Shell Pakistan Limited has announced its financial results for Q1-Q3 2019, incurring losses of Rs. 877 million. The company had booked a profit of Rs. 1.93 billion in the same period last year.
The losses were driven by the unprecedented devaluation of the rupee, volatility in the international oil prices and increased minimum tax rates applicable to the company.
However, for the third-quarter results, the company posted a profit after tax of Rs. 570 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2019, up by 70.66% compared to a profit of Rs. 334 million made in the same period last year. The quarter’s results were up primarily due to the increase in other income of the company which was up by 7.7 times to Rs. 561.39 million as compared to Rs. 63.95 million.
During the first nine months of 2019, the company reported sales of Rs. 146.63 billion, up by 7.77% as compared to Rs. 136 billion recorded in the same period last year. The cost of sales was posted at Rs. 134.70 billion, up by 8.31%, which took the gross profit to Rs. 11.94 billion.
There was an upsurge in operating expenses as its distribution and marketing expenses were increased by 17.7% to Rs. 5.20 billion, admin expenses increased by 15.70% to Rs. 3.83 billion and other expenses inflated by 25.6% to Rs. 2.77 billion as compared to Rs. 2.21 billion last year.
The finances of the company have been affected by an increase in the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) policy rate. The State Bank of Pakistan announced its monetary policy during the period and increased the policy rate to 13.25%.
There was a 4.6X increase in finance cost that typically consists of bank charges and mark-up on short term borrowings, which also decreased the earnings. It was posted at Rs. 1.11 billion compared to Rs. 196 million for the same period last year.
The company had reported a loss per share of Rs. 8.20 from earnings per share of Rs. 18.11 recorded in the same period last year.
Shell’s shares at the stock exchange were closed at Rs. 157.25, down by Rs. 1.97 or 1.24% with a turnover of 321,600 shares on Tuesday.
