Hascol profit improves to Rs1.2b in 2016

Surge comes on back of 42% rise in volumetric sales to 2.2 million tons.


Our Correspondent April 01, 2017
PHOTO: HASCOL

KARACHI: Hascol Petroleum Limited’s consolidated profit improved 6% to Rs1.20 billion in the year ended December 31, 2016 on the back of higher net sales, according to a bourse filing on Friday.

The oil marketing company had booked a profit of Rs1.13 billion in the preceding year.

Earnings per share (EPS) enhanced to Rs10.01 in 2016 from Rs9.39 in the previous year.

The earnings were below market expectations, according to JS Research and Topline Securities.



“Lower-than-expected EPS can be attributed to higher-than-forecast selling and distribution expenses and a higher effective tax rate,” JS Research analyst Nabeel Haroon said in post-market comments.

Its share price fell 1.04%, or Rs3.18, to Rs299.90 with a volume of 398,000 shares at the Pakistan Stock Exchange.

The result was accompanied by a final cash dividend of Rs3.5 per share, taking the total payout for the year to Rs7 per share.

Net sales rose 30% to Rs99.50 billion from Rs76.77 billion last year. Cost of products sold increased 28% to Rs94.99 billion from Rs74.01 billion.

Tax on profit before tax soared 15-fold to Rs938.34 million from Rs63.48 million last year.

“Hascol continued to capture higher market share as its sales improved 30% to Rs99.7 billion,” Topline Securities analyst Umair Naseer said in post-result comments.

Taurus Research analyst M Daniyal Kanani said in a note that Hascol’s gross margin settled at 4.72%, an increase of 103 basis points from the previous year.

“The surge came on the back of a 42% rise in volumetric sales to 2.2 million tons, taking its market share to 7.6% in calendar year 2016 from 6% in 2015. Margin revision on retail fuels and deregulation of RON-95 [a better quality] fuel also contributed to augmenting its margin,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 1st, 2017.

Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.

COMMENTS

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ