KARACHI: Engro Corporation Ltd announced 1Q2016 (Jan-March) consolidated earnings (attributable to the equity holders of holding company) of Rs3.7bn, translating into earnings per share at Rs7.1, up 1.6pc from PAT at Rs3.6bn and eps at Rs6.9 year-on-year (YoY).

The board also declared a cash dividend at Rs5 per share (50pc).

Engro’s pre-tax profit dropped 7pc YoY to Rs5.9bn, but a lower effective tax rate of 26pc, down 8pc YoY resulted in profit-after-tax of Rs4.4bn, an increase of 4pc over Rs4.2bn YoY.

The company’s revenue declined 17pc YoY to Rs34.3bn in the quarter under review which was thought to be due to lower fertiliser off-take and a decline in urea prices in case of Engro Fertiliser (EFERT).

Sales of Engro Foods (Efoods), a subsidiary of Engro, were also under pressure as volumetric sales of ultra high temperature (UHT) segment declined. “Although gross profit fell 8pc YoY to Rs10.5bn in 1Q2016, gross margins imp­roved 2.9pc to 30.5pc,” stated sector analyst at Topline Securities.

GSK profit jumps 20pc

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) reported a profit-after-tax of Rs697m for 1Q2016, translating into eps of Rs1.80), an increase of 20.5pc over PAT at Rs515m and eps at Rs1.50 YoY.

GSK sales grew 6.6pc YoY to Rs6.1bn in the period under review from Rs5.7bn YoY and its gross profit rose 15.6pc YoY to Rs1.8bn from Rs1.6bn. Also, company’s gross margins expanded 2.3pc to 29.6pc, which supported bottom-line growth. Operating profit increased to Rs919m, from Rs789m while financial charges stood further trimmed to Rs4.7m for the quarter under review, from Rs5.3m in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Bank Alfalah profit rises

Bank Alfalah’s after-tax profit surged 24 per cent to Rs2.467 billion in the January-March quarter, said a statement issued on Wednesday. Earnings per share increased to Rs1.55 from Rs1.25.

Despite interest rate at historically low levels, the bank’s net mark-up income rose 4pc year-on-year to Rs7.095bn. The overall net revenue amounted to Rs9.216bn, a rise of 11pc over the same period of last year.

The bank’s non-performing loans coverage now stands at 81pc. The overall net provision against advances and in­­­vestments improved by 66pc on account of higher recoveries and lower gross provisioning, the statement said.

Meezan Bank’s earnings flat

The bank’s profit-after-tax during the quarter under review was almost flat at Rs1.337bn compared to Rs1.313bn in the same quarter of last year, despite lower discount rate.

Earnings per share stood at Rs1.33 versus Rs1.31 year earlier. ‘Other income’ grew 15pc, with fee, commission and brokerage income contributing 47pc of total amount.

The bank’s deposits increased 20pc to Rs469bn while its financing portfolio grew 37pc to Rs201bn.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2016