GOIL Lists on the stock market

Story: Boahene Asamoah & Eleanor Gurney

THE Ghana Oil Company Limited (GOIL), a local oil marketing company (OMC), was formally listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) after a successful initial public offer (IPO) that was over-subscribed by over 100 per cent.
During the first day of trading, the shares of GOIL traded at GH¢0.2150. The company has thus become the second OMC and the 32nd company to be listed on the market.
At a ceremony to officially list the shares of the company on the first list of the GSE, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, reiterated the government’s commitment to use the stock exchange for the divestiture of state-owned enterprises.
He said GOIL was being listed in order to stimulate secondary market activities and improve the financial leverage of the company, as well as encourage other Ghanaian private companies to also list on the stock market.
The minister also said the government was going to list a 10-year bond on the local market to help to stimulate secondary market activities and deepen the development of the capital market.
Mr Baah-Wiredu called on the management of GOIL to ensure its transparency and observe disclosure obligations that companies listed on the stock market were mandated to do.
The Board Chairman of GOIL, Mr Freddie Blay, said with the discovery of oil in the country, the company was positioning itself to take advantage of the opportunities that the industry presented.
He revealed that the company was looking at areas such as bitumen making and the building of oil refineries so that it could play a strategic role in the country’s oil industry.
Mr Blay, who is the Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament and Member of Parliament, assured shareholders that the company would adhere to the principles of transparency in its business dealings.
The Managing Director of the company, Mr Yaw Agyeman-Duah, said the company had good prospects and was poised to play a key role in the country’s oil industry.
He revealed that the company had already started the refurbishment on its outlets and had replaced the Ghana colours with orange to reflect its new image.
Mr Agyeman-Duah also said the company recently launched its G-Plus product, which has high octane particularly suited to vehicles driving in the Ghanaian environment.
The Managing Director of the GSE, Mr K.S. Yamoah, said the excess demand for the shares of GOIL during its IPO was an indication of how the Ghanaian public was ready to participate in activities on the stock market.
He called on the management of GOIL to position itself to take advantage of the opportunities that the oil find presented to the company, such as lifting oil and the marketing of other profitable products.
GOIL currently controls an 18 per cent market share of the downstream oil marketing business, as well as a 28 per cent market share of the lubricants market.
The company originally offered 42.7 per cent of its shares to the public to raise GH¢17.96 million (¢179.63 billion) to carry out an ambitious reinvigoration, rehabilitation and expansion programme.
The shares were, however, over-subscribed by over 100 per cent, forcing the government to release additional shares to satisfy the investing public.