Engro Fertilizer profit down 2.5pc

KARACHI: Engro Fertilizer Limited profit declined 2.5 percent to Rs3.177 billion for the quarter ended June 30, 2019, translating into earnings per share (EPS) of Rs2.38, a bourse filing said on Thursday.

The company earned Rs3.259 with EPS of Rs2.44 in the corresponding quarter ended earlier, a notice to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) said.

Its profit went up Rs7.184 billion translating into EPS of Rs5.38 for half year ended June 30, 2019 , whereas Rs7.149 translating into EPS of Rs5.35 in the corresponding half year period earlier. The company announced interim cash dividend for the half year ended June 30, 2019 at Rs5.00/share which is 50 percent.

In Q2CY19, sales surged by 18 percent YoY to Rs27 billion mainly due to 23 percent and 11 percent YoY increase in urea and DAP prices, respectively which offset the impact of lower volumes during the period (urea off take went down 8 percent YoY while DAP sales dropped by 13 percent YoY in Q2CY19).

Gross margin clocked-in at 32 percent during Q2CY19, depicting an increase of 234bps as compared to last year due to higher realised margins on urea.

Other income depicted an increase of 2.8x YoY to Rs1.4 billion in Q2CY19 which is likely on account of dividend income from Efert Agritrade Pvt Limited, in our view, the notice said.

Financial charges jumped by 237 percent YoY to Rs1,220 million during Q2CY19 amid higher interest rates during the period. The company booked effective taxation at 48 percent during Q2CY19 mainly due to imposition of super tax along with higher taxation on trading business.