Absent outside shocks, we would have made GH₵1 billion in profit, according to BOST MD
Dr. Edwin Alfred Provencal, the Managing Director of Bulk Energy Storage and Transportation business Limited (BEST), formerly known as BOST, has revealed that the business has estimated a profit of almost GHS 1 billion for the fiscal year 2023.
The business did, however, report a profit of GHS 208 million, a notable shortfall.
Dr. Provencal clarified in an exclusive interview with Citi Business News that the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, as well as other external shocks brought on by the COVID-19 outbreak that caused disruptions in the gasoline supply chain, were the main causes of the decreased earnings.
According to the volume of business we conducted in 2023, we should have profited more than GHS 1 billion, but due to the interventions, we were forced to decrease our margins and other revenue streams in order to guarantee that the country’s situation was resolved.
“There was no gold-for-oil, no external shocks, no Russia-Ukraine War, and no IMF in 2022,” he continued. However, they began to affect us in 2023, and the government was forced to step in by using the institutions under its authority.
BOST continues to be one of the few state-owned businesses that turns a profit every time. The corporation declared a GHS 160 million profit in 2021; by 2022, that profit had more than doubled to GHS 342 million. The company is still on a lucrative trajectory in 2023 even with the difficulties that caused a reduction in profit to GHS 208 million.
