corporate result: National Refinery books loss of Rs54.59 million

Hit comes due to notable increase in cost of sales

KARACHI: National Refinery Limited (NRL) booked a loss of Rs54.59 million in the quarter ended March 31, 2018 compared to a profit of Rs2.70 billion in the same quarter last year, according to a notice sent to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday.

The refinery (of petroleum products) booked the loss mainly due to a notable increase in the cost of sales of petroleum products. Otherwise, it reported a considerable surge in sales of refined products.

NRL’s share price dropped 2.98%, or Rs12.73, to close at Rs414.99 with 96,850 shares changing hands on Monday.

It reported a loss per share of Rs0.68 in the quarter under review compared to earnings per share of Rs33.84 in the corresponding quarter last year.

Net sales of the company increased 17.6% to Rs31.06 billion from Rs26.41 billion. However, comparatively a larger surge of 26.80% in the cost of net sales hindered translating the surge in sales into the net profit.

The cost of sales rose to Rs30.23 billion in the quarter under review compared to Rs23.84 billion in the same quarter last year.

Finance cost shot up to Rs588 million from Rs47 million. Other income dropped to Rs117 million from Rs166 million.

Cumulatively, in nine months ended March 31, profit dropped 76.5% to Rs1.57 billion (earnings per share of Rs19.62) compared to Rs6.67 billion in the same period last year.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 17^th, 2018.

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