KARACHI: United Bank Limited (UBL) has announced a net profit of Rs20.78 billion from continued operations for the year ended December 31, 2020, which is 9.3 percent higher than the profit of Rs19.04 billion recorded in the previous year.
The earnings per share (EPS) clocked in at Rs17.12 in 2020 compared with EPS of Rs16.6 in 2019. UBL also declared a cash dividend of Rs9.5/share, which was in addition to the interim dividend of Rs2.5/share already paid to the shareholders, a bourse filing said on Thursday.
Syed Nauman at Insight Securities said, “The result is above expectations mainly attributable to lower than estimated drop in net interest income in fourth quarter, lower provision charges and lower effective taxation of 35 percent.”
The bank has booked a loss from discontinued operations (UBL Tanzania) worth Rs16 million during 2020 compared to a loss of Rs1.2 billion in 2019.
Net interest income declined 21.6 percent to Rs77.07 billion in 2020 compared with income of Rs63.34 billion recorded in 2019.
“Net interest income surged attributable to significant rate cuts of 625bps by the central bank during the year, which helped sharply reduce deposit costs,” a report issued by Arif Habib Limited noted. Total non-interest income declined 20 percent to Rs18.8 billion in 2020 compared with Rs23.5 billion in 2019.
Decline in non-interest income is mainly due to 18 percent decline in fee income, 19 percent dip in foreign exchange income and 22 percent lower dividend income. The bank booked net capital gains on securities worth Rs610 million, marking a 182 percent jump.
K-Electric profit shoots past 146pc
K-Electric Limited (KE) has reported a net profit of Rs6.872 billion for the half-year ended December 31,2020, up 146.23 percent from Rs2.79 billion in the same quarter last year.
The EPS stood at Re0.25 for the period against EPS of Re0.1 in the same period last year. This includes Rs4.6 billion actual write-offs claimed as per the mechanism provided under KE’s multi-year tariff (MYT).
During the period under review, the company showed strong operational performance on the back of improved macroeconomic environment after uplifting of the Covid-19 lockdown along with investments of around Rs26.422 billion across the power value chain.
As a result, during the period under review, units sent out grew by 4.8 percent along with a 5.5 percent increase in units billed and 0.6 percent points reduction in T&D losses.
In a statement, KE noted that the company continued to make strides on its 900MW RLNG project. Civil structure of critical systems has been completed and installation of gas turbine, steam turbine and unit main transformer for the first unit (450MW) was in progress.
“A key concern for KE is the prevailing circular debt situation and disputed mark-up claims which in addition to adversely affecting the sustainability of the company, are also a major hindrance in execution of supply agreements,” the statement said.
As of December 31, 2020, KE’s net receivables from various federal and provincial entities, stood at around Rs78 billion on principal basis.
Pioneer Cement posts Rs646.08mln Q2 profit
Pioneer Cement Limited (PIOC) has announced a net profit of Rs646.08 million translating into EPS of Rs2.84 for the quarter ended December 31, 2020 compared with the profit of Rs73.74 million and EPS of Re0.32 in the corresponding quarter last year.
“The result is above our expectations mainly due to tax credit on newly commissioned cement line,” Saad Hanif at Insight Securities said.
The net sales stood at Rs8.16 billion in the quarter under review, up 115 percent from Rs3.79 billion in the same quarter last year.
“Sales increased due to 1.2 times increase in dispatches and better retention prices. Gross margins increased by 15ppts to clock in at 15.5 percent vs 0.5 percent in the same period last year,” Hanif added.
PIOC recorded finance cost of Rs409.26 million in the quarter as against Rs89.29 million, previously, mainly attributable to commissioning of new cement plant.
For the half-year ended December 31, 2020, Pioneer Cement announced a net profit of Rs606.51 million translating into EPS of Rs2.67 compared with the loss of Rs111.66 million and loss per share of Re0.49 in the corresponding period last year.
Nishat Mills Q2 profit surges 11.42pc
Nishat Mills Limited (NML) has announced a net profit of Rs2.17 billion for the quarter ended December 31, 2020, which is 11.42 percent lower than the profit of Rs2.45 billion in the corresponding quarter last year.
The EPS for the quarter under review clocked in at Rs5.42 compared with Rs4.36 in the same quarter last year. The company did not announce any payout along with the results.
Results came a little below market expectations as the company’s scrip closed 1.69 percent down at the bourse.
Sales revenue surged 0.2 percent to Rs24.49 billion in the quarter under review compared with the sales of Rs24.44 billion previously.
An analyst at Arif Habib Limited attributed dismal sales to slowdown in local retail sales. “Despite rupee appreciation, topline witnessed meagre growth of 1.0 percent YoY and 7.0 percent QoQ due to improvement in export orders and higher product prices.”
Gross margins during Q2FY21 increased by 29bps due to increase in local cotton and international cotton prices resulting in inventory gains, which wiped off the impact of rupee appreciation, the brokerage house noted.
Other income in the quarter declined 39.1 percent to Rs365.6 million. Finance cost declined 26 percent to Rs1.728 billion due to prevailing lower interest rate regime.
For the half-year ended December 31, 2020, NML posted a net profit of Rs3.86 billion translating into EPS of Rs8.94 compared with the profit of Rs4.75 billion and EPS of 10.03 in the same period last year.