Byco reports Rs449m loss in six months

Result is better than loss of Rs1.99b last year.

KARACHI: Byco Petroleum has announced a net loss of Rs449 million in the first six months (Jul-Dec) of financial year 2015-16 compared to a loss of Rs1.99 billion in the same period of previous year, according to a company notice sent to the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Friday.

Loss per share of the company stood at Rs0.46 compared to Rs2.04 in the previous year.

The KSE 100-Share Index closed at 31,011 points with a fall of 270 points or 0.87%. Byco’s stock closed at Rs16.84, down 1.86%.

The company for the first time in over six years had posted a net profit of Rs72 million in financial year 2014-15 compared to a loss of Rs5.9 billion in 2013-14.

It runs a refinery, a petroleum marketing arm and an oil-import terminal. Byco Petroleum is considering merging with its holding company in a bid to integrate different parts of the petroleum supply chain.

The proposed merger of the company and its subsidiary Byco Terminals with Byco Oil Pakistan was announced in early 2015.

Byco Petroleum has a 35,000-barrel-per-day refinery and a marketing company with over 260 retail outlets. It also owns a liquid terminal through a wholly-owned subsidiary.

The oil price fluctuation of 2009 had hit Byco hard that led to massive inventory losses, which triggered a five-year period of operational glitches.

It also vigorously followed a policy of keeping stocks-in-trade to a minimum to avoid inventory loss by quickly converting crude oil into petroleum products and its early distribution.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 20^th,  2016.

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