Hub Power’s nine-month profit rises 7 percent

KARACHI: Hub Power Company on Thursday said its profit ticked up 7 percent in the nine months ended March 31, 2018 on a drop in operating costs.

The power company said it earned a net profit of Rs8.642 billion compared to Rs8.064 billion posted in the same period a year ago.

The company also announced an interim cash dividend of Rs1.6/share, or 16 percent for the third quarter ended March 2018. It is in addition to interim dividend of Rs3/share or 30 percent, which has already been paid.

The Hub Power’s sales fell to Rs73.786 billion compared to Rs74.139 billion in the same period last year, whereas the company's earnings per share increased to Rs7.15/share against Rs6.59/share posted last year. An analyst from BIPL said the rise in the company’s earnings can primarily be attributed to rupee depreciation. “A year-on-year rise of 32 percent in other income as well as 82 percent decline in operating expenses also contributed to an increase in earnings,” the analyst said.

Lucky Cement’s profit down 6 percent in July-March

Lucky Cement Limited on Thursday reported its net profit for the nine months ended March 31, 2018 registered a decline of 6.0 percent.

The company, in a statement to Pakistan Stock Exchange, said it netted Rs9.80 billion in the period under review compared to Rs10.421 billion during the same period last year.

As a result cement-maker’s earnings per share (EPS) also reduced 5.96 percent to Rs30.31/share from Rs32.23/share in the same period last year.

The company’s gross sales revenue increased 7.1 percent to Rs50.63 billion in comparison with Rs47.29 billion posted in the same period last year.

Analysts said the local cement sales volume grew 16.9 percent (North 19.7 percent and South 13.7 percent) to reach 5.04 million tons compared to 4.31 million tons in the same period last year.

On the other hand, local clinker sales declined 79.5 percent to 0.06 million tons against 0.29 million tons in the same period last year, which led the overall local sales to register a growth of 10.9 percent to reach 5.10 million tons compared to 4.60 million tons last year. Furthermore, Lucky Cement’s export sales volume registered a decline of 20.3 percent to 0.74 million tons compared to 0.93 million tons posted last year.

On consolidated basis, the company reported a net profit of Rs11.94 billion for the July-March period of current fiscal, which is 1.0 percent lower than the profit posted in the same period last year.

Consequently, consolidated EPS for the period decreased to Rs36.91 from Rs37.27 reported during the same period last year.

AL-Ghazi Tractors’ Q1 profit jumps 24pc

Al-Ghazi Tractors Ltd on Thursday said its profit in the first quarter ended March 31, 2018 rose 24 percent on higher sales.

The tractor-maker’s net amounted to Rs1.136 billion in the January-March period compared to Rs919 million reported in the same period a year ago, the company said in a bourse filing.

The company, unexpectedly, skipped dividend payment as opposed to Rs12.50/share or 125 percent paid in first quarter of 2017.

The sales jumped 40 percent to Rs6.958 billion against Rs4.94 billion registered in same period last year.

Analysts said the strong growth in earnings was backed by upbeat tractor sales of 8,827 units during the quarter, up 37 percent from same period preceding year. The company also announced its earnings per share increased to Rs19.60/share compared to Rs15.86/share.

Bank of Punjab’s Q1 profit grows 24pc

Bank of Punjab on Thursday announced its profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2018 increased 24 percent, owing to higher fee and commission incomes as well as earnings generated by its dealing in foreign currencies.

The bank, in a statement to Pakistan Stock Exchange, said profit rose Rs1.942 billion in the period under review from Rs1.565 billion recorded in the same quarter last year.

It said income from fee, commission, and brokerage house business rose to Rs272 million, while earnings from dealing in foreign currencies reached Rs69 million, up from Rs238 million and Rs19 million, respectively in the same period last year.

The bank’s revenues stepped up to Rs4.686 billion during the period under review compared to Rs3.298 billion in the same period last year. The bank’s earnings per share was recorded at Rs0.73/share compared to Rs1 announced in the same period last year.

An analyst at Topline Securities said the management in its notice stated the bank had faced constraints regarding dividend payout due to the relaxation given to it on nonperforming loans provisioning but the bank now has made the required provisioning as per State Bank of Pakistan requirement.