ISLAMABAD, Sept 19: The Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) has announced a final cash dividend of Rs2.75 per share, after earning a pre-tax profit of Rs49 billion during the last fiscal year 2004-05.

A company announcement said its board of directors on Monday approved a final cash dividend for the year ended June 30, 2005 at the rate of Rs2.75 per share or 27.5 per cent. This is in addition to three interim cash dividends totalling 47.5 per cent or Rs4.75 per share already declared and paid by the company.

According to the announcement that has also been faxed to the managements of the country’s three stock exchanges, the company said it earned a pre-tax profit of Rs49.020 billion against Rs30.5 billion profit of the same period last year, showing an increase of more than 60 per cent.

After making a provision of Rs16 billion as taxes, the company earned a net profit after tax of Rs33 billion during fiscal year 2004-05 as against Rs22.4 billion of 2003-04, showing an improvement of more than 47 per cent.

The company posted net sales of Rs73.7 billion compared to Rs51.3 billion the previous year, showing an increase of about 44 per cent.

The operating profit during the year under review stood at Rs47 billion compared with Rs29.2 billion in 2003-04, an increase of about 61 per cent.