profitepaper pakistantoday 18th may, 2012

PRO 18-05-2012_Layout 1 5/18/2012 12:01 AM Page 1

Spain beset by bank crisis, recession, bond pressure Page 02

profit.com.pk

Friday, 18 May, 2012

RESCUE OPERATION

IMF helps those who can’t help themselves g

IMF might bail us out as current account gap widens to 1.7 per cent of GDP KARACHI

t

ISMAIL DILAWAR

HE analysts foresee the economic managers seeking a fresh bailout loan package from the international Monetary Fund (iMF) as the country’s external account keeps showing worrisome deterioration for first 10 months of the current fiscal year, FY2011-12. the central bank reported thursday that the country’s current account deficit widened to 1.7 percent of the GDP, accounting for $ 3.394 billion, during July-aprilFY12 against a surplus of $ 466 million or during the corresponding period last year. the economic observers believe that pressure on the external account was due to large external debt payment and increased current account deficit and the suspended aid and assistance from international donors.

Pakistan’s negative trade with the world appears to be a major reason for the widening of the current account as gap between the country’s exports and imports increased by $4.184 billion to $ 12.683 billion compared to last year’s $ 8.499 billion.

During the review period the exports were recorded at $ 20.474 billion, upping marginally by $ 14 million against $ 20.460 billion of JulyaprilFY11.

the analysts said an under-pressure external account, coupled with government’s ever-increasing budgetary borrowings, would compel the state Bank to maintain the 12 percent interest rate intact even in FY13. the Pak Rupee would keep feeling the heat of a weaker external account throughout next fiscal year.

On sBP’s Balance of Payment list worker remittances appear to be the only comfort zone for the economic mangers. the central bank counted receipts from overseas Pakistanis higher by $ 1.831 billion at $ 10.877 billion during the first 10 months. this shows over 20 percent growth over same period of FY11 when Pakistani compatriots had remitted $ 9.046 billion.

Having peaked to a record $ 11 billion last year, the analysts forecast the remittances to cross the $ 14 billion mark in next financial year.

“Comfort to external account would likely come from workers’ remittance that is expected to cross $14 billion in FY13,” said the analysts. the economic observers expect some respite coming from a possible dip in international oil prices, improved foreign inflows, materialization of the Coalition support Fund and 3G auction licenses and the government’s decision to re-enter the fresh iMF program.

“Re-entry into iMF program to avert external account crisis,” is the option widely being foreseen by the analysts in the current scenario.

the growth in the imports, however, remained robust and ballooned to $ 33.157 billion from $ 28.959 billion of same period in FY11 despite lower aggregate demand at home. the central bank data show that during July-aprilFY12 foreign investment in the country nosedived by a huge 65 percent to a meager $ 563.3 million, depicting a sharp slump of over $ 1.031 billion compared to $ 1.595 billion invested by the foreigners during same months in FY11. the disbursements by the donors and loaners abroad also set in the red zone contracting to long-term loans worth $ 1.588 billion against $ 1.674 billion of last year.

Of the total amount disbursed to Pakistan, during the review months, $ 1.510 billion came as a project loan and $ 78 million as a program loan. the short-term receipts, including commercial loans and those coming from islamic Development Bank, remained zero. “(the) current account deficit is expected to remain in the range of $ 4-4.5 billion versus $3.5-4 billion expected in FY12,” viewed analysts at topline Research. in percentage terms these estimates are 1.6 to 1.8 percent and 1.5 to 1.7 percent of the Gross Domestic Product. the financing of such a huge deficit, the analysts believe, would remain a major challenge for the cash-strapped government, especially given the current poor state of foreign inflows.

AGRARIAN BILLBOARD

NBP tops agri financing charts KARACHI: national Bank of Pakistan (nBP) is leading in agriculture financing among other banks and financial institutions in the country by lending Rs 33.013 billion among nearly 176,372 farmers between July 2011 to March 2012, against a target of Rs 32.400 billion by sBP for nine months. according to nBP, the state Bank of Pakistan (sBP) has fixed an indicative lending target of Rs 280 billion for the financial year 2011-12, out of this nBP’s share is highest after ZtBL.as per sBP report, nBP’s total outstanding during one year has exceeded by Rs 9.763 billion, rising from Rs27.670 billion in March 2011 to Rs 37.433 billion in March 2012. nBP outstanding is higher by Rs 9.763 billion as compared with the total exceeded amount of outstanding by all five other banks including ZtBL which stood at Rs 2.283 billion in March 2012. this becomes possible due to dynamic leadership of President-Qamar Hussain, Group Chief Dr.asif Brohi. Out of our total 1,277 domestic branches, 875 are involved in catering the needs of farmers. national Bank of Pakistan is at the top of ‘five’ commercial banks of Pakistan, as it offers complete range of commercial banking services along with agriculture services to farmers under one umbrella. nBP has disbursed Rs 42.4 billion in agriculture credit financing among nearly 252,000 farmers during July 2010-June 2011, against a target of Rs 41 billion. the percentage of non-performing loans of nBP was about 5 percent as on December 31, 2011, compared to 15 percent average nPL’s of commercial banks in agricultural.the other distinguishing feature of nBP is the competitive mark up rate, which is lower than the rate being charged by other commercial banks. the loans disbursed can be divided into two categories, production and development loans. Under the first category loans are disbursed mainly for the procurement of seeds, fertilizers & pesticides etc. and the second category is for the purchase of tractors, farm machinery & implements and construction of modern storage, cattle farms, poultry farms facilities etc. nBP takes pride in being a key partner in government’s program of achieving food security and poverty alleviation.nBP takes pride in being key partner on Government’s program of achieving food security and poverty alleviation. NNI

ICCI, LCCI are The Avengers!

‘Iron out creases in the budget’ g

ICCI calls for sufficient budget for SME development Pakistan g

allocates lowest budget share to SMEs as compared to other nations ISLAMABAD

s

NNI

MaLL and Medium Enterprises (sMEs) have been playing a key role in providing impetus to economic development, therefore Government should allocate sufficient amount of budget for sMEs development to stimulate the growth of trade and industry in the country.

Pakistan is spending the lowest budget on sME development as compared to other nations of the world, thus, Government should provide enough funds in upcoming budget of 2012-13 for strengthening sME sector of the country, Yassar sakhi Butt, President islamabad Chamber of Commerce and industry (iCCi) said this during a meeting with private sector representatives of sME sector. iCCi President said that sMEs sector should be given priority to make it as an effective tool for economic development and Government should not show reluctance in allocating funds for sMEs development. He said that Government has only provided Rs.40million for sME Development

support Fund in FY2011-12 which should be increased up to substantial level as the promotion of sMEs entails enhancement of the competitiveness of the economy and generation of additional employment. He cited the example of Brazilian economy, which was spending $7.24 per capita on its sME agency.

President iCCi was of the view our country is facing economic crunch and the optimum way of getting out of these difficulties is to facilitate the maximum growth of sMEs as promotion of sMEs would lead to creation of more job opportunities, proper utilization of young talent, emergence of thriving middle class and reduction in poverty, ultimately leading to the acceleration of economic activities in the country. Yassar sakhi Butt stressed that the real challenge of the government is to set the sME policy in a way that these enterprises could be transformed from static to dynamic units. iCCi President further said that Government should revise taxation structure for sMEs as both india and China attempt to lower sME taxation to help the economy grow and in turn boost investor confidence. thus, our Government should also draw a similar map of the taxation structure for sME sector, he maintained.

LCCI goes Hulk over power tariff hike Castigates 16pc hike in power tariff Gnashes teeth owing to lack of planning regarding oil g

g

LAHORE STAFF REPORT

P

akistan has become the only non-oil producing country in the world where bulk of the electricity is being produced through oil run power generators that has kept the energy rates volatile to the extent that it is fast crushing the economic activity. severely criticizing another 16 per cent hike in power tariff, the LCCi President irfan Qaiser sheikh said that it is a futile exercise and would not be doing any service to the government unless and until it makes a plan to cover inefficiencies in the power sector. irfan Qaiser sheikh said that besides controlling line losses and electricity theft, the government would have to chalk out a plan to convert oil based power generators to coal as in india more than sixty per cent of electricity in being produced through coal and what it is getting through furnace oil in not more than six per cent. the LCCi President opined that government move is bound to increase the incidence of electricity pilferage that already is 25 per cent of the 22 per

cent line losses and eating up Rs 50-75 billion. the LCCi President said that how the industry would remain competitive at such a high price of electricity which is one of the basic industrial raw materials. We already have the highest tariff in our region as in india, the electricity tariff for industry is 10.5 cents, in Bangladesh 10.75 cents and in sri Lanka it

is again 10.75 cent whereas in Pakistan tariff is already 15 cents meaning that 45 percent higher as compared to the region. With this massive and unprecedented increase, we will have double the tariff of electricity what the regional countries are offering to their trade and industries leaving Pakistan totally uncompetitive and unviable in the international market place. “the country had already lost a number of international markets to China, Bangladesh and india due to high cost of doing business and the decision to increase power tariff would make the Pakistani goods more uncompetitive.”

He said that the business community was unable to understand that instead of taking measures to control line losses and enhance cheap power generation up to capacity, the policies are being evolved to add to the miseries of the business doing people. irfan Qaiser sheikh said that negative growth witnessed by the Large scale Manufacturing sector was indeed an eye opener and a wake up call to the government. He said that the industry needs cheaper electricity to keep the units operational and to complete the export orders well within the given timeframe but only because of the shortage of electricity the exports are not up to the mark.

PRO 18-05-2012_Layout 1 5/18/2012 12:01 AM Page 2

02

Friday, 18 May, 2012

news

HASTA LA VISTA

POWER PREDICAMENT

Spain beset by bank crisis, It’s a masterpiece conspiracy!

PIAF makes its opinion about electricity prices very clear indeed recession, bond pressure g

LAHORE

MADRID

t

STAFF REPORT

REUTERS

HE spanish treasury had to pay around 5 percent to attract buyers of three- and four-year bonds. the longer-dated paper sold with a yield of 5.106 percent, way above the 3.374 percent the last time it was auctioned. “this ... fits the pattern of recent sales, with the spanish treasury successfully getting its supply away but at ever-higher yields,” said Richard McGuire, rate strategist at Rabobank in London. “this unfavorable trend looks set to remain firmly in place ...

Ultimately, this ratcheting up of yields will likely require some form of outside intervention,” McGuire said. spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Wednesday his government, struggling to reduce its budget deficit, could soon find it difficult to fund itself affordably on the bond market unless the pressure eases. His finance minister, Cristobal Montoro, meets heads of finance of all 17 regions later to review their budget plans which are a crucial plank of the drive to lower public debt. the European Commission warned last week that stubbornly high debts in the regions and the welfare system would prevent spain meeting its deficit goal of 5.3 percent of GDP this year. spain’s 10-year yields have spiked back above 6 percent, which investors view as a pivot point that could accelerate a climb to 7 percent, a cost of borrowing widely seen as unsustainable even though Madrid has sold well over half its debt needs for the year.

WORRY LIST: top of the heavily indebted country’s worry list is a banking sector beset by bad loans, the result of a property boom that bust in spectacular fashion. El Mundo newspaper reported that customers at troubled Bankia sa had taken out more than 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion), equivalent to around 1 percent of the lender’s retail and corporate deposits, over the past week. the government denied there had been an exit of funds, but the bank’s

P

shares dropped more than 20 percent at one stage, extending the previous session’s loss after it delayed publishing fourth-quarter results. “it’s not true that there is an exit of deposits at this moment from Bankia,” said Economy secretary Fernando Jimenez Latorre. the government last week took over Bankia, the country’s fourth-largest lender which holds around 10 percent of spanish deposits, in an attempt to dispel concerns over its ability to deal with losses related to the 2008 property crash. “the majority of outflows came after the chairman resigned last week, but i think once the bank was taken over by the government, depositors calmed down a bit,” said one Madrid-based trader. “the share price fall has to do with disappointed retail investors dumping the stock.” spain’s deposit guarantee fund guarantees 100,000 euros per customer. “i have two accounts with Bankia and up to now i have not closed them. i’m not even considering it,” said Jose ignacio Gonzalez, 42. “it must be more secure with the backing of the state, it has a guarantee.” the problem for Madrid is that property losses facing banks are not yet quantifiable, given prices are likely to fall further. the government told the sector last week to set aside another 30 billion euros in provisions, prompting some analysts to say much more would need to be done. a government spokeswoman said the bidding to select an external auditor to value real estate assets

across the banking sector was still open, denying Oliver Wyman and BlackRock had been chosen as sources previously told Reuters.

RECESSION AND CONTAGION: While Greece, facing fresh elections which could hasten its exit from the euro zone, has dominated headlines, uncertainty over the final cost of spain’s banking reform has raised the prospect that it could require an expensive international bailout, a bill the euro zone would be stretched to cover. stuart Gulliver, head of Europe’s biggest bank HsBC, reflected on his biggest external concerns. “it’s absolutely how the euro zone plays out and whether Greece stays in, and/or whether firewalls are high enough to protect spain and frankly whether markets take things into their own hands before (Greek elections on) June 17,” he said. Official data confirmed the spanish economy shrank by 0.3 percent in the first quarter, putting it back into recession and facing a prolonged downturn as the government cuts spending in an attempt to wrestle down its budget deficit.

Unemployment is already running close to 25 percent, rising to around 50 percent among the young. the government will publicize budget plans from 17 powerful autonomous regions later on thursday, possibly rejecting some of them if they do not make deep enough spending cuts and giving local officials 10 to 15 days to redo them.

iaF has termed the increase in electricity prices a consipiracy to make the country a trading place as manufacturers would not be able to pay such a high prices of power and become uncompetitive in the international Market. in a press statement issued here thursday, Chairman PiaF Engr. sohail Lashari strongly critisized unjustified increase in electricity tariff and urged the government to withdraw the raise in the larger interests of trade and industry that had already been facing multiple internal and external challenges. He said that electricity prices in Pakistan were already higher than the other countries of the region and the new hike would push the crisis-hit industrial sector to the wall. He said that how Pakistani merchandise would be able win buyers in the international market when their prices would be higher than the same quality goods of other countries. He said that according to the reports more than 40 per cent electricity was being stolen but instead controlling the theft & the line losses the authorities were busy in making further increase in electricity prices while it is a proven fact

that the raise in the tariff always leads to increase in the incidence of power theft. He said that the country would become a trading hub if appropriate measures to ensure proper supply of cheap electricity to the industry are not taken but nobody bothered to even listen to the voice of trade and industry. He said that the flight of capital had intensified in the recent years only because of flawed government policies especially relating to energy and infrastructure. Had a litten been given to these areas, there could have been no relocation of industrial units to Bangladesh and Malaysia.He said that country was facing a huge energy deficit since last few years. Massive loadshedding had crippled the industrial activities, thousands industrial units had closed down or relocated while million industrial workers have lost their jobs but instead of initiating any mega power projects, government remained busy to increase power tariff.He said that the price increase would badly affect the agriculture sector of Pakistan, which was backbone of our economy and feeding to more than 70 per cent of the population. sohail Lashari demanded of the government to withdraw recent increase in power tariff and take measure to enhance cheap power generation in the country.

WHAT TIME IS IT?

Time to get yourself registered! g

SECP asks female entrepreneurs to register businesses as companies ISLAMABAD NNI

t

HE securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (sECP) on thursday asked the women entrepreneurs to register their businesses as companies to ensure permanence, credibility, longevity, and stature.

Registration of businesses will help promotion, documentation of economy, and contribute towards national development, the financial regulatory agency said. speaking at a workshop organised by islamabad Women Chamber of Commerce and industry (iWCCi), Executive Director Mr nazir ahmed shaheen, Joint Registrar anas noman, Muhammad akram Qureshi and Muhammad Qasim said that a company is the most enduring legal corporate structure having unlimited life.

Capital can be easily raised by a company by selling shares and acquiring loans, they said adding that companies have better access to

local, regional and global markets.

Women should not loose opportunities to redefine their future as larger organizations prefer to deal with companies rather than noncorporate entities, they said. sECP officials said that female contribution to economy is great while many have left footprints where ever they have gone. at the occasion, the participants discussed host of reasons including weaknesses in laws and attitude of tax officials which is keeping them from registering their firms. they said that women prefer sole-proprietorship due to cumbersome procedures and absence of incentives. Lauding the role of sECP, founder President, iWCCi samina Fazil suggested that all the discrepancies should be removed to bring our cost of doing business closer to the regional countries. “We are ready to play our role in increasing the tax revenues which will create employment opportunities, improve services and boost economy”, said samina.

GREEK TRAGEDY

Greek exit could cost eurozone 100s of billions of euros FRANKFURT

a

REUTERS

Greek exit from the euro zone could expose the European Central Bank and the currency bloc it seeks to protect to hundreds of billions of euros in losses, landing Germany and its partners with a crippling bill. a Greek departure would take Europe into uncharted legal waters. the size of the burden other euro zone states could bear gives them a powerful incentive to keep Greece in the currency club.

With most of Greek’s private creditors having taken heavy writedowns as part of the country’s second, 130 billion euros bailout, it is estimated that the ECB, international Monetary Fund and euro zone nations hold approaching 200 billion of its debt. “in the event of an exit, they (Greece) will default. and the loss given default will probably be very high, high enough to eliminate the ECB’s capital,” said andrew Bosomworth, senior portfolio manager at asset manager Pimco. “they might need recapitalization from governments, who are not exactly in the best position to provide additional capital.” those are not the only losses the ECB and its national shareholders might face as is explained in detail below.

Even once Greece had left the currency club, the costs to the rest of the euro zone would continue to mount as it would probably be compelled to avert a complete Greek collapse and wider contagion.

“Large-scale ECB intervention would be necessary to stabilize the system, along with intervention from Germany, the European stability Mechanism (EsM), its predecessor the European Financial stability Facility (EFsF) and the iMF, potentially costing

hundreds of billions of euros,” said Georgios tsapouris, investment strategist at Coutts. the ECB, which has its own paid-in capital of 6.4 billion euros, is essentially a joint venture between the 17 euro zone national central banks (nCBs).

Combined, the Eurosystem of euro zone central banks has capital and reserves of 86 billion euros. the national central banks would divide up any losses between them according to the ‘capital key’ - the ECB’s measure of countries’ stakes in its financing based on economic size and population. Germany would bear the biggest loss, some 27 percent of the total. France would take a big hit too. a Greek exit from the euro zone could cost the French taxpayer up to 66.4 billion euros and saddle the country’s banking system with 20 billion euros in lost loans, according to a study published on tuesday by the iEsEG school of Management in Lille. smaller countries with less robust national central banks than the German Bundesbank would likely be still harder hit in relative terms. “the ECB and some of the nCBs with little lossabsorbing capital and reserves relative to their share of how a loss would be allocated across the Eurosystem would potentially see their capital and revaluation reserves written off,” Bosomworth said.

However, with fresh Greek elections called for June 17 and an anti-bailout leftist party ahead in the polls, some within the EU’s corridors of power wonder whether the show is worth keeping on the road. “it’s going to hurt, absolutely. But is it going to be lethal?” one EU diplomat said. “We have two bad choices, but one is worse than the other.”

TRIPLE WHAMMY: the ECB and national central banks are exposed to Greece in three main ways: via Greek sovereign bonds the ECB holds, via Greek

collateral they hold in return for ECB loans and via Greece’s liabilities for transactions over the euro zone’s taRGEt2 payments system. the ECB has spent about 38 billion euros on Greek government debt with a face value of about 50 billion euros.

Under a scenario described in German weekly Der spiegel, the euro zone’s EFsF bailout fund could be used in the event of a Greek default to continue funding Greece’s debt obligations to the ECB. However, this would eat into the resources of the ‘firewall’, eroding its capacity to help other euro zone states which might well need to be protected if a Greek exit sparked contagion. an alternative scenario could see the national central banks turning to their governments to recapitalize the ECB. But going cap in hand to politicians for money they are desperately short of risks undermining the ECB’s independence.

ECB loans to Greek banks are another way the central bank is exposed but in this case, although the ECB conducts these medium- and long-term lending operations (MROs and LtROs), the funds are distributed via the national central banks and carried on their balance sheets. a Bank of Greece financial statement on its website showed that as of January 31 it had lent out some 15 billion euros in MROs and 58 billion euros in LtROs - a total of 73 billion. it was holding 143 billion euros in assets eligible as collateral for euro zone monetary policy operations.

Berenberg Bank economist Christian schulz said that in the event of a Greek exit these loans and most of the collateral may be converted into a new Greek currency. “the ECB/Eurosystem would not bear the risk anymore,” he added, noting that the Bank of Greece would instead be left with the - likely devalued -

loans and collateral.

TARGET RISK: But any funds Greek banks had taken using ECB loan operations that had subsequently found their way out of Greece could pose a problem. these would be added to the Bank of Greece’s liabilities under the taRGEt2 payments system. the Bank of Greece and other peripheral euro zone countries have built up liabilities within the euro zone’s cross-border payment system, taRGEt2, due to a net outflow of payments to other countries in the bloc, a trend exacerbated by the debt crisis. the Bank of Greece’s financial statement showed that as of January it was carrying taRGEt2 liabilities of 107 billion euros - a sum that has likely remained around that level since and which represents a big potential problem for the other euro zone central banks. “taRGEt2 is the biggest risk if they really take that loss,” said schulz, adding that a Bank of Greece collapse would leave central banks remaining in the euro zone with a loss.

“But it’s far from clear whether the full taRGEt2 balance would be what Europe would lose,” he added. the ECB could monetize any net taRGEt2 loss in the event of a Greek euro exit by printing money but that would come with an inflationary effect unpalatable to policymakers in Germany, the bloc’s most powerful player. Beyond the accounting implications for euro zone central banks is the systemic impact a Greek euro exit would have on the bloc’s banking system. savers in other periphery countries are likely to take flight. “if they see that Greek savers have seen their euro savings overnight being converted into drachma, which could depreciate by 50-70 percent, then it would be a fairly simple hedge strategy for them to take out some of their savings and put them into Luxembourg, or pounds sterling, or swiss francs,” said Bosomworth.

PRO 18-05-2012_Layout 1 5/18/2012 12:02 AM Page 3

Friday, 18 May, 2012

03

news GOING GOING GONE…

Major Gainers

UNDER EIGHTEEN

RE$ERVE$ Profit-taking bears $LIDE pull down KSE g

Dollar reserves down to $16.103 billion KARACHI STAFF REPORT

t

he country’s dollar reserves depleted by $ 313 million or 1.9 percent during the week that ended on May 11 due to decreasing reserves of the central bank.

The State Bank of Pakistan Thursday reported that the country’s holdings of the greenback shrank to $ 16.103 billion against $ 16.416 billion of last week.

During the week in review the central bank held $ 11.784 billion witnessing a decline of $ 194 million over $ 11.978 billion the bank possessed last week.

Also contracted were the reserves of the commercial banks that stood at $ 4.319 billion, down $ 119 million compared to $ 4.438 billion of the previous week.

The central bank attributes such up and downs in the banks’ reserves to routine deposit and withdrawal of cash by the account holders.

KARACHI,

s

STAFF REPORT

tOCks closed bearish on thin trades as investor awaited federal budget proposals for corporate sector.

Viewed by ahsan Mehanti, Director at arif Habib investments Limited. the karachi stock Exchange (ksE) 100-share index declined 17.99 points or 0.13 percent to close at 14,063.08 points as compared to 14,081.07 points of the previous session. the ksE 30-share index shed 02.48 points to close at 12,274.18 points as compared with 12,276.66 points. market turnover was down to 143.055 million shares after opening at 146.000 million shares. the overall market capitalization declined 0.04 percent and traded Rs 3.593 trillion as against Rs 3.597 trillion. Losers outnumbered gainers 170 to 140, while 74

stocks were unchanged.

Mehanti added “Fall in global stocks and commodities on Greek debt worries and limited foreign interest affected the sentiments despite expectations for PakUs relations on resumption of natO supplies.” the kMi 30-share was down by 13.37 points to close at 24,337.43 points from its opening at 24,350.80 points. the ksE all-share index closed with a loss of 6.17 points to 9,875.69 points as against 9,881.86 points.

P.t.C.L.a was the volume leader in the share market with 19.305 million shares as it closed at Rs 15.59 after opening at Rs 16.12, down by 51 paisas. D.G.k Cement traded 17.241 million shares as it closed at Rs 42.50 after opening Rs 41.20 shed by 1.30 paisas.

Bankislami Pakistan traded 13.017 million shares as it closed at Rs 9.95 from its opening at Rs 8.97, decreasing Rs 1.02 paisas.

Jahangir siddiqi Company traded 11.744 million shares and closed at Rs 15.94 as against its opening at Rs 15.91, gaining Rs 0.3 paisas.

Engro Foods Limited traded 7.529 million shares as it closed at Rs 63.60 as compared to its opening at Rs 60.58, increasing Rs 3.02 paisas. He said that the status quo for Pakistan in frontier market index in MsCi semi annual review, fall in local cement prices and concerns for outstanding circular debt issues in pakistan energy sector played catalyst role in bearish sentiments at ksE. On the future market, the turnover recoverd remarkably by over 3 million to 16.017 million against 13.050 million shares of Wednesday. the Unilever Pakistan XD and nestle Pakistan Limited, up Rs 105.00 1and Rs 21.25, led highest price gainers while, Unilever Food XD and Rafhan Maize XD down Rs 130.45 and Rs 100.00 respectively, led the losers.

Company

Open

High

Low

Close

Change

Turnover

UniLever PakXD Nestle Pakistan Ltd. Shezan Inter.

National Foods Pak Services

7052.00 4004.57 184.20 171.22 148.92

7194.00 4084.99 193.41 179.78 156.00

7050.00 4000.50 182.00 162.66 148.92

7157.00 4025.82 193.28 178.40 155.99

105.00 609 21.25 17 9.08 27,912 7.18 17,664 7.07 505

Major Losers Unilever FoodXD Rafhan MaizeXD Sanofi-AventisXD Pak.Int.Cont SD Pak Gum & Chemical

3245.45 3000.00 195.09 157.81 123.75

3384.00 2900.00 199.00 154.99 120.25

3100.00 2851.00 185.36 149.93 117.78

3115.00 2900.00 185.83 150.00 117.78

16.39 42.80 9.97 16.37 63.60

15.45 40.63 9.00 15.35 59.75

15.59 42.50 9.95 15.94 63.60

-130.45 69 -100.00 535 -9.26 781 -7.81 993,165 -5.97 4,555

Volume Leaders P.T.C.L.A 16.12 D.G.K.Cement 41.20 Bankislami Pakistan 8.97 Jah.Sidd. Co. 15.91 Engro Foods Ltd. 60.58

-0.53 19,305,347 1.30 17,241,897 0.98 13,017,947 0.03 11,744,617 3.02 7,529,681

Interbank Rates Us Dollar Uk Pound Japanese Yen Euro

90.8626 146.0162 1.1369 116.6858

Dollar East US Dollar Euro Great Britain Pound Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar Hong Kong Dollar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal Australian Dollar

Buy

Sell

91.50 116.26 145.96 1.1333 90.53 11.64 24.86 24.38 90.51

92.10 117.16 147.05 1.1417 91.72 11.80 25.02 24.50 92.65

CORPORATE CORNER Pearl Continental Hotel Rawalpindi holds the KIDS Carnival, 2012

RAWALPINDI: General Manager of the Pearl Continental Hotel Rawalpindi Mr. sheharyar Mirza along with the Children and families inaugurated the ‘kids Carnival’ at the Pearl Continental Hotel, Rawalpindi. the General Manager told the media “We always focus and try our level best to provide a family environment and entertainment to the visitors”. in this casual carnival for children, the Hotel had put up over 25 game booths where the guests could try their luck, have their fortunes told, win gift hampers through lucky draws or sit down to a festive dinner. “Live music and dancing with big band Henle & the Loops, DJ tracks, Magic show, Frog Gymnastic, Juggling Performance, Puppet show, Face painting, tall & short man, Jumping castle was also featured”. the Public Relations Manager Mr. asad shah told the media “We Believe in kids – and this is Carnival to Revisit Your Childhood as well”, He added “the Hotel has Planned a series of events Which will be of interest to Public, including Qawwali, naat khuwani and Fashion shows. Furthermore, Public Relations Manager, Mr. asad shah told the media that top celebrities and artists of the Film and television industry will also be brining in their children to the Festival and will express their views. PRESS RELEASE

Lotte Pakistan partners with WWF to enhance environmental sensitivity KARACHI: Lotte Pakistan Pta Ltd. joins hands with WWF Pakistan to spread greater environmental awareness among the young students and provide them an opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of key environmental issues the region is facing at the moment. as a sole sponsor of WWF-Pakistan’s Eco internship Programme 2012, Lotte PPta will be facilitating WWF Pakistan to teach young students how they can conserve the environment and help them instill greater concern for environment and natural resources in their social circle as well. WWFPakistan’s Eco internship Programme is an annual

activity that aims to enable students to generate an insight into the eco dynamics and challenges of the ecosystem, broaden students’ scope as a responsible custodian of valuable natural resources, inculcate a sense of civic responsibility in students and give them the opportunity to become an official ambassador of WWF-Pakistan and solicit support of individual members. this is the second time in a row that Lotte PPta is sponsoring this summer activity that will take place during June and July 2012 which aims to induct around 2,000 students in this programme. speaking about Lotte PPta’s partnership with WWF, Mr. asif saad, CEO Lotte Pakistan Pta Ltd said, “Lotte PPta is committed towards the environmental development of Pakistan. PRESS RELEASE

PM Gilani inaugurates PTCL’s 1 million Broadband celebrations

Seminar on Islamic finance due on May 18-19

Tetra Pak seminar creates awareness about hygienic milk choices

KARACHI: Country’s first international awareness seminar on islamic Finance and Expo will be held on 18 May here at karachi Expo center. the mega event is being organized by publicity channel with the support of state Bank of Pakistan and planned and directed by Ernst and Young Ford Rhodes sidat Hyder, Mehmood tareen Project Director told to newsmen here.He said the objective of the event was to create awareness about islamic banking, investment, takaful, mutual funds, modarba, musharka and financing among masses and the corporate sector as well. acting President Younus Bashir would inaugurate the seminar and Expo, scholar Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rahman will preside over the ceremony. atiqu ur Rahman, Omar Mustafa ansari, Mehmood tareen will also address on the occasion.tareen said during the two-day event financial sector, banks, universities and publishers would display their services and products in the exhibition. PRESS RELEASE

LAHORE: tetra Pak, the world leading food processing and packaging company, recently organised a health awareness seminar titled, Best Milk Feeding Practices during Childhood. Over 250 students, senior faculty and final year medical students at allama iqbal Medical College (aiMC) attended the seminar. Prof. Dr. Javed akram, Principal of aiMC was the chief guest on the occasion and was accompanied by Prof. Dr. tariq Bhatti, professor of paediatrics and Head of Department at aiMC, Dr. naeem Zafar, President and Honorary Chief Executive at Protection and Help of Children against abuse and neglect (PaHCHaan). “Osteoporosis is a debilitating disease but it is possible to take preventive measures at an early age to mitigate the risk of osteoporosis in later life. PRESS RELEASE

Pfizer Pakistan leads the way on World Hypertension Day

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister syed Yousaf Raza Gilani inaugurated Pakistan telecommunication Company Limited (PtCL) celebration of achieving Pakistan’s first one million Broadband customers as part of the national commemoration of World telecommunication & information society Day 2012 held at Pak-China Friendship Center, islamabad. “telecommunications and it are bringing encouraging economic dividends and inspiring lifestyle choices for the people of Pakistan,” said Prime Minister Gilani, who was the Chief Guest of the mega event and exhibition organized jointly by PtCL and Ministry of it & telecom to mark the Wtis Day 2012. this year’s theme for Wtis Day is ‘Women, Girls & iCt’. “the role of iCts matter immensely for gender equality and empowerment of women,” said Prime Minister Gilani. “iCts are a force multiplier for girls’ education, enabling them to build their future on a level-playing field with their male counterparts.” the event was also addressed by Federal Minister of it & telecom, Raja Pervaiz ashraf; Federal secretary it & telecom, Farooq ahmed awan; and PtCL President & CEO, Walid irshaid. the event was attended by senior government and PtCL officials, a large number of students, members of the civil society and media. “achieving the one million Broadband customers mark is yet another historic milestone for PtCL,” said Mr. PRESS RELEASE

KARACHI: World Hypertension Day was celebrated with renewed spirit, as Pfizer Pakistan lead the way with over 60 nation-wide activities, engaging more than 1800 healthcare professionals, to spread the awareness regarding hypertension and its impact on our society. the World Hypertension Day (WHD) is globally observed every year on 17 th May, as part of the initiatives of the World Hypertension League (WHL). Pfizer Pakistan successfully organized nationwide activities, with the objective of promoting public awareness of hypertension and to encourage citizens of all countries to prevent and control this silent killer, in line with the objectives of the WHL. Hypertension is a disease that remains undiagnosed in most cases and can cause severe complications including Heart attack and stroke. Hypertension is the leading cause of heart diseases, stroke and chronic kidney diseases. the situation in Pakistan is grave as compared to developed countries. Even when it is diagnosed, the adequate treatment is not provided or taken.

Compliance rate is very low & it is estimated that only 3% of the hypertensive population in Pakistan is adequately controlled. Globally, 7 million people die every year because of high blood pressure and currently, 1 billion people worldwide are hypertensive, which is likely to be increase to 1.5billion by 2025. as part of the WHD activities, numerous walks, awareness sessions, symposiums, and screening camps were arranged by Pfizer Pakistan. the theme for the World Hypertension Day 2012 is ‘Healthy Lifestyle – Healthy Blood Pressure’. PRESS RELEASE

KARACHI: Pakistan State Oil (PSO) Board of Management Chairman Sohail Wajahat Siddiqui delivering a presentation on the general energy Scenario in Pakistan at an Energy Conference held at a local hotel. PRESS RELEASE

KARACHI: 1,500 young scientists from around the world have gathered in Pittsburgh, Pa. at the Intel International Science & Engineering Fair 2012. They were selected from 446 affiliate fairs in 68 countries, regions and territories. Seen in the photo is Syed Shahzed Hussain with his project ‘Creating Artificial Domains’ representing Pakistan at the final competition. PRESS RELEASE