PSO declares cash dividend of Rs6 per share

Pakistan State Oil (PSO) has declared an interim cash dividend of Rs6 per share for the nine-month period ended March 31, 2015.
The company announced a net profit of Rs3.242 billion, translating into the earnings per share (EPS) of Rs11.93 for the nine-months ended March 31, 2015 as compared to the profit of Rs19.399 billion and EPS of Rs71.41 for the corresponding period last year.
During the period under review, the company’s profitability has been adversely affected by the sharp decline of 51 percent in the Opec basket price of crude oil, $109 per barrel in July 2014 (July 2013: $100 per barrel) to $53 per barrel in March 2015 (March 2014: $104 per barrel).
This significant decline in crude oil prices, an uncontrollable external factor, together with the inventory levels has resulted in significant inventory losses during the second and third quarters of the current financial year.
However, there has been an increasing trend of crude oil prices subsequent to the period end and the company expects that inventory gains will reverse the earlier such losses, thereby, contributing positively to PSO’s profitability.
The 51 percent decline in crude oil prices has also resulted in a 20 percent reduction in the sales turnover. The sales revenue for the period under review stood at Rs823.694 billion as compared to the sales of Rs1.023 trillion in the same period last year.
For the quarter ended March 31, 2015, PSO posted a net loss of Rs1.040 billion and LPS of Rs3.83 as compared to the profit of Rs3.6 billion and EPS of Rs13.25 for the same period last year.
Cash flows and earnings of the company now remain under pressure only as a consequence of the inability of the power and aviation sectors to pay for the very significant dues for supplies of furnace oil and aviation fuel made by the company. Other than these overdue amounts, the company is debt free.