 2023 from the N24.5 billion pre-tax profit posted in 2022
According to its recently unaudited financial statements for 2023, the posted a pre-tax profit of N17.6 billion in FY 2023, which reflects a 28 per cent decline from the N24.5 billion pre-tax profit posted in 2022.
In 2023, the company recorded a revenue of N636.0 billion, representing a 32 per cent growth from the N482.5 billion recorded in 2022. However, there was a corresponding 31 per cent growth in cost of sales to N554.1 billion in FY 2023 from N422.3 billion posted in FY 2022.
The company’s revenue growth was linked to the growth in the sales of petroleum products off the back of the removal of subsidies on petroleum products.
The company recorded a 40 per cent growth in petroleum products revenue to N509.3 billion from FY 2022’s N362.7 billion, recording a 36 per cent growth in gross profit to N81.8 billion in 2023, from the N60.2 billion posted in 2022.
However, there was a 14 per cent decline in operating profit to N23.9 billion in the fiscal year, from the N27.7 billion posted in 2022.
The decline in operating profit is linked to the net foreign exchange loss of N11.5 billion caused by the devaluation of the Naira in 2023.
The company controls all the TotalEnergies service stations in Nigeria, they also serve as the distributor of Total Engine Oils.
The company generated a revenue of N126.6 billion from lubricants and its other services, representing a 6 per cent growth from the N119.7 billion recorded from lubricant sales in 2022.
Amidst the backdrop of Naira depreciation, the company experienced a notable loss of N47.45 billion attributed to trade and other payables. However, this setback was mitigated by a gain of N40.4 billion derived from cash holdings denominated in foreign currencies..
