Pandemic takes a toll on Padma Oil’s earnings

Padma Oil Company, the state-owned petroleum product products seller, suffered losses due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with its earnings falling over 31 per cent in the third quarter of the current fiscal year.

The company reported its EPS was Tk 5.03 for January-March in the current fiscal year, down about 31 per cent from Tk 7.28 in the same period a year earlier, said the company in a filing with the Dhaka Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

“The nationwide shutdown was behind the fall in its earnings,” said an official at the state-owned entities.

The company failed to sell the petroleum products as transport was halted due to the lockdown, he said.

Its NAV per share was Tk 161.36 as on March 31, 2021 and Tk 157.64 as on June 30, 2020.

The Padma Oil is a subsidiary of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation, a statutory organisation of the government under the ministry of power, energy, and mineral resources.

On Wednesday, its share on the Dhaka Stock closed at Tk 196.2, up from Tk 195.8 in the previous session.