KARACHI: Attock Petroleum Ltd (APL) logged in an after-tax profit of Rs4.36 billion for the nine months ended March 31, a year-on-year growth of 83 per cent. Earnings per share (eps) rose to Rs52.56 from Rs28.65.

APL’s net sales grew 14pc to Rs96.17bn. Analyst Waleed Rahmani at Arif Habib Ltd attributed growth in sales to rising product prices in addition to a volumetric growth of 2.3pc quarter-on-quarter in total energy products.

Gross margins stood at 6pc in the July-March period compared to 4pc a year earlier.

Pakistan Oilfields Ltd: The company’s after-tax profit grew 28pc year-on-year to Rs7.47bn in July-March. Earnings per share were Rs31.6.

Sales rose 10pc to Rs20.42bn and gross profit rose 23pc to Rs10.14bn. Analysts at Foundation Securities ascribed increase in profitability to “higher Arab Light prices and growth in both oil and gas flows”. During the period, realised prices of oil increased by 78pc year-on-year while that of gas grew by 2pc, analysts said.

National Refinery Ltd: The refinery’s after-tax profit rose 27.5pc to Rs6.67bn in July-March, which translated into earnings per share of Rs83.46. Net sales increased to Rs78.76bn from Rs75.98bn, gross profit was down to Rs7.28bn from Rs7.99bn, whereas other income also declined to Rs0.59bn from Rs1.15bn.

The board in its meeting on April 17 noted that the revamp of crude distillation column had been successfully completed. “As a result, the crude oil processing capacity has been enhanced by 3,000 barrels per day increasing overall designed capacity to 65,000 barrels from 62,000 barrels”.

Fauji Cement Company Ltd: Its after-tax profit plummeted 55pc to Rs1.972bn for the nine-month period. Earnings per share were Rs1.43. Net sales grew 4pc to Rs15.76bn. The cost of sales rose to Rs12.3bn from Rs8.11bn, wiping out the slight gains in turnover. The company’s gross margins diminished to 22pc in July-March from 47pc a year earlier. The decrease was due to the dependence on other cement plants for the procurement of clinker at a high price, said Ayesha Fayyaz at Shajar Capital.

Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2017