PSO Records Rs. 7.8B Profit H1 FY24
Pakistan State Oil Company Limited (PSO) has disclosed its financial performance for the first half of the fiscal year 2023-24, revealing a noteworthy turnaround by reporting a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs. 7.75 billion. This marks a significant improvement compared to the corresponding period in the previous year, where the company incurred a loss of Rs. 3.36 billion.
Breaking down the quarterly results, PSO reported a loss of Rs. 14.13 billion in the second quarter of the fiscal year 2023-24, in contrast to a loss of Rs. 4.55 billion in the same quarter of the preceding fiscal year. Analysts from Arif Habib Limited attribute this quarterly loss to a higher inventory loss coupled with elevated finance costs.
Read more: PSO Stops Fuel Supply To PIA Over Payment Dispute
In terms of net sales, the company generated Rs. 1.827 billion in the first half of fiscal year 2023-24, reflecting a 7 percent year-on-year increase. This growth can be attributed to higher average selling prices of petroleum products. However, it is noteworthy that the sales volume of petroleum products experienced a decline of 17 percent year-on-year, with Motor Spirit (MS), High-Speed Diesel (HSD), and Furnace Oil (FO) witnessing reductions of 1 percent, 6 percent, and a substantial 86 percent, respectively. The second quarter of fiscal year 2023-24 witnessed a YoY increase in the topline by 8 percent, primarily driven by a 6 percent YoY rise in overall volumes, supported by a notable 23 percent growth in High-Speed Diesel (HSD) sales.
Examining the gross profit margin, the first half of fiscal year 2023-24 saw a significant improvement, reaching 3.2 percent compared to a mere 0.68 percent in the same period of the previous fiscal year. This enhancement was attributed to inventory gains during the period. However, in the second quarter of fiscal year 2023-24, the company reported a gross loss of Rs. 3.2 billion, a stark contrast to the gross profit of Rs. 4.8 billion in the second quarter of fiscal year 2022-23. This unfavorable shift was primarily driven by inventory losses amounting to -Rs. 24 billion during the quarter.
PSO’s other income witnessed a YoY increase of 16 percent in the first half of fiscal year 2023-24, reaching Rs. 11.1 billion, compared to Rs. 9.6 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year. The second quarter of fiscal year 2023-24 saw a twofold YoY increase in other income, amounting to Rs. 7.8 billion, primarily due to higher interest received on delayed payments.
Finance costs experienced a substantial YoY surge, doubling to Rs. 25.3 billion in the first half of fiscal year 2023-24, driven by increased short-term borrowings. Similarly, in the second quarter of fiscal year 2023-24, finance costs rose by 97 percent YoY for the same reason.
In an unexpected turn, the company recorded a tax reversal of Rs. 2.2 billion in the second quarter of fiscal year 2023-24, as opposed to a taxation expense of Rs. 4.6 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year. The loss per share for the second quarter of fiscal year 2023-24 stands at Rs. 30.12, while the earnings per share for the first half of the fiscal year 2023-24 is reported as Rs. 16.51.
