KAPCO declares Rs2b profit for first quarter

Kot Addu Power Company (Kapco) announces profit of Rs2.037bn for the first quarter of fiscal year 2011.

Kot Addu Power Company (Kapco) has announced a profit of Rs2.037 billion for the first quarter of fiscal year 2011. This represents a rise of 52.4 per cent in profits when compared to the same period last year.

The earnings per share were Rs2.31 in the quarter as compared to Rs1.52 in the same quarter in the preceding year.

Sales of the power company, however, registered a decline of 20 per cent on a year-on-year basis from Rs20.3 billion to Rs16.2 billion. The growth in profits was expected, mainly due to a higher indexation of the capacity payments backed by the depreciation in the value of the rupee and the reduction in expenses related to overhaul, repairs and renewal, according to Nurali Barkatali, an analyst at BMA Capital. Analysts further explained that the contraction in revenues had been foreseen and was due to higher unavailability of natural gas and low capacity utilisation. They indicated that profits will remain under pressure in near future.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 27^th, 2010.