Karachi (PR) - Pursuant to the notification from the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Resources (MPNR), dated February 12, 2015 whereby PSO was informed by the MPNR that the federal government in exercise of the powers under Section 7 of the Marketing of Petroleum Products (Federal Control) Act, 1974 “the Act” has dissolved/de-notified the BOM with immediate effect. The above-referred Notification also stated that the Managing Director, PSO shall exercise and perform all the powers and functions of the Board under Section 6(4) of the Act till a new BOM is appointed by the Government of Pakistan.
During the period under review, the company’s profitability has been adversely affected by the sharp decline of 51% in the OPEC basket price of crude oil, USD 109 per barrel in July 2014 (July 2013: USD 100 per barrel) to USD 53 per barrel in March 2015 (March 2014: USD 104 per barrel). This significant decline in crude oil prices, an uncontrollable external factor, together with the inventory levels/management of the company to prevent any dry out situation in the country has resulted in significant inventory losses during the second and third quarters of Financial Year 2015 (FY2015). However, there has been an increasing trend of crude oil prices subsequent to the period end and the Company expects that inventory gains will reverse the earlier such losses thereby contributing positively to PSO’s profitability.
The 51% decline in crude oil prices has also resulted in a 20% reduction (9MFY2014: 10% growth) in the sales turnover to Rs. 824 billion (9MFY2014: Rs. 1,023 billion). During the third quarter FY2015, the Company witnessed an overall volumetric growth of 9% (3QFY2014: 5% decline) net 14% positive shift over the SPLY. The Company has reported a profit after tax of Rs. 3.2 billion (9MFY2014: Rs. 19.4 billion) during the period under review. In the period under review, the MD, exercising the powers of the Board vested in him, has declared an interim cash dividend of Rs. 6.00 per share (9MFY2014: cash dividend @ Rs 4 per share, Bonus @ 10%), despite the inventory losses faced by the company. In comparison to this, no dividends were issued in the same period last year.