Mari Petroleum Q1 profit up 21pc

KARACHI: Mari Petroleum Limited (MPL) profit went up 21 percent to Rs9.066 billion for the three month period ended September 30, 2020 translating into earnings per share (EPS) of Rs67.96, a bourse filing said on Monday.

The company earned Rs7.462 billion with EPS of Rs55.94 in the corresponding period last year. The company did not announce any final cash dividend for the quarter under review.

Brokerage Topline Securities said, “The result came in higher than our estimate of Rs63.0 due to lower than expected operating expenditures during the quarter. Our estimate for operating expenditure was $1.76/barrel.”

MPL’s net sales jumped 14 percent to Rs20.373 billion from Rs17.849 billion in July-September last year. Brokerage Arif Habib Limited in their research note said the higher net sales could be attributed to seven percent YoY increase in gas production, and rupee depreciation against dollar by five percent YoY. “However, oil production dropped by seven percent YoY followed by a fall in oil prices by 31 percent YoY.”