Angola | Sonangol posts profit of USD68 million in 2016

Sonangol’s headquarters in Luanda

Angola oil company Sociedade Nacional de Combustíveis de Angola (Sonangol) posted net profit of more than 13 billion kwanzas (USD68 million) in 2016, the chairwoman of the company, Isabel dos Santos, announced on Monday in Luanda.

Presenting the results for the previous year, dos Santos said net income and EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of 525 billion kwanzas ($2.755 billion) reversed the sharp downward trend of the previous two years.

Cited by Angolan news agency Angop, Isabel dos Santos stressed that the company kept oil production above 1.7 million barrels a day in 2016, “despite all the constraints associated with the drop in oil prices,” making Angola the biggest oil producer in Africa.

Isabel dos Santos noted that the current Sonangol board, which was appointed in June 2016, took on that responsibility in the context of an economic crisis in the country and with the state company registering a 60 percent drop in revenues compared to 2013/2016, high debt and falling oil prices.

The chairwoman of the oil concessionaire in Angola said that it was possible to increase revenues and reduce expenses by introducing a number of programs, such as Sonaplus and Sonalight.

Sonaplus involved increasing sales of bitumen, optimising Luanda Refinery products, reviewing lubricant prices and adopting revenue guarantee programmes at Clínica Girassol.

The Sonalight programme is focused on making savings of up to 200 billion kwanzas ($1.2 billion), and effective savings of 53 billion kwanzas ($320 million) which have already been achieved in the second half of 2016. MDT/Macauhub