Nigeria’s major petroleum marketer, Forte Oil, has reported a 61.6 percent profit rise in its first nine months of the year ended September 30 2014. In a stronger than expected performance, the company’s profit before tax (PBT) for the first nine months of the year came in at $31.5 million (N5.2 billion), $12.13 million (N2 billion) higher than the $19.4 million (N3.2 billion) recorded in the corresponding period of last year.

Owned by oil magnate Femi Otedola, Forte has enjoyed explosive financial growth in 2014 recording a 152 percent pre-tax profit in the first half of the year. In the company’s latest financials, revenue rose to $743.92 million (N122.58 billion) in Q3 2014, 33.1 percent higher than the $558.6 million (N92.12 billion) of Q3 2013.

However, operating expenses also went up 9.2 percent, from N6.52 billion as of Q3 2013 to N7.78 billion in Q3 2014. Finance costs also shot up by 146.4 percent, this the company says is as a result of the debts it incurred in the acquisition of assets.

The company said recently acquired 100 brand new product delivery trucks in order to “substantially increase” its capacity to grow revenue, profitability and ultimately maximise value for shareholders. “We are very confident that the acquisition of these 100 world-class product delivery trucks is a very strategic investment,” said Akin Akinfemiwa, group CEO of the company, in a press release.

Last year, Forte Oil diversified into power generation by paying $132 million to acquire, via a 2013 government-led privatisation scheme, the 414 megawatt Geregu Power Plant in Kogi State Nigeria. It owns more than 500 petrol stations in Nigeria and 8 retail outlets in Ghana.