Corporate results: OGDC’s earnings fall 29% in first half

Oil and gas giant posts net profit of Rs47.8b.

KARACHI: Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC), Pakistan’s largest exploration and production company with market capitalisation of $9.4 billion, posted after-tax profit of Rs47.828 billion in the half year ended December 2014, down around 29% compared to Rs67.226 billion in the same period a year earlier.

Earnings per share of the company stood at Rs11.12 in the first half against Rs15.63 in the corresponding period a year ago.

With the results, it announced a second interim cash dividend of Rs2 per share. This was in addition to the already-paid interim dividend of Rs2.50 per share.

In a report, Topline Securities said the decline in earnings was primarily due to the plunge of over 50% in global oil prices since June last year.

OGDC’s net sales dropped 6% to Rs119 billion in July-December 2014 against Rs126 billion in the same period of previous year.

In the second quarter (October-December) alone, net sales fell 16% to Rs54 billion compared to Rs64 billion in the second quarter of financial year 2013-14.

OGDC posted EPS of Rs4.54 in the second quarter, down 42% from Rs7.82 in the corresponding three months a year ago. In the first half, sales volumes remained flat as oil and gas production improved only 1.5% and 0.4% respectively compared to the previous year, Topline said.

Operating cost rose 29% to Rs26 billion versus Rs20 billion in the previous year. Net margins declined to 40.3% in July-December 2014 compared to 53.3% in July-December 2013.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 5^th,  2015.

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