Hascol profit falls 84 percent

KARACHI: Hascol Petroleum Limited profit fell 84 percent to Rs206 million for the year ended December 31, 2018 translating into earnings per share (EPS) of Rs1.14.

Hascol earned Rs1.328 billion with EPS of Rs8.11 in the year ended December 31, 2017. The company did not announce any cash dividend for the year ended December 31, 2018.

Finance cost of the company jumped up by Rs1.324 billion for the year from Rs582 million in the corresponding year due to increase in overall debt borrowing and higher interest rates.

Analyst Shankar Talreja from Topline Securities pointed out some key points which might impact the earnings of the company, including higher than expected devaluation, slowdown in economy, inventory losses, and increasing competition.