Attock Petroleum’s profit falls 25% to Rs1.58b

Decline comes on back of high cost of products sold, increasing finance cost

KARACHI: Attock Petroleum Limited reported a profit of Rs1.58 billion during the six month period ended December 31, 2019 as it managed to achieve higher sales in rupee terms and also earned a handsome income on deposits and investment.

The profit, however, was 25% less than Rs2.1 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year, the oil marketing company reported in a notification to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday. The higher cost of products sold and finance cost were the leading factors, which impacted the net profit.

Accordingly, earnings per share of the oil company dropped to Rs15.88 in the first half (Jul-Dec) of fiscal year 2019-20 compared to Rs21.13 in the corresponding period of last year. The board of directors of the company recommended an interim cash dividend at Rs5 per share. The entitlement would be paid to the shareholders whose names will appear in the register of members on February 3, 2020.

During the day, APL’s share price dropped by Rs20.72 or 5.5%, the maximum allowed limit of decline in share price in a day, and failed to recover. Accordingly, it closed at Rs356.01 with 262,000 shares volume at the PSX.

Net sales of the firm inched up 1% to Rs116.25 billion in the six months under question compared to Rs115.16 billion in the corresponding period of 2018.

The finance income - emanating from income on bank deposits, short-term and other long-term investments and mark-up on delayed payments - jumped 1.62 times to Rs1.11 billion compared to Rs686.03 million.

Similarly, other income earned on account of commission and exchange gain improved to Rs569.49 million compared to Rs471.28 million.

On the flip side, the cost of products rose 2% to Rs113.22 billion compared to Rs111.16 billion. The finance cost increased 1.81 times to Rs722.08 million in the six-month duration compared to Rs398.12 million in the same period of last year.

In just the second quarter ended on December 31, 2019, the firm’s profit dropped to Rs355.48 million (earnings per share at Rs3.57) from Rs555.65 million (earnings per share at Rs5.58) in the same quarter of last year. 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 23^rd, 2020.

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