KARACHI: Indus Motor Company (INDU) has announced a net profit of Rs6.9 billion for the half-year ended December 31, 2018, which is 6.11 percent lower than the profit of Rs7.36 billion recorded in the same period previous year.

The earnings per share (EPS) for the period under review clocked in at Rs87.94 as against EPS of Rs93.69 in the same period last year. Indus Motor Company (INDU) also declared an interim cash dividend of Rs25/share, which is in addition to interim dividend of Rs32.50/share already paid to the shareholders.

“The result is in line with expectation as gains in volumetric sales were off-set by gross margins deterioration,” Syed Danyal at Topline Securities said.[the_ad id=”32940″]Net sales during the six months stood at Rs76.44 billion, down 22 percent, compared with the sales revenue of Rs63.07 billion recorded in the same period previous year.

For the quarter ended December 31, 2018, Indus Motor Company (INDU) posted a net profit of Rs3.4 billion translating into EPS of Rs43.31 as against profit of Rs3.735 billion and EPS of Rs47.53 for the quarter ended December 31, 2017.

Analysts flag unfavorable movement in exchange rate and commodity prices, regulatory changes, increased competition from existing and new players, and disruptions in operations of principal company as key risks for the company.