Mari Petroleum’s profit rises 3.7% to Rs31b

Company declared final dividend of Rs75 per share, taking total payout to Rs141 for FY21

KARACHI:

Mari Petroleum’s profit after tax inched up 3.73% to Rs31.4 billion in the year ended June 30, 2021 owing to a significant decline in exploration and prospecting expenditure.

According to a notice sent to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday, the company had posted profit after tax of Rs30.3 billion in fiscal year 2019-20.

Earnings per share of the company rose from Rs227.23 in FY20 to Rs235.71 in FY21.

Alongside the result, the company announced a final cash dividend of Rs75 per share, taking the total dividend to Rs141 for FY21.

During the year, net sales of the oil and gas exploration company increased 1.3% to Rs73 billion against Rs72 billion in fiscal year 2019-20.

Arif Habib Limited analyst Muhammad Iqbal Jawaid said that there was an uptick of 1% year-on-year in the company’s topline given the jump in oil and gas production by 17% and 8% respectively.

He said that net sales dropped in the fourth quarter of FY21 amid a fall in the wellhead price of Mari gas field.

Operating and administrative expenses rose from Rs13.3 billion in FY20 to Rs15 billion in FY21, an increase of 13%.

On the other hand, exploration and prospecting expenditure plunged 56% from Rs10.3 billion in FY20 to Rs4.5 billion in the fiscal year under review.

According to Jawaid, the dip was attributable to the absence of dry wells during the year against a dry well (Miraj-01) in fiscal year 2019-20.

Finance income of the firm fell from Rs4.6 billion in FY20 to Rs3.9 billion in FY21, a fall of 13.5%.

Similarly, other income contracted 8% to Rs312 million. The company had recorded receipt of Rs340 million under this head in FY20.

According to the Arif Habib Limited analyst, the company recorded other income of Rs292 million in the fourth quarter of FY21 against other expense of Rs60 million in the same period of previous year on the back of higher income from a seismic unit.

“The company booked effective taxation at 27% in 4QFY21 vis-à-vis 19% in 4QFY20,” he said.

During the day, the share price of Mari Petroleum fell Rs5.98 and closed at Rs1,511.95 with 58,540 shares changing hands at the Pakistan Stock Exchange.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 27^th, 2021.

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