KARACHI: Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited announced financial figures for the year ended Dec 31, 2013 on Monday, posting consolidated profit after tax (PAT) at 15.7bn, translating into earnings per share (eps) at Rs3.10.

It signified huge increase of 97pc over the PAT at Rs8.0bn and eps at Rs0.23 the earlier year. The board also announced final cash dividend at Re1 per share, taking the full year payout to Rs2 per share.

Analyst at Topline Securities stated that one of the major reasons for significant upswing in earnings was absence of VSS (Voluntary Separation Scheme) charge in 2013 and higher revenues from LDI (Long Distance and International) business.

To recall, company had booked Rs9.5bn VSS expense in 2012. During 2013, revenue of the company increased by 11pc to Rs131.2bn compared to Rs118.4bn last year. However, gross margins remained flat at 36.7pc in 2013.In 4Q2013.

The company’s topline dropped by 8.3pc to Rs30.7bn YoY while gross margins declined by 4 per cent to 39.6pc. The decline was primarily attributable to gradual fall in incoming international calls.

All in all, the company booked profit of Rs4.5bn in 4Q2013, down 52.7pc YoY. The drop was also on account of VSS charge reversal of Rs1.5bn in 4Q2012.

Engro Polymer

PVC maker Engro Polymer & Chemicals Limited (EPCL), a subsidiary of the Engro Corporation put up star performance in the year ended Dec 31, 2013, announcing profit after tax at Rs707m million or earnings per share at Rs1.07.

The earnings saw a handsome growth of 8 times over the PAT at Rs77 million and eps at Rs0.12 the previous year.

The stock hit ‘upper circuit’ with gain of Re0.94 in the stock price, which closed at Rs15.94 on Monday.

Analysts commented that the smooth operations of VCM plant helped, EPCL to achieve higher revenues & earn operating profit of Rs24.6bn and Rs2.96bn in CY13, which were 20pc & 61pc higher, respectively YoY.

On a quarterly basis, the company posted earnings of Rs154m (eps: Rs0.23) during 4Q CY13 compared with a loss of Rs6m (eps: Rs-0.01) posted during 4Q CY12. Potential increase in earnings was marred by a higher effective tax rate of 72pc during 4Q CY13.

Analysts at Taurus Securities observed that earnings of the company were expected to further improve in CY14 as the company had initiated second phase of debottlenecking which would further enhance the PVC capacity by 15 thousand ton per annum and thus enable the company to convert its surplus VCM into PVC resulting in higher margins.