Indigenous fuel retailer PETROSOL Platinum Energy will replace ageing dispensing pumps and roll out new customer loyalty schemes, funding the drive with proceeds from a bond sale that drew more than triple its target in investor bids.
The company confirmed the plans at a dealer engagement in Kumasi this week, weeks after listing a GH¢100 million corporate bond on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE). Investors bid GH¢178.07 million for the notes, an oversubscription of 78 percent that management chose not to fully absorb, citing financial discipline.
PETROSOL now runs 109 fuel stations across 13 of Ghana’s regions and employs about 490 people directly, according to figures the company gave at the GSE listing ceremony last month. It has paid more than GH¢2 billion in taxes and regulatory margins to the state since 2014.
Chief Executive Officer Michael Bozumbil told dealers and business partners at the Kumasi session that the company would carry out major maintenance and replace pumps at stations where equipment needed upgrading. He linked the move to efforts to cut service delays and improve operational efficiency across the retail network.
“Our dealers are an integral part of the PETROSOL family,” Bozumbil said.
The upgrades come as fuel prices stay volatile worldwide, with tensions in the Middle East continuing to weigh on crude and refined product markets. The fresh bond capital gives PETROSOL room to press ahead with network investment regardless of that pressure, the company said.
Philip Boamah Assampong, PETROSOL’s head of marketing, said the company was also designing value-added services and incentive packages to keep customers loyal in a crowded downstream market. He argued that oil marketers can no longer compete on fuel sales alone and must build reasons for customers to return.
The Kumasi meeting formed part of what PETROSOL calls a 360-degree stakeholder engagement strategy, bringing together management, dealers, employees and customers to flag operational gaps. Feedback from the session will feed into station-level service improvements, the company said.
PETROSOL’s bond was the first tranche of a GH¢200 million note programme approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the GSE. Management has said it will return to the market for the remaining GH¢100 million at a later date.
