Indus Motor second quarter profit up 23 percent

KARACHI: Indus Motor Company Ltd recorded 23 percent increase in profit to Rs3.74 billion for the quarter ended December 31, 2017, translating into earnings per share (EPS) of Rs47.53, a bourse filing said on Friday.

The automaker registered profit of Rs3.03 billion with EPS of Rs38.51/share in the corresponding quarter a year earlier, the company said in a notice to Pakistan Stock Exchange.

The company also declared an interim cash dividend of Rs32.5/share, which is in addition to the interim dividend of Rs30 already paid to the shareholders.

In Q2, sales revenue clocked in at Rs32.09 billion, up 25.1 percent as compared to Rs25.65 billion in the same period a year earlier.

Analyst Arslan Hanif at Arif Habib Limited said the increase was primarily owing to uptick in car sales by seven percent during the quarter “given higher-than-anticipated sales of new Fortuner and Hilux vehicles”.

Analyst Ahmed Lakhani at JS Global said the shift in product mix towards higher-priced models further augmented the company’s topline.

Indus Motor posted profit of Rs7.36 billion for the half-year ended December 31, 2017, translating into EPS of Rs93.69 as compared to the profit of Rs6.07 billion and EPS of Rs77.28 during the same period of the last year.

The company’s sales revenue increased to Rs63.3 billion in the first half from Rs51.4 billion for the same period last year.

“The combined sales of completely knocked down and built units for the half year ended December 31, 2017 was 30,651 units, up six percent over 28,833 units for the same period last year,” it said in a statement. “The increase in revenues and profits is mainly due to improved turnover of both completely knocked down and built units against the same period last year, along with improvement in operational efficiencies and sales mix.”

Ali Asghar Jamali, chief executive officer of Indus Motor Company said demand for automobiles remained robust throughout the period stemming from the favourable macroeconomic indicators, positive consumer sentiment and the availability of consumer credit. The company achieved the milestone of production of 750,000 vehicles since its inception.

Nishat Mills half-year profit increases 23pc

Nishat Mills Limited’s profit grew 23 percent year on year to Rs4.67 billion for the half-year ended December 31, 2017, translating into EPS of 10.97.

The company recorded profit of Rs3.78 billion with EPS of Rs8.84 for the first half last year.

The company did not announce any payout along with the corporate earnings, but it expressed an intent to increase investment by up to Rs960 million in Hyundai Nishat Motor (Private) Limited and to arrange standby letter(s) of credit for up to Rs1.20 billion for a 7.5-year period as a guarantee to lenders of Hyundai Nishat Motor.

Nishat Mills recorded Rs40.10 billion of revenue during the July-December period of 2017 as against Rs36.27 billion during the same period a year earlier.

The company earned Rs2.59 billion profit for the quarter ended December 31, 43.8 percent higher than the profit of Rs1.81 billion recorded in the corresponding period of the last year.

EPS for the second quarter stood at Rs6.27 as compared to Rs4.26 previously.

Analyst Ahmed Lakhani at JS Global said effective cost management with distribution expenses, down four percent and admin expenses, falling 10 percent, added to the company’s bottom-line growth. Sales revenue for the quarter clocked in at Rs20.14 billion, up 4.7 percent over the previous year.

Kapco’s profit up 19.4pc in Q2

Kot Addu Power Company (Kapco) recorded 19.4 percent rise in profit to Rs2.21 billion for the quarter ended December 31, 2017, translating into EPS of Rs2.52.

Kapco raked in Rs1.85 billion in profit with EPS of Rs2.11 for the same quarter a year earlier.

Revenue for the quarter clocked in at Rs18.44 billion, up 21.3 percent as compared to the revenue of Rs15.19 billion earned in the previous year.

Analyst Tahir Abbas at Arif Habib Limited attributed growing sales to higher furnace oil prices and higher dispatches up 37 percent with 55 percent load factor.

Finance cost, during the quarter, surged 47 percent to Rs1.48 billion as compared to the cost of Rs1 billion during the same period of the previous year.

Kot Addu Power posted a profit of Rs4.39 billion for the half-year ended December 31, 2017, translating into EPS of Rs4.99 as compared to the profit of Rs4.17 billion and EPS of Rs4.74 during the same period of the last year.