Attock Refinery Ltd. profits fall 89.05% to Rs. 165 million

Attock Refinery Limited (ATRL) today posted six month results for the second half of the year 2017. Refineries sector has been hit the most with domestic energy landscape undergoing a massive transition as furnace oil in the country’s energy mix being replaced by natural gas, coal, and other renewables. ATRL, being one of the key players in Pakistan’s energy chain, is directly affected by the demise of furnace oil as the product constituted nearly 22% of the refinery’s mix in 2015.

Analysts estimated that the demand for furnace oil in country could drop from 9.6 MMT to 1.4 MMT whereas domestic production stands at 3.0 MMT, thereby pushing domestic market into surplus.

Evident in ATRL’s Quarterly Profit/(Loss) from refinery operations, the company incurred losses worth more than 592 million rupees. Due to a strong first quarter of the half year ending December, the company managed to post positive numbers in the earnings reports. Adding to the worries, the reports also reveal a more than 193% jump in the Finance Costs for the period as well the total of which clocked in at 1.198 billion which took away more than 81% of the Operating Profit during the last six months.

Analysts, experts had already rang the alarm bells for refinery stocks as Government makes it moves to curb imports in an effort to curb the widening deficit.

Attock Refinery reported an Earning per share of Rs. 1.94 against 17.71 per share during the same period last year.

Company release on Earnings Report can be accessed here.