Market cap: Pakistan’s energy giant Mari Petroleum joins billion-dollar club

Mari Petroleum Company Limited (MARI), one of Pakistan’s largest producers of natural gas, saw its market capitalisation cross $1 billion at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday.

As per data available at the PSX, the company’s market capitalisation stood at Rs288.95 billion or over $1 billion. As a result, Mari Petroleum has become the seventh listed company with over $1-billion market value.

As of close of trading on Monday, the market capitalisation of all listed companies at PSX stood at $33.3 billion (at Monday’s inter-bank rate of Rs283.9 to the US dollar).

Other Pakistani companies with a market capitalisation of over $1 billion are Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDC), Colgate-Palmolive Pakistan Limited, Nestle Pakistan Limited, Meezan Bank Limited, Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), and Pakistan Tobacco Company.

“Interestingly, five months back, there were only two listed companies (OGDC and Nestle) with a market capitalisation of more than $1 billion,” Mohammed Sohail, CEO of Topline Securities, said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Mari’s share price has surged 43% since the end of June, but moving slower than the increase in the KSE-100 Index that has rallied over 60% in the same period.

“This comes on the back of increased exploration activity by the company in recent weeks,” said an analyst.

Earlier during the day, MARI, in its notice to the PSX, informed that it had successfully drilled and tested a horizontal well in District Daharki, Sindh. Meanwhile, last month, MARI commenced gas production from its appraisal well in Sindh.

Experts said that apart from increased exploration, MARI, as compared to other E&P companies including OGDC and PPL, does not have a significant circular debt component.

“The reason is that MARI’s biggest buyer is the fertiliser sector, which accounts for nearly 90% of the revenue. These companies, unlike SSGC and SNGPL, ensure timely payments, thus there are not many cash flow issues as compared to others,” said experts.

Experts said that the recent increase in gas tariff by the government would also bode well for energy companies including MARI.