January 22, 2002	Tuesday	Ziqa’ad 7, 1422

KARACHI, Jan 21: On Monday, Lever Brothers Pakistan Limited — the consumer products giant — announced fourth quarter (October-December 2001) — after tax profit amounting to Rs331 million on sales valued at Rs5,397 million.

The company announcement said that the Board had approved the unaudited accounts for the last quarter. But concurrently, the full year numbers were also unveiled, which showed that the profit before taxation and restructuring costs, stood almost flat at Rs2,116 million for the latest year to end-December 2001, compared with Rs2,110 million the year before. The company amortised ‘restructuring costs’ amounting to Rs205 million in the 2001 accounts, which left after tax profit at Rs1,227 million. That was nearly 7 per cent lower than last year’s taxed profit at Rs1,317 million. Sales slipped 2.4 per cent to Rs20,025 million for the latest year, from a year ago sales at Rs20,508 million.

Financial analyst Muhammad Faisal Potrik at InvestCap argued that although the numbers look low this year, they were quite in line with expectations. He said that the results in the second half of last financial year 2000, were extraordinarily good and the first six months of the 2001 was hit hard, chiefly due to smuggling and high international prices of tea. Analysts fathomed that the last quarter could have benefited from the break of tide of smuggling tea into the country via Afghanistan, following the turbulence in that country.

Lever had declared interim dividend at Rs37.50 for 2001, but made no mention of a final dividend on Monday. Analysts thought that the announcement of AGM and the final dividend might come later and the “consolidated profit and loss account for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2001” announced by the company on Monday, may be unaudited. A brief management report accompanying the figures could have made things clearer.

The 50-rupee share in Lever Brothers closed unchanged at Rs765 on Monday, after oscillating between lowest and highest at Rs762 and Rs775 on trading in 1620 shares.

Lever Brothers Pakistan ranks among the fastest growing companies on the KSE. With the acquisition of both Lipton and Brooke Bond, the company has the largest share of the tea market in Pakistan. Polka together with its own Walls, has established the company firmly in the ice cream business. Total assets of Lever Pakistan at end-December 2000 had mounted to the order of Rs6.5 billion. But at the market value, the company is worth much higher represented by the market capitalization, which works out at Rs10.2 billion, on 13.4 million outstanding shares at the ruling price of Rs765, per the 50-rupee share.

The earning per share (eps) for 2001 worked out at Rs92.26, producing the price-to-earnings (p/e) ratio of 8.3x. At the last count on December 31, 2000, Unilever Overseas Holding Limited, London held 66.8 per cent shares in Lever Brothers Pakistan.

The fourth quarter (Oct-December 2001) showed after tax profit at Rs331 million, which compared with taxed profit amounting to Rs435 million in the previous