LAHORE - The main sectors that supported the corporate earnings growth were OMCs and cement, as they posted profit growths of 52 per cent to Rs5.8b and 25 per cent to Rs3.3b, respectively. The OMCs profits were bolstered by improved margins, especially on regulated products while cement sector profitability growth was driven by price appreciation and decline interest expense.
In addition to these two, textile and power sector also posted impressive gains on the back of average 8% rupee devaluation against US dollar, where textile companies received boost from stable cotton prices and solid regional demand. Experts said that FY13 can be classified as one of the worst years for fertilizer sector as its profits declined by 22%.
However, the biggest shock in FY13 remained the E&P sector performance as higher exploration expense and increased effective tax rate led to erosion of profits of Pakistan oil and gas explorers by 4% or Rs6.1bn. Banks’ profits were down by around 8% or Rs6.5bn as spreads squeezed to multi-year low of 6.53%.