Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC), the country’s largest listed firm having $11.7 billion market capital, posted profit of Rs 123.9 billion.
This profit translates into an earning per share (EPS) of Rs 28.81 in FY14, up 36 per cent from Rs 21.22 in corresponding period last year. The corporate result is also accompanied by final cash dividend of Rs 3 per share in addition to Rs 6.25 per share cash dividends already paid during the year.
The company’s net sales grew by 15 per cent to Rs 257 billion compared to Rs 223 billion last year. This, Topline analysts believe, was mainly because of two per cent higher oil production and six per cent average depreciation in the value of rupee.
“However, 25 per cent in operating costs restricted gross profit growth at 11 per cent,” the analysts added.
Moreover, they said, OGDC’s other income grew by 22 per cent to Rs 19 billion on account of interest income on government-backed securities, while exploration expenses dropped 42 per cent to Rs 8.7 billion.
Although the company reported 17 per cent growth in pre-tax profits, significantly lower effective tax rate of 28 per cent in FY14 resulted in 36 per cent growth in net earnings.
To highlight, the OGDC reported 54 per cent effective tax rate in 4QFY13 which resulted in lower-than-expected profits last year.