Karachi: Systems Limited announced a robust performance in its third quarter of the calendar year 2024, recording an 18.1% year-over-year increase in profit after tax (PAT), reaching PKR 2.2 billion, with earnings per share (EPS) climbing to PKR 7.5 from PKR 6.4 in the same period last year.

According to AKD Securities Limited, the higher-than-expected earnings result from significant gross margin improvements, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Pakistan. The company’s revenue for the quarter stood at PKR 17.3 billion, marking a 22.2% increase from the PKR 14.1 billion reported in the same quarter last year. This rise is attributed to robust growth in the MENA and North American regions, with revenues up 42.5% and 4.5% respectively.

Despite the overall revenue increase, gross margins declined to 25.3% from 28.2% in the third quarter of 2023, mainly due to inflationary pressures and the costs associated with expanding into new regions. However, the MENA region showed considerable margin improvement, from 19.6% to 26.0%, while margins in North America returned to normalized levels of 34.4% after a one-time high of 44.2% in the previous year.

The quarterly improvement in gross margins to 25.3% from 22.0% in the previous quarter was also supported by gains in the European and Pakistan markets. Additionally, finance costs for the quarter decreased significantly by 60.4% year-over-year to PKR 97 million, primarily due to reduced borrowings and easing interest rates.

However, the company’s earnings for the first nine months of the calendar year 2024 totaled PKR 18.5 per share, a decrease of 24.0% from PKR 24.5 per share in the same period last year.