KARACHI: Mari Petroleum Company Ltd said on Friday its net profit for the first nine months of 2022-23 remained Rs40.3 billion, up 47 per cent year-on-year.

On a quarterly basis, the company recorded a net profit of Rs16.4bn in January-March, up 51pc from a year ago.

Meanwhile, United Bank Ltd reported that its earnings for January-March clocked in at Rs14.2bn, depicting an increase of 53pc from the same period of the preceding year. Its net income went up 9pc from the preceding three-month period.

According to Arif Habib Ltd, the latest financial result was the highest-ever quarterly profit that the bank has posted in its history. The rise in earnings was fuelled by a jump in total income. The bank also announced a cash dividend of Rs11 per share.

The Bank of Punjab reported its net profit in the first three-months of 2023 amounted to Rs1.1bn, down 46pc from a year ago and 63pc from a quarter ago. The drag on earnings on the annual basis was primarily because of a decline in net interest income and higher operating expenditure, according to the brokerage.

Faysal Bank Ltd reported its bottom line remained Rs3.3bn for the January-March quarter, up 50pc from a year ago but down 9pc from the preceding quarter.

K-Electric Ltd posted a net loss of Rs12.3bn for January-March, up 6.7 times from the quarterly loss of Rs1.8bn recorded in the same three-month period a year ago.

Honda, Toyota extend plant shutdowns

Honda Atlas Cars Ltd (HACL) and Indus Motor Company (IMC) have further extended their plant shutdowns due to a shortage of imported parts and accessories.

In a stock filing on Friday, Honda Atlas said it would keep its plant shut from May 1-15 due to supply chain issues caused by restrictions on opening letters of credit for the import of completely knocked kits, raw materials and halting foreign exchange payments.

Production activities in HACL remained suspended from April 16-30.

IMC in its stock filing also cited the same reasons for keeping production activities suspended from May 2-3. The company said it is unable to continue its production activities due to insufficient inventory levels of imported parts.

The production plant of IMC was completely shut from March 24-27. From August 2022 to date, Toyota vehicles’ assembling plant remained inoperative for 60 days.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2023