We would’ve made GH₵1bn profit without external shocks – BOST MD

The Managing Director of Bulk Energy Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BEST), formerly BOST, Dr. Edwin Alfred Provencal, has disclosed that the company had projected a profit of approximately GHS 1 billion for the 2023 fiscal year.

However, the company recorded a profit of GHS 208 million, a significant shortfall.

In an exclusive interview, Dr. Provencal explained that the reduced profit was primarily due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and other external shocks resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, which disrupted the fuel supply chain.

“Inadvertently, if you look at the amount of business we did in 2023, we should have made a profit of over GHS 1 billion but because of the interventions, we had to suppress our margins and others to ensure that the national problem was solved,” he stated.

He further noted, “In 2022, there was no gold-for-oil, no external shocks, no Russia-Ukraine War, and no IMF. But in 2023, we started feeling the effects of these, and the government had to intervene by leveraging institutions it could control.”

BOST has remained one of the few state-owned enterprises consistently generating profits. In 2021, the company reported a profit of GHS 160 million, which more than doubled to GHS 342 million in 2022. Despite the challenges in 2023, which led to a profit decline to GHS 208 million, the company continues to maintain a profitable trajectory.