The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has imposed a penalty of Rs10 million on Hascol Petroleum Limited and suspended its marketing license for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The regulatory action, communicated to Hascol on October 20, 2020, was disclosed by the company in a notification to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday.
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Engro Fertilizers announces 112 percent growth in quarterly profit
KARACHI: Engro Fertilizers Limited has recorded massive growth of around 112 percent for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 owing to increase in sales and lower payment of taxes.
In its financial results submitted to Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday, the company announced profit after tax of Rs7.03 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 as compared with Rs3.32 billion in the same quarter of the last year.
The sales of the company registered 38 percent growth to Rs37.43 billion for the quarter under review as compared with Rs27.1 billion in the same quarter of the last year.
The payment of tax by the company was Rs169.36 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 as compared with the tax payment of Rs2.65 billion in the same quarter of the last year.
The gross profit of the company was at Rs10.84 billion for the quarter under review as compared with Rs8.84 billion in the same quarter last year.
Administrative expenses of the company increased to Rs514.67 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 as compared with Rs296.36 million in the corresponding quarter of the last year.
The company announced earnings per share of Rs5.27 for the quarter under review as compared with EPS of Rs2.49 in the same quarter of the last year.
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Meezan Bank declares healthy profit of 65 percent in nine months
KARACHI: Meezan Bank Limited on Tuesday announced healthy profit of 65 percent for nine-month period ended September 30, 2020.
According to financial results submitted to Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), the bank declared profit after tax of Rs18 billion for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2020 as compared with Rs10.94 billion in the corresponding period of the last year.
The bank also declared earnings per share of Rs12.78 for the period under review as compared with Rs7.73 in the corresponding period of the last year.
Total income of the bank registered 43 percent increase to Rs56.92 billion during the period as compared with Rs39.88 billion in the same period of the last year.
Operating expenses of the bank grew by 22.43 percent to Rs21.88 billion for the period ended September 2020 as compared with Rs17.87 billion in the same period of the last year.
The gross profit of the bank witnessed a growth of 58 percent to Rs30 billion for the nine-month period as compared with Rs19 billion in the same period of the last year.
Alongside result, the bank announced a cash dividend of Rs4.0 share.
Analysts at Topline said that the result came in higher than our expectations due to lower than expected profit expensed on deposits, which is most likely driven by continued focus on Current Account growth and possible re-pricing of maturing Term Deposits.
Profit earned on assets depicted a decline of 9 percent Quarter on Quarter (QoQ). Along with lower interest rates, 1 percent QoQ decline in industry loans amidst slowdown in economic activity has been the cause of the decline.
Profit expensed on deposits substantially declined by 22 percent QoQ amidst re-pricing of liabilities to lower interest/profit rates, where non applicability of Minimum Deposit Rate (MDR) on Islamic banks would have also contributed.
As a result, Net Spread Earned declined by just 1 percent QoQ.
Other Income showed resurgence with a jump of 17 percent QoQ driven by increase in Fee Income growth of 49 percent QoQ as branch operation resumed after lifting of COVID-19 lockdown.
Despite the branch expansion strategy, other expenses were kept in check (down 0.1 percent QoQ). Cost to Income for the quarter stood at 40 percent.
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Agha Steel’s IPO receives overwhelming response
KARACHI: The Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Agha Steel has received overwhelming response from investors as it was oversubscribed at the book building phase on Wednesday.
The IPO received an overwhelming response from institutional investors and high net worth individuals as the strike price clocked in at Rs32 per share, higher than the floor price of Rs30, a statement said.
The book-building phase of the Initial Public Offer (IPO) of Agha Steel concluded with investors oversubscribing it by as much as 1.63 times.
This means Agha Steel is going to raise Rs3.8 billion in total, making it the largest IPO in the steel sector and the second-largest IPO in the private sector.
Brokers and investment advisory firms had issued almost unanimous calls to ‘subscribe,’ which resulted in investor demand amounting to Rs4.4 billion against the IPO’s book-building size of Rs2.7 billion.
The general public will subscribe to the remaining 30 million shares (25 percent of the total offer size) on Oct 14-15 at the strike price of Rs32.
The company will use IPO proceeds to finance the expansion of its re-rolling capacity from 250,000 metric tons to 650,000 MT. It will increase the reinforcing bar production capacity by 160 per cent.
Brokerage houses anticipate steady growth in the company’s bottom line owing to a substantial rise in construction activities across the country. The main product of Agha Steel is reinforcing bars that are used in the construction of megastructures, roads, bridges, skyscrapers and homes.
In a research report last week, AL Habib Capital Markets stated that it expected the share price of Agha Steel to hover around Rs57 by June 2022. The target prices stated by Pearl Securities and KASB Securities are Rs50 and Rs42, respectively.
In a message on social media, Agha Steel CEO Hussain Iqbal Agha expressed his gratitude to investors and their historic overwhelming response. He vowed to ensure growth of their shareholders’ equity.
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OGDCL declares over 15 percent decline in annual profit
KARACHI: Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) on Monday announce financial results and declared over 15 percent decline in annual profit mainly because of lower sales during the year.
In its financial results submitted to Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), the company declared Rs100 billion after tax profit for the year ended June 30, 2020 as compared with Rs118.38 billion in the preceding financial year, showing a decline of 15.52 percent.
The earnings per share also fell to Rs23.27 for the year 2020 as against EPS of 27.53 a year ago.
The company declared net sales of Rs244.85 billion for the year ended June 30, 2020 as compared with Rs261.48 billion a year ago.
According to Topline Securities, the company in FY20 recorded average net crude oil production of 36,073 bpd, average net gas production of 893 MMcfd, average net LPG production of 739 MTPD and average net Sulphur production of 54 MTPD.
Twenty-five wells were spud, comprising of fifteen exploratory/appraisal, five development and five re-entry/side track wells in FY20.
Average net realized price of oil was US$46.76/barrel during FY20 as against US$58.74/barrel last year.
Net realized price for natural gas was Rs393.32 per mmcf as against Rs337.66 per mmcf last year.
The company has recognized 8 dry wells in FY20 compared to 2 wells in FY19.
The company expects FY21 capex target at Rs55bn, targeting 45 wells herein exploratory wells are 31.
Nashpa production stats are likely to sustain over 2 years at 15-16k bopd.
The company is also evaluating ENI assets in Pakistan. To recall, ENI is planning to sell its assets in Pakistan.
The company is all set to bid for new blocks which are expected to be auction by this year end.
OGDC has received Rs6.5bn from Uch Power Private Limited, from the disbursements under the Pakistan Energy Sukuk-II.
In addition, the Company has also received some payments from SSGC and SNGP with average collection standing at around 70 percent.
Operating expenses of the company remained inflated in 4QFY20 due to year-end factors like some non-cash expenses and pension costs re-evaluation.
The effective tax rate clocked in at 30 percent in FY20 vs. 33 percent in FY19 due to absence of Super Tax.
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Agha Steel signs Rs10 billion worth sale agreement with Horizon Steel
KARACHI – In a major step toward boosting domestic steel production and reducing reliance on imports, Agha Steel Industries has signed a strategic memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Horizon Steel to supply 100,000 metric tons of low-carbon billets annually. The deal, valued at approximately Rs 10 billion per year, marks a significant milestone for the Steel sector in Pakistan.
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Engro Fertilizers, MCB Bank introduce first electronic bank guarantee solution
KARACHI: Engro Fertilizers Ltd and MCB Bank Ltd have partnered to accelerate digitization of financial products and developed Pakistan’s first-ever solution to electronically manage bank guarantees.
With businesses adopting virtual operations and enforcing minimal physical interaction in the wake of COVID-19, Engro Fertilizers Ltd engaged MCB Bank Ltd, one of the leading Banks in the country, to develop an electronic bank guarantee management solution that will promote digitalization and enhanced corporate service delivery.
The Bank, in consultation with Mohsin Tayebaly & Co, managed legal and regulatory concerns to provide a SWIFT-based mechanism to Engro Fertilizers Ltd at nominal cost and minimal impact to business operations. Additionally, the designed process will also facilitate to mitigate the risk of counterfeit bank guarantees, identified as a recurring cause of concern in Pakistan’s banking Industry.
This system, currently operational only for Engro Fertilizers, is expected to be rolled out for all other clients of MCB Bank. Given the existing credit sales model offered by most corporations, the product would assist the wider industry in facilitating their customers and stakeholders in the near future.
This project is in line with the commitment of Engro Fertilizers Ltd to improve national corporate practices and lead the industry with innovative solutions. Earlier this year, the Company was recognized as the best in industrial sector for showing outstanding performance and demonstrating progressive management practices, by the Management Association of Pakistan (MAP).
In a joint statement, Nadir S Qureshi (CEO Engro Fertilizers Ltd) and Imran Maqbool (President/CEO MCB Bank Ltd) shared pride in the abilities of the combined team responsible for identifying and developing this much needed financial solution.
They were confident that this solution would transform the way bank guarantees could now be managed in the country. Imran Ahmed, CFO Engro Fertilizers Limited, added that designing electronic bank guarantees seemed to be a very challenging task at first, but the teams were able to co-create this solution with great dedication and professionalism.
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PSO declares annual loss of Rs6.46 billion
KARACHI: Pakistan State Oil Company Limited (PSO) on Tuesday declared Rs6.46 billion loss for the year ended June 30, 2020, according to financial results of the company submitted to Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX).
The company posted Rs10.56 billion after tax profit for the year ended June 30, 2019.
The company recorded sales of Rs1,108 billion for the year under review as compared with sales of Rs1,154.3 billion in the preceding year.
The gross profit of the company fell to Rs12.22 billion for the year ended June 30, 2020 as compared with the profit of Rs36 billion in the preceding year.
The operating costs of the company fell to Rs14.68 billion for the year ended June 30, 2020 as compared with Rs17.1 billion in the preceding year.
The PSO declared Rs13.77 loss per share for the year under review as compared with Rs22.55 earning per share during the preceding year.
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Pak Suzuki declares half year loss of Rs2.46 billion
KARACHI: Pak Suzuki Motor Company Limited has reported a significant loss of Rs2.46 billion for the first half of 2020 (January to June), as per the financial results submitted to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday. This represents a 61.44 percent increase in losses compared to the Rs1.52 billion loss recorded in the same period last year.
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TPL, Pak Suzuki sign agreement for auto insurance
KARACHI: TPL Insurance, Pakistan’s first Direct Insurance Company, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Pak Suzuki, the country’s largest car manufacturing company to provide services of auto insurance.
A statement on Tuesday said that following the partnership, Pak Suzuki customers can avail TPL Insurance’s services at any of the 168 Pak Suzuki authorized dealerships operating nationwide.
Customers will have access to One Window Auto Insurance Solution offering tailored coverage backed by the fastest claim settlement ever offered in Pakistan, Online Policy Issuance, services and repair facilities at Pak Suzuki authorized 3S dealerships along with Value Added Services like Self Survey using the TPL Insurance Mobile App – all at extremely competitive rates for Pak Suzuki Customers.
TPL Insurance’s Value Added Services include Drive Pro, Pakistan’s first Telematics Auto Insurance which lets users track driving scores based on driving metrics to spot areas for improvement, helping users drive smart and make the streets safer to drive on. The Self Survey feature enables customers to lodge claims instantly, update details of their vehicle and manage maintenance schedules. In addition to these services, customers can also Buy, Claim and Renew insurance directly through the TPL Insurance App.
This partnership is in line with TPL Insurance’s strategy to evolve as a dominant player by exploring profitable niches through the deployment of cutting-edge technology. With disruption at its core, TPL Insurance continues to invest in platforms that will grow Insurtech in the country.
Commenting on the occasion, Muhammad Aminuddin, CEO, TPL Insurance said, “Together with Pak Suzuki, TPL Insurance will cater to the evolving needs of the companies’ mutual customers by delivering quality coverage and disruptive insurance solutions. I am confident that this partnership will boost TPL Insurance’s footprint in the market by catering to our rapidly growing economy and the population’s increasing consumption of insurance services.”
Masafumi Harano, Managing Director, Pak Suzuki said, “This is an ideal time for such initiatives in Pakistan as the importance of customer services is at an all-time high. We are confident to grow together and explore more transparent and creative solutions for customers.”