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PSO Q2 profit falls 37.4pc

By Our Correspondent
February 22, 2018

KARACHI: Profit of Pakistan State Oil (PSO) fell 37.4 percent to Rs3.49 billion in the quarter ended December 31, 2017, translating into earnings per share (EPS) of Rs10.71, a bourse filing said on Wednesday.

PSO’s net profit was Rs5.63 billion with EPS of Rs17.30 in the corresponding quarter ended December 31, 2016, a notice to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) said.

In its statement to the shareholders, PSO said its white oil market share in the first half of the current financial year 2017/18 stood at 45.7 percent, while share of black oil dropped to 73 percent from 73.4 percent over the same period last year. The company’s overall market share in liquid fuel market was 55 percent as against 56 percent in the period under review.

“The company continued to deliver healthy volumes in all the businesses except furnace oil that declined due to shift of power plants to LNG starting November 2017,” the statement said. “PSO received Rs88.9 billion for furnace oil supplies of Rs115.6 billion during the first half of FY18.” Other income for the quarter stood at Rs756.29 million for the quarter under review as compared with the income of Rs4.4 billion recorded in the quarter ended December 31, 2016. PSO recorded net sales of Rs259.7 billion for the quarter ended December 31, 2017, which is 19.2 percent higher than the revenues of Rs217.83 billion in the same period last year.

Finance costs declined 33 percent to Rs1.023 billion in the quarter under review as against costs of Rs1.56 billion previously, owing to lower reliance on borrowing to meet working capital requirements.

For the half-year ended December 31, 2017, PSO posted a net profit of Rs8.5 billion translating into EPS of Rs26.14 as against profit of Rs10.01 billion and EPS of Rs30.72 in the same period last year. Analyst Arslan Hanif at Arif Habib Limited said, “Sales surged given higher prices of products and volumetric growth in motor gasoline and high speed diesel by 23.7 percent and 24.4 percent, respectively.”

First Capital Equities in its report said, “Earnings came out lower than expectation because of 65.8 percent decrease in other income on a sequential basis, where decreased penal and interest income would have played its part.”

The government of Pakistan had issued PIBs of Rs46 billion to PSO in June 2013 as part of partial circular debt settlement. Maturity of these PIBs in July 2017 is the key driver for lower interest income (Rs2.1 billion) and profit after tax of Rs8.5 billion in the first half of FY18 against Rs10 billion during the same period last year, the statement said.

Nishat Power second quarter profit rises 26pc

Nishat Power Limited announced a net profit of Rs809.37 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2017, which is 26 percent higher than the profit of Rs643.52 million recorded in the corresponding quarter of the last year.

The EPS for the second quarter clocked in at Rs2.286 as compared to the EPS of Rs1.817 recorded previously.

“Earnings were above expectations due to higher gross profit, but nil dividend payout continued to disappoint in line with the expectations,” Syavash Pahore at Elixir Securities said.

Other income for the quarter stood at Rs30.65 million for the quarter under review as compared to the income of Rs7.8 million recorded in the quarter ended December 31, 2016.

The company recorded net sales of Rs3.48 billion for the quarter ended December 31, 2017, which is 5.45 percent higher than the revenues of Rs3.3 billion during the same period last year.

For the half-year ended December 31, 2017, Nishat Power posted a net profit of Rs1.669 billion, translating into EPS of Rs4.715 as against the profit of Rs1.37 billion and EPS of Rs3.8 during the same period of the last year.

Allied Bank profit down 12.4 percent

Net profit of Allied Bank Limited decreased 12.4 percent to Rs12.9 billion for the year ended December 31, 2017, with EPS of Rs11.29, a bourse filing said.

ABL’s profit was Rs14.7 billion with EPS of Rs12.84 in the previous year 2016. The bank also declared a final cash dividend of Rs1.75/share, which is in addition to interim dividend of Rs5.25 already paid to the shareholders.

Net interest income after provisions went up 0.04 percent to Rs33.53 billion for 2017 compared with the income of Rs33.526 billion previously.

Analyst Syavash Pahore at Elixir Securities said, “Interest income grew due to asset growth, despite reduced yields on Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIBs).”

Total non-interest income declined 19.4 percent to Rs9.5 billion in 2017 as compared with the income of Rs11.8 billion in 2016. The increase in non-interest income was led by foreign exchange income growth and higher capital gains.

Engro Corp full-year profit falls

Engro Corporation Limited has announced a net profit of Rs16.289 billion for the year ended December 31, 2017, which is multiple times lower than the profit of Rs73.5 billion recorded in the year ended December 31, 2016.

Engro Foods became an associated company with effect from December 19, 2016. Accordingly, its revenues are not consolidated for the year 2017, whereas comparative year included such revenues.

Profit after tax for 2017 includes share of profit of Engro Foods under equity method of accounting, whereas comparative year profits include Engro Foods profit of Rs2.445 billion.

The EPS for 2017 clocked in at Rs17.96 as compared with the EPS of Rs131.94 in 2016. Engro Corporation also declared final cash dividend of Rs2.0/share, which is in addition to interim cash dividend of Rs19/share already paid to the shareholders.

Net sales revenues fell 18.2 percent to Rs128.59 billion for the year, compared with the revenues of Rs157.207 billion recorded in the previous year.

Other income for 2017 stood at Rs10.48 billion as against income of Rs68.8 billion recorded in 2016.

Nestlé’s sales revenue up 8.7pc

Nestlé Pakistan posted sales revenue of Rs122.2 billion for 2017, an increase of 8.7 percent as compared to the previous year, a statement said on Wednesday.

The healthy top-line growth was achieved through effective innovation and renovation of the product mix, numeric distribution expansion and investment behind brands.

Export sales during the same period stood at Rs5.1 billion.

Operating profit for the period under review increased to Rs23.6 billion, translating into 23.3 percent growth. Consequently, earnings per share increased to Rs322.86 from Rs261.23 in 2016.