Nigerian billionaire Tony Elumelu is set to receive $24.02 million in interim dividend this November from his holding in dual-listed Seplat Energy Plc. The interim payout reflects his expanding footprint in the independent producer, where his companies, including Heirs Energies, raised their collective equity stake to 21.07 percent two months ago.

Seplat directors approved the payout by declaring a third-quarter distribution of 19 cents a share, totaling $114 million. The board combined a 5-cent ordinary dividend with a 14-cent special distribution. That represents a 58 percent sequential bump, pushing total payouts declared by the upstream company this year to 40 cents.

Multi-million energy payouts accelerate

The scheduled late-November wire transfer will lift Elumelu’s cumulative distributions excluding withholding taxes to $59.32 million since he bought into the producer last December. The investor previously banked $9.99 million in late May, $10.8 million in mid-June, and an additional $14.45 million when the company distributed second-quarter cash during August.

The rapid cash returns follow a blowout earnings cycle for the nine months ended Sept. 30. Surging field production and rich crude price realizations sparked a sharp rally on equity exchanges. Shares have climbed 204 percent year to date, lifting the market value of Elumelu’s holding to $1.53 billion.

Deleveraging unlocks free cash

Net income for the three-quarter run reached $260.2 million, up 174 percent from $95.1 million a year earlier. Top-line revenue rose 27 percent to $2.76 billion, helped by realized oil pricing of $96.19 a barrel. That figure gave Seplat an $8.12-a-barrel premium over standard benchmark Brent crude contracts.

Seplat generated $1.53 billion in adjusted EBITDA at a 55 percent operational margin, producing $749 million in free cash flow. That liquidity let management slash net debt by 65 percent to $234.9 million, while retiring the final $100 million due on acquisition financing from its Mobil Producing Nigeria purchase.

Production guidance tightens up

Output averaged 144,999 barrels of oil equivalent a day through September, up 7 percent year over year. The increase was aided by the commercial start of the ANOH gas facility via the OB3 pipeline, alongside restoration work on 41 idle offshore wells that unlocked 64,000 boepd of gross daily flow.

Operating momentum prompted the board to narrow full-year volume guidance toward the upper bound of 145,000 to 155,000 boepd. The company confirmed it remains on track to meet its base dividend target of $270 million, or 45 cents a share, for the full financial year.

Incoming chairman collects ahead

Another distribution appears near as Seplat works to complete the transfer of a 10 percent interest in its core joint venture to state-owned NNPC Ltd. Management intends to route roughly half of those proceeds into a 23.3-cent special distribution, lifting potential 2026 declared distributions to $410 million.

The payments validate Elumelu’s swift push into the energy producer after buying out Maurel & Prom’s stake late last year. Elumelu joined the board in January and is scheduled to replace retiring Senator Udoma Udo Udoma as the upstream operator’s chairman on Jan. 1, 2027.