KARACHI: Pakistan State Oil (PSO), the country’s largest oil marketing company with market capitalisation of $1 billion, posted profit-after-tax (PAT) at Rs4.3bn in the first half (July-Dec) of this fiscal year (1HFY15), translating into earnings per share (eps) at Rs15.76.

The earnings reflected drop of 73 per cent from PAT at Rs15.8bn and eps at Rs58.15 in 1HFY14.

Analysts observed that the plunge in earnings was due to higher inventory loss booked by the company.

PSO said in a statement that during the period, market share of the company stood at 57pc (63pc in 1HFY14), whereas market share of black oil products was 67pc (75pc in 1HFY14) and white oil products’ share was 49pc (53pc in 1HFY14).

The company’s sales volume of motor gasoline grew by 4pc (1HFY14: 15pc growth), however, the sales volume of furnace oil and High Speed Diesel both declined by 16pc (1HFY14: 14pc growth) and 10pc (1HFY14: 1pc decline) respectively.

PSO said: “The decline in crude oil prices from $109 per barrel in July 2014 to $52 per barrel in Dec 2014 also adversely affected the performance of the company, as the margins for motor gasoline and High Speed Diesel are fixed amounts per litre, whereas the furnace oil margins are in percentage terms.”

This resulted in decline in turnover to Rs605bn from Rs727bn in the same period last year, a decrease of 17pc (1HFY14: 15pc decline).

The company reported that the decline of 73pc (1HFY14: 150pc growth) in earnings during the period mainly related to the following: Decrease in receipts relating to late payment surcharge at Rs3bn against Rs11bn YoY and inventory loss of Rs2.7bn against inventory gain of Rs6.4bn YoY.

The PSO managing director observed that the company was confident that with the ongoing reorganisation of its processes, necessary restructuring and continual support from all the stakeholders, the growth and future profitability of the company was assured.

Engro Fertilisers Ltd

Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority has approved the terms of agreement between Engro Fertilisers, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL) and Mari Petroleum for the supply of gas at concessionary rate to Engro Fertiliser’s ‘EnVen’ plant.

In a filing with the stock exchange on Monday under the ‘material disclosure’ clause of regulations, Engro Fertiliser (EFERT) also stated: “The company is working with SNGPL and Mari to start implementation at the earliest.”

Engro Fertiliser further informed that the Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet, in its meeting held on Feb 28, had approved supply of 3 million cubic feet per day gas from Maru East field to the company.

Published in Dawn March 3rd , 2015

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