Pakistan Oilfields’ profit soars 141% to Rs7.3b

Rise in earnings comes on back of jump in other income, sales

KARACHI:

Pakistan Oilfields Limited’s profit skyrocketed 140.7% to Rs7.3 billion in the quarter ended December 31, 2021 due to a sharp rise in other income and an uptick in sales.

According to a notice sent to the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Friday, the oil and gas exploration company had reported a profit of Rs3.03 billion for October-December 2020.

Earnings per share of the firm rose from Rs10.66 in the Oct-Dec quarter of 2020 to Rs25.70 in Oct-Dec 2021.

The company announced an interim cash dividend of Rs20 per share for the second quarter of FY22.

Topline of the company rose from Rs9.97 billion in Oct-Dec 2020 to Rs13.9 billion in the three months under review, a jump of 39.3%.

Arif Habib Limited analyst Iqbal Jawaid said that net sales climbed as a result of 79% year-on-year surge in realised oil prices and 8% year-on-year depreciation of the rupee against the US dollar.

“Meanwhile, oil and gas production plummeted 10.2% and 9.7% respectively,” he said.

During the quarter under review, Pakistan Oilfields’ operating costs amounted to Rs2.5 billion, which was 5.4% higher than Rs2.4 billion in the corresponding period of 2020.

Exploration costs soared 221% to Rs107.8 million in the Oct-Dec quarter of 2021 against Rs33.6 million in the same period of 2020.

The exploration costs rose in the wake of higher geological and geophysical cost during the period, the analyst said.

Administrative expenses fell from Rs66.2 million in the Oct-Dec quarter of 2020 to Rs61.6 million in the same quarter of 2021, a contraction of 7%.

Finance cost of the firm came in at Rs934.7 million in the period under review against finance income of Rs188.4 million last year.

Other charges of Pakistan Oilfields stood at Rs541.5 million in the Oct-Dec quarter of 2021, which were 37.7% higher than Rs393.2 million in the corresponding three months of 2020.

Other income surged 717.5% to Rs1.8 billion in Oct-Dec 2021. The company had reported receipts of Rs221.8 million under the same head in the corresponding period of 2020.

“Other income depicted a massive jump on the back of exchange gains on foreign currency tagged with higher income from bank saving accounts, deposits and investments,” Jawaid said.

The company booked effective taxation at 36% in 2QFY22 vis-à-vis 39% in 2QFY21.

 National Refinery

National Refinery’s profit climbed 339% to Rs2.1 billion in the quarter ended December 31, 2021. The company had reported a profit of Rs488.5 million in the same period of 2020.

Earnings per share of the firm rose from Rs6.11 in the Oct-Dec quarter of 2020 to Rs26.81 in the three months under review.

Sales of the refinery rose from Rs50.4 billion in Oct-Dec 2020 to Rs66.7 billion in the same period of 2021.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 5^th, 2022.

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