Corporate Results: The season kicks off

Quarterly results were promising as MCB posted improved profits while Honda managed to halve its losses.

KARACHI:


Quarterly result announcement started on a promising note with the second largest bank and the third largest automobile maker declaring better performances this year.


MCB Bank beats market expectations

MCB Bank beat market expectations by posting an increase of 33 per cent in net profit for the half year ended June 30, 2011.

The bank’s net profit stood at Rs10.57 billion in the first half of 2011 against Rs7.94 billion in the same period last year, according to a notice sent to the Karachi Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

“Stellar earnings mainly stem from the sharp improvement in net interest income that rose 26 per cent to Rs22.2 billion,” said Topline Securities analyst Farhan Mahmood.

The profit was five per cent higher than analyst expectations as they expected it to stand around Rs10.1 billion. MCB Bank, the country’s second largest bank, is owned by Mian Mansha the richest person in Pakistan.

The board of directors in a meeting held in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday also declared a cash dividend of Rs3 per share, taking the total payout during January to June to Rs6 for every Rs10 share.

Net interest income rose due to better return on assets amid higher interest rates, added Mahmood.

The asset base of the bank grew 11 per cent to Rs630 billion from last year’s Rs568 billion.

The bank’s stock price rose Rs2.87 to close at Rs195.32 at the Karachi Stock Exchange on Tuesday during the trade session.

Besides higher interest income, 39 per cent rise in non-interest income also supported the bottom-line.

The classified portfolio of the bank registered a nominal increase of four per cent from December 31, 2010. However, the investment portfolio increased considerably by 22 per cent from December 2010 amid high concentration levels in the risk free government securities.


However, operating expenses swelled by 21 per cent to Rs7.8 billion while total provisioning increased by 20 per cent to Rs2.4 billion.

Honda manages to halve losses

Honda has managed to cut down net losses by almost half to Rs51.1 million on the back of other income surging during April to June 2011.

Honda Atlas Cars continues to pass through a hard time owing to declining sales and increasing production cost, said InvestCap analyst Abdul Azeem.

The country’s third largest automobile took a dent in its sales as they eased 19 per cent to close at Rs4.6 billion in the quarter ended June 2010.

Production cost rose by 17 per cent mainly owing to depreciation of the rupee by 15 per cent on a yearly basis against Japanese yen coupled with 15 per cent increase in steel prices to $747 per ton, added Azeem.

However, other operating income came to the rescue as they increased by three times to Rs58.5 million from the preceding year’s Rs18.6 million.

The company’s stock price declined Rs2.48 to close at Rs121.59 at the Karachi Stock Exchange during Tuesday’s trade session.

Sales shift down a gear

Volumetric sales of the company declined massively by 22 per cent to 3,400 units during the period under review. The company’s premium local car Civic sales fell 34 per cent to 1,200 units while City sales declined 13 per cent to 2,200 units.

The main reason behind the slowdown is that the company stopped selling cars due to expected reduction in taxes in the fiscal 2012 budget, said Azeem. The budget, announced on June 3, removed special excise duty and decreased general sales tax on car sales to 16 per cent from 17 per cent.

The company also bore financial charges of Rs23 million due to expansion carried out last year.

HinoPak Motors, maker of buses and trucks, losses eased slight to Rs83.9 million in the quarter ended June 30 against Rs89.4 million, the company announced following a meeting on Tuesday.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 27th,  2011.
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