Mari Petroleum’s profit inches up to Rs7.5b

KARACHI:

Mari Petroleum Company’s profit inched up 1.85% to Rs7.47 billion in the quarter ended December 31, 2021 owing to plunge in exploration cost and uptick in sales.

According to a notice sent by the petroleum exploration company to the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Monday, it had registered a profit of Rs7.33 billion in the same period of 2020.

Earnings per share of the company came in at Rs56 for October-December 2021 against Rs54.98 for the same period of previous year.

During the quarter under review, net sales of the company grew 15% to reach Rs21.69 billion. It had reported revenue of Rs18.85 billion for October-December 2020.

In a report, Arif Habib Limited analyst Iqbal Jawaid stated that topline of the firm jumped given 7% and 5% year-on-year growth in oil and gas production respectively tagged with 8% depreciation of the rupee against the greenback.

The amount paid by the firm in royalty rose from Rs2.36 billion in the last quarter of 2020 to Rs2.75 billion in the three months under review, registering a jump of 16.35%.

Operating and administrative expenses contracted 0.88% as they fell from Rs4.14 billion in October-December 2020 to Rs4.10 billion in the corresponding period of 2021.

Similarly, exploration and prospecting expenditure dived 50% to Rs895.47 million compared to Rs1.81 billion the firm had paid under the same head in October-December 2020.

“Exploration cost declined amid lower cost of dry well (Mari PKL South 01) compared to last year’s dry well (Sheen Dund-1),” said Jawaid.

On the flip side, finance cost recorded an uptick of 8.23% to Rs243.77 million in the three months under review as opposed to Rs225.23 million in the corresponding period of 2020.

Other income stood at Rs160.84 million compared to other expenses of Rs2.88 million in the same period of 2020.

The company recorded other income compared to other expenses on account of higher income from Mari Seismic Services Unit, the analyst said.

“The company recorded the share of loss in associate of Rs2.4 billion in the second quarter of fiscal year 2021-22, where major portion came from Pakistan International Oil Limited (PIOL) while smaller portion came from National Resources Limited, in our view,” he said.

The company booked effective taxation at 35% in 2QFY22 vis-à-vis 29% in 2QFY21, he said.

During the day, the company’s share price fell Rs10.21 to close at Rs1,700.62 with 52,800 shares changing hands at the Pakistan Stock Exchange.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 25^th, 2022.

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