Attock Refinery reports loss of Rs2.67b in Oct-Dec 2018

Loss incurred due to rise in finance cost, fall in non-refinery income

KARACHI: Attock Refinery Limited (ATRL) reported a significant loss of Rs2.67 billion in the quarter ended December 31, 2018 due to the exorbitant cost of sales and finance cost. The petroleum products’ refinery had reported a consolidated profit of Rs154.23 million in the same quarter of 2017, according to a notice sent to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday.

Accordingly, the loss per share amounted to Rs24.4 in the Oct-Dec 2018 quarter compared to earnings per share of Rs1.45 in the corresponding quarter of previous year. “The loss...was due to a 3.6time year-on-year increase in finance cost, 37% decline in non-refinery income and 200-basis-point decrease in gross profit margins,” Topline Securities said in post-result commentary.



ATRL’s share price hit the lower limit of 5%, or dropped Rs6.51, and closed at Rs123.85 with trading in 1.19 million shares at the PSX. Net sales of the refinery stood at Rs44.05 billion, which was 57% higher than Rs28.03 billion in the corresponding period of 2017. This, however, failed to translate into a profit due to the higher cost of sale at Rs45.95 billion than net sales of Rs44.05 billion. Finance cost surged to Rs2.67 billion as opposed to Rs753.17 million in the previous year.

Cumulatively, in first half (Jul-Dec) of the current fiscal year 2018-19, the refinery incurred a loss of Rs2.81 billion (loss per share of Rs26.39) compared to a consolidated profit of Rs1.37 billion (earnings per share of Rs12.91) in the same period last year.

NRL losses surge 36 times National Refinery Limited’s (NRL) losses surged 36 times to Rs2.79 billion in the quarter ended December 31, 2018 compared to Rs77.11 million in the same quarter last year. The loss per share came in at Rs34.91 in the Oct-Dec 2018 quarter compared to Rs0.96 in the correspondent quarter of 2017. “This was due to a 3.9time year-on-year rise in finance cost, a five-percentage-point decline in gross profit margins and a 46% fall in other income,” the brokerage house said. NRL’s share price dropped to the lower limit of 5%, or Rs12.10, to Rs230.01 with turnover of 116,300 shares at the PSX. The refinery booked net revenue of Rs37.83 billion, which was almost 22% higher than Rs31.10 billion in the same quarter last year. However, the high cost of sales, which amounted to Rs39.28 billion, pushed the firm in the red.