KARACHI: Pakistan Oilfields Limited (POL) posted profit-after-tax at Rs5.34 billion for the half year ended Dec 31, 2014 translating into earnings per share at Rs22.6, down by 22.6pc over the PAT at Rs6.9bn and eps of Rs29.19 YoY.

The board on Wednesday declared interim cash dividend at Rs15 per share, which stood down from Rs20 per share paid in 1HFY14. “POL December earnings at Rs.22.60 were below expectations while payout 150pc remained healthy,” said a senior equity analyst.

The company’s topline grew by a meagre 0.5pc in 1HFY15, which was attributable to declining oil prices as sales shrank by 18pc QoQ to Rs8.1bn in 2QFY15.

During 1HFY15, POL’s oil production grew by 16.5pc while gas production declined by 9.7pc. Analyst Bilal Shariff at Topline commented that although gross margins at 58pc in 1HFY15 did show an upswing from 56pc in 1HFY14, increase was mainly due to lower-than-expected amortisation on development and decommissioning costs in 1QFY15. In 2QFY15, gross margins fell to 55pc.

ATTOCK CEMENT PAKISTAN LTD: The company reported profit-after-tax at Rs1.02m translating into eps at Rs8.95 for the half year ended Dec 31, 2014, up from Rs871m (eps Rs7.61) in same period last year.

The board on Wednesday declared interim cash dividend at Rs4.50 per share for the half term. Net sales of the company grew to Rs6.37bn for the latest half year from Rs5.92 YoY and gross profit rose to Rs1.99bn from Rs1.64bn.

Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2015

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