Ghana Oil Sees 20% Profit Growth as It Ventures to New Areas

Ghana Oil Co. (GOIL), which runs the second-biggest network of gasoline stations in the country, expects net income growth of 20 percent this year as it ventures into new business areas.

The company, also known as Goil, is projecting volume growth of 30 percent this year from about 5 percent last year as it opens five new stations, Managing Director Patrick Akorli told reporters in Accra, the capital today.

It will also open seven new stations in partnership with Chase Petroleum, a company based in Accra, with operations including the supply of fuel to ships in Takoradi, the capital of Ghana’s Western region, where Jubilee oil-field production activities are based, he said.

“In the area of aviation, we’ve now acquired two into- plane facilities, which are starting operation this very August,” Akorli said. “So we’re looking at higher volumes from the retail sub-sector, aviation and then bunkering.”

Goil’s profit rose 7.8 percent to 2.63 million cedis ($1.34 million) in the first three months of the year, with revenue in the period through March 31 increasing 14 percent to 173.5 million cedis, it said on May 2.

The company’s shares gained 2 percent to 52 pesewas by the close in Accra, the capital, the highest since it listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange on Nov. 19, 2007.

To contact the reporter on this story: Moses Mozart Dzawu in Accra at mdzawu@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Emily Bowers at ebowers1@bloomberg.net