PPL’s profit falls 15% to Rs12 billion
Pakistan Petroleum Limited’s profit dipped 15% to Rs12 billion in the quarter ended March 31, 2021 on the back of a contraction in sales and fall in other income.
According to a notice sent to the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Thursday, the oil and gas exploration and production firm had reported a profit of Rs14.1 billion in the same quarter of last year.
Earnings per share of the company amounted to Rs4.42 in the Jan-Mar 2021 quarter compared to Rs5.2 in the same quarter of previous year. During the quarter under review, net sales of the company were recorded at Rs36.9 billion, which was 9.7% lower than Rs40.9 billion in the same period of last year.
Read: PPL posts 7% rise in profit
Arif Habib Limited, in its report, stated that net sales of Pakistan Petroleum in the third quarter (Jan-Mar) of FY21 dropped 10% year-on-year owing to a 13% year-on-year decline in wellhead price of Sui gas and 1% drop in gas production. The company’s exploration expenses plunged 76.3% to Rs601.9 million in Jan-Mar 2021. The firm had reported expenses of Rs2.5 billion under the same head in Jan-Mar 2020.
“Exploration costs plummeted due to one dry well (Qadirpur Deep X-01) during the Jan-Mar quarter against two dry wells (Zarbab and Nashpa-5A) in the same period of last year,” the report said. Administrative expenses in the first three months of 2021 were reported at Rs924.2 million against Rs836.7 million in the corresponding period of last year, a rise of 10.5%.
Finance cost inched up 0.92% to Rs281.5 million during the quarter under review. The company had recorded finance cost of Rs278.9 million in the same period of last year. Other income dipped from Rs1.7 billion in Jan-Mar 2020 to Rs1.05 billion in Jan-Mar 2021, registering a decline of 38.2%.
“Decline in other income is attributable to a fall in income from loans and bank deposits tagged with the absence of gains on foreign currency accounts,” the report said. The company booked effective taxation at 29% in the third quarter of FY21 as opposed to 32% in the third quarter of FY20. During the day, the share price of Pakistan Petroleum fell Rs0.63 to close at Rs82.56 with 621,736 shares changing hands at the PSX.
Read more: Govt reduces petroleum prices by up to Rs2.32 per litre
Nine-month result
Pakistan Petroleum’s profit declined 1.2% to Rs38.1 billion in the nine months ended March 31, 2021. The company’s profit had stood at Rs38.6 billion in the corresponding period of previous fiscal year.
Earnings per share came in at Rs14.01 in Jul-Mar FY21 compared to Rs14.18 in the same period of last year. Topline of the firm shrank 11% year-on-year at Rs112.7 billion in the nine months under review amid decrease in oil and gas production by 1% and 3% respectively and plunge in oil prices by 19%, stated the report.
Exploration cost dived 74% year-on-year, settling at Rs3.9 billion given two dry wells during the Jul-Mar FY21 period versus seven dry wells in the same period of last year, it said.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 30th, 2021.
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