Pakistan Oilfields profits tumble 31 percent in half-year

KARACHI: Pakistan Oilfields Limited reported 31 percent decline in profits to Rs3.68 billion for the half-year ended December 31, 2015 due to lower sales revenues and oil production, analysts said. The firm posted a profit-after-tax at Rs5.32 billion in the same half last year.

Accordingly, the earning per share remained at Rs15.50 in the half under review as compared to Rs22.36 in the corresponding period last year, the firm announced at the Pakistan Stock Exchange.

The board of directors recommended an interim cash dividend at Rs15/share for the shareholders whose names will appear in the register of members on February 25, 2016.

"The notable decline in earnings can primarily be attributed to 32 percent year-on-year decline in revenue on account of  49 percent year-on-year decline in Arab light crude prices and an expected five percent year-on-year decline in oil production," Muhammad Affan Ismail at MBA Capital said in his commentary.

Though short term performance may remain depressed owing to sluggish oil prices, long term prospects remain positive owing to increased drilling exposure in TAL block, while an attractive D/Y of 10 percent further warrants attention, he added.

Ismail said the result was above consensus expectation owing to both lower than expected effective tax rate and exploration cost.

Lower exploration expenditure due to reduced magnitude of dry well write-offs provided some support to the bottom line, he said.

The exploration cost reduced 2.5-fold to Rs1.19 billion from Rs3.08 billion in the corresponding period.

Alone in the quarter ended December 31, 2015, the net profit climbed 70 percent to Rs2.45 billion with earnings per share at Rs10.32, from Rs1.4 billion (EPS Rs5.98) the same quarter last year.

The earning posed an uptick "owing to 12 percent increase in oil production courtesy recovery in production from Makori East and 95 percent quarter-on-quarter lower exploration expenditure amid absence of dry well write-off," the analyst said.

PTCL's net profit plummets 53 percent

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) on Wednesday reported 53 percent decline in its consolidated net profit at Rs1.86 billion for the year ended December 31, 2015 due to notable loss from a subsidiary firm and higher finance cost on dollar denominated loans. The firm posted the net profit at Rs3.96 billion in 2014.

Accordingly, the earning per share remained at Rs0.37 as compared to Rs0.78 last year, the company announced at Pakistan Stock Exchange.

The board of directors has recommended a final cash dividend at Re1/share. This is in addition to the interim dividend already paid at Re1/share.

"The consolidated result was lower than consensus expectation owing to poor profitability of subsidiary, PTML which posted a loss of Rs6.8 billion (loss per share at Rs1.35)," said Jehanzaib Zafar at BMA Capital.

The notable decline in consolidated earnings can primarily be attributed to 46 percent year-on-year jump in finance cost on account of US dollar denominated loans taken to finance 3G license acquisition in 2014, nine percent year-on-year decline in sales revenue due to weak competitive position of the company and lower gross margins on account of higher depreciation expense, he said.

The finance cost climbed 46 percent to Rs5.21 billion from Rs3.56 billion last year.

The sales revenue dropped nine percent to Rs118.56 billion in the year under review from Rs129.91 billion in 2014.

The cost of sales surged 5.97 percentage points to 74.26 percent (or Rs88.05 billion) of sales from 68.29 percent (or Rs88.72 billion).

The other income improved 17 percent to Rs5.23 billion from Rs4.475 billion last year.

In the quarter ended December 31, 2015 the company posted 68 percent increase in year-on-year profitability as the voluntarily separation scheme's cost was realised in 2014 last quarter, which improved operating margins as a result of lower administration cost, Zafar said.

Allied Bank Ltd earns Rs15.3bln in 2015

The Allied Bank Limited’s (ABL) net profit remained steady at Rs15.31 billion for the year ended December 31, 2015, a bourse filing said on Wednesday.

The bank reported profit at Rs15.20 billion in 2014, it said in a filing to the Pakistan Stock Exchange. 

The bank’s earnings per share stood at Rs13.37 for the year under review as compared to Rs13.28 last year. 

The board recommended a final cash dividend at Rs1.75/share for the shareholders whose names will appear in the register of members on March 28, 2016. This is in addition to the interim dividends of Rs5.25/share already paid.

The net interest income, after the adjustment of loans and debt provision, jumped 30 percent to Rs32.62 billion in 2015 from Rs26.56 billion in 2014. 

The strong growth in the income was due to a significant decline in non-performing loans.

The non-interest income rose 13 percent to Rs44.93 billion from Rs39.74 billion a year earlier. The growth in the non-interest income was on account of higher fee, commission and brokerage and dividend income and income from dealing in foreign currencies.

However, the gains on sales of securities lowered to Rs890.78 million in 2015 from Rs4.18 billion. And, other income declined to Rs985.13 million from Rs1.12 billion.