KARACHI: Pakistan State Oil Company Ltd reported its unconsolidated profit for the Jan-March quarter amounted to Rs32.6 billion, up 274 per cent from a year ago, a stock notice showed on Thursday.

The result came in higher than the industry’s expectations, according to AKD Securities, as a major deviation occurred due to more-than-expected inventory gains of Rs29bn. Another major difference occurred owing to “other income” of Rs11.6bn, it added.

For the first nine months of 2021-22, net profit of the oil marketing company stood at Rs64.8bn, 255pc higher than the same period of last year. It didn’t announce any payout.

Lucky Cement earnings fall

Lucky Cement Ltd said on Thursday its quarterly income for January-March on an unconsolidated basis remained Rs5.5bn, down 22.5pc from a year ago, a regulatory filing showed.

The result was above market expectations, as per Insight Securities, mainly because of higher-than-expected “other income”, due possibly to dividend income from Lucky Motor Company.

Quarterly sales increased 25pc year-on-year. More than 40pc of it was attributable to an increase in retention prices, said the brokerage.

The company also provided an update on its upcoming projects where the expansion at Pezu plant is likely to achieve its commercial operation date in December 2022.

OGDCL profit jumps to Rs43.1bn

Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd told investors on Thursday its quarterly profit for January-March clocked in at Rs43.1bn, up 79pc on a year-on-year basis, a shares market notification showed.

The company also announced an interim cash dividend of Re1 per share, taking the nine-month payout to Rs4.75 per share. Quarterly top line increased 36pc to Rs89.1bn, thanks to a 66pc rise in oil prices and 11.8pc devaluation. The effective tax rate clocked in at 33.4pc versus 30.7pc a year ago.

Hubco’s income rises

Consolidated income of the Hub Power Company Ltd for the January-March quarter amounted to Rs9.46bn, up 7.31pc from a year ago, the company said in a regulatory filing on Thursday.

The company’s revenue grew 56.2pc to Rs18.78bn while the operating cost surged 161.1pc over the same period.

The company didn’t declare any cash dividend.

NBP posts Rs9.7bn profit

National Bank of Pakistan Ltd said on Thursday its consolidated earnings for January-March clocked in at Rs9.7bn, up 23.8pc on an annual basis.

The rise net profit was due to a jump in net interest income and a reduction in provisioning, according to a comment issued by Arif Habib Ltd.

On a quarterly basis, profitability increased 138pc owing to the low-base effect arising out of a one-off charge booked last quarter relating to the penalty imposed on its New York branch. It didn’t announce any dividend.

K-Electric suffers Rs1.82bn loss

K-Electric Ltd announced on the stock exchange on Thursday it posted a net loss of Rs1.82bn in January-March versus a net profit of Rs2.57bn in the same period a year ago. Its revenue grew 27.9pc to Rs94.2bn in the three-month period. It didn’t announce any payout.

Cnergyico earnings up 59pc

Consolidated profit of Cnergyico PK Ltd increased 59.1pc to Rs1.67bn for the January-March quarter, a regulatory filing showed on Thursday.

Its net revenue amounted to Rs48.3bn, down 3.3pc from a year ago. The company didn’t declare any cash dividend.

Jazz invests Rs15bn

Jazz invested Rs14.9bn under its ‘4G for all’ initiative in the first quarter of 2022, which took its overall investment in Pakistan to $10.2bn, a press release said on Thursday.

A majority of its capital expenditure during the quarter was on the addition of approximately 500 new 4G sites, attaining the population coverage of 55.7pc.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2022