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Euro zone braces itself for the Greek tragedy
profit.com.pk
THE NEEDLE’S IN THE HAYSTACK
Some balloons never burst… g
Government’s budgetary borrowings balloon beyond Rs 1 trillion KARACHI
T
ISMAIL DILAWAR
HE cash-strapped government’s budgetary borrowings from the banking system have swelled beyond Rs 1 trillion. According to central bank data, the funds-starved federal and provincial governments borrowed from the central and scheduled banks over Rs 1.051 trillion during July-May 11, FY12. This depicts an absolute increase of Rs 431 billion or 69.49 percent when compared with corresponding period of FY11 when the banks had lent over Rs 621 billion to the government. Of the total budgetary borrowings, the government borrowed over Rs 594 billion from the scheduled banks and Rs 458 billion from the State Bank. In same months last year, the government borrowings had accumulated to over Rs 398 billion and Rs 223 billion from the banks. Over FY11, this shows an upsurge of 49 and 105 percent in the government’s borrowings from the central and commercial banks, respectively. The 105 percent raise in government loans from the State Bank negates the former’s tall claims that it was decreasing its financing dependence on the central bank to avoid an imminent inflationary impact of the same. Further, the analysts warn that the government’s heavy reliance on commercial banks for budget financing was also adversely affecting the growth prospects in the country. The economic observers believe that the banks’ massive lending to the government was crowding out the private sector, which worldwide is regarded the engine of growth in developing countries. During the period under review, JulyMay 11 FY12, the banks extended credit to the private sector worth Rs 235 billion against last year’s Rs 108 billion. The banks’ overall credit to the non-government sector nosedived to Rs 93 billion from Rs 119 billion of FY11. The analysts
from official and unofficial quarters agree that the banks were going risk-averse given the current recessionary climate that has crippled the borrowers’ capacity to repay, something evident from the banks’ increasing Non-Performing Loans (NPLs). According to central bank, the bad debts of the banks have aggregated to over Rs 6 billion despite some improvement on the recovery front. However, the banks’ heavy investment in the heavilyweighted government securities has doubled their Net Domestic Assets (NDA) to Rs 881 billion against FY11’s Rs 481 billion. On the other hand, the Net Foreign Assets (NFA) of the banks stood at negative Rs 272.23 billion against positive Rs 181 billion of last year. The monetary expansion in the country has grown by 9.09 percent or Rs 608.68 billion in monetary terms partly because of the government’s massive budgetary bank borrowings. Though lower than last year’s 11.47 percent, over 9 percent expansion in the supply of money is considered by the analysts as high. The currency in circulation aggregated to Rs 204.34 billion against 255.45 billion if corresponding months in previous year. The analysts suggest that the government take immediate steps to improve the current poor law and order situation which was keeping the most-needed foreign as well domestic investment in the country at bay.
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Thursday, 24 May, 2012
Wall Street falls 1pc on Europe, Dell
NEW YORK REUTERS
Stocks fell 1 percent on Wednesday, with all S&P 500 sectors trading negative as concerns mounted over Greece's future in the euro zone. Tech shares were among the day's biggest decliners as a weaker-than-expected revenue forecast from Dell Inc (DELL.O), the third-largest computer maker, spurred fears that global tech spending was declining faster than had been previously anticipated. Euro-zone officials have agreed that each euro-zone country must prepare an individual contingency plan in the event that Greece decides to leave the single currency bloc. The agreement was reached during a teleconference of the Eurogroup Working Group, which lasted for about an hour on Monday. An index of European shares .FTEU3 fell 2.2 percent to close at 971.99. "It's very frightening to hear about this kind of talk, even if it makes sense as a contingency, because the lack of a clear path there continues to be very problematic for banks," said James Dunigan, chief investment officer of PNC Wealth Management in Philadelphia. An S&P index of financial shares .GSPF fell 1.2 percent, with Citigroup Inc (C.N) down 2.1 percent at $26.35 and Capital One Financial (COF.N) off 1.9 percent at $49.34. Dell Inc (DELL.O) plunged 17.8 percent to $12.40, on track for its biggest one-day drop in more than a decade after forecasting disappointing second-quarter revenue. Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ.N) lost 4.7 percent to $20.76. The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI
was down 118.60 points, or 0.95 percent, at 12,384.21. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX was down 11.75 points, or 0.89 percent, at 1,304.88. The Nasdaq Composite Index.IXIC was down 21.55 points, or 0.76 percent, at 2,817.53. Falling oil prices also depressed the energy sector, with an S&P index of energy companies .GSPE down 1.2 percent. U.S. July crude oil future fell $2.30 to a session low of $89.55, trading below $90 a barrel for the first time since November 1, on easing concerns about Iran's nuclear dispute with the West and increasing worries about global economic growth. Earlier in the session, stocks had briefly trimmed their losses after data showed new U.S. single-family home sales rose more than expected in April and prices pushed higher. The latest reading on sales of new homes offered further evidence that the housing market was turning the corner. The data "adds to the growing sense that housing is stabilizing, but it isn't enough to overcome the global issues driving the day," said Dunigan, who helps oversee $112 billion in assets. Facebook Inc (FB.O) and banks, including Morgan Stanley (MS.N), were sued by the social networking leader's shareholders, who claimed the defendants hid Facebook's weakened growth forecasts ahead of its $16 billion initial public offering. The stock was up 2.3 percent at $31.70. In the earnings arena, shares of Toll Brothers Inc (TOL.N) rose 1 percent to $27.30 after the largest U.S. luxury homebuilder reported a second-quarter profit, beating analysts' estimates, compared with a year-ago loss.
Facebook, banks sued over pre-IPO analyst calls Facebook Inc and Morgan Stanley, the lead underwriter of social networking company's IPO, were sued by shareholders who claimed the defendants hid Facebook's weakened growth forecasts ahead of its $16 billion initial public offering g
REUTERS JONATHAN STEMPEL/DAN LEVINE
The lawsuit, which also targeted underwriters JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs among others, comes as Facebook and the banks that took it public face many questions about the IPO process, which culminated in a May 18 stock market debut plagued by technical glitches. Facebook shares fell 18.4 percent from their $38 IPO price in the first three trading days. In early afternoon trade on Wednesday, Facebook shares were up 2.5 percent at $31.78. The legal action accused the defendants, including Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, of concealing "a severe and pronounced reduction" in revenue growth forecasts resulting from increased use of Facebook's app or website through mobile devices. Facebook was also accused in the lawsuit of telling its bank underwriters to "materially lower" forecasts for the company. "The main underwriters in the mid-
dle of the road show reduced their estimates and didn't tell everyone," said Samuel Rudman, a partner at Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd, which brought the lawsuit. "I don't think any investor in Facebook wouldn't have wanted to know that information." Andrew Noyes, a Facebook spokesman, said: "We believe the lawsuit is without merit and will defend ourselves vigorously." Morgan Stanley had no comment. It said on Tuesday that Facebook IPO procedures complied with all applicable regulations, and were the same as in any initial offering. The lawsuit seeks classaction status, and was filed on Wednesday in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan. It asks for compensatory damages and other remedies. On Tuesday, law firm Glancy Binkow & Goldberg said it filed its own lawsuit in California state court on behalf of an investor. Nasdaq OMX Group Inc was also sued on Tuesday by an investor who claimed the exchange operator was negligent in han-
dling orders for Facebook shares. IPO INVESTIGATIONS: Research analysts at several underwriters lowered their forecasts for Facebook after the Menlo Park, California-based company in a May 9 prospectus cautioned investors about the possible impact of users shifting to mobile platforms. Facebook makes little revenue from mobile ads, and did not say that changing user behavior could reduce profit and revenue. The shareholders said the disclosures about Facebook's business risks were inadequate, and that the company should have told everyone, not just "preferred" investors, that analysts knew those risks and cut their business outlooks accordingly. Regulators including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin have begun looking into how the IPO was handled. The U.S. Senate Banking Committee is also reviewing the matter. "The SEC has since the
1990s broadly condemned the trickling out of material non-public information, which would include that savvy, well-paid analysts are lowering estimates," said Elizabeth Nowicki, an associate professor at Tulane University Law School and a former SEC lawyer. Syndicate banks "are on the hook in terms of liability by not making accurate, complete disclosure," she added. "Selective disclosure of analyst outlook changes is not acceptable." BOfA, BARCLAYS ALSO SUED: The New York lawsuit was brought on behalf of Dennis Palkon and Brian Roffe, who said they respectively bought 1,800 and 200 Facebook shares at the IPO price, and Jacob Salzmann, who said he paid more than $123,000 on May 18 for 2,961 shares at an average $41.77 each. Reuters reported this week that four underwriters - Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Bank of America cut their Facebook forecasts after the May 9 prospectus was filed, but that this was not publicly revealed before the IPO.
[ID:nL4E8GM8SK][ID:nL1E8GN0FT] "If Facebook faced a known and particularly salient risk, boilerplate language would be insufficient," Nowicki said. "If Facebook told underwriters to lower their forecasts, it would certainly be material." According to people with direct knowledge of the matter, Facebook during its IPO road show advised analysts for underwriters to reduce profit and revenue forecasts, people with direct knowledge of the matter said. Bank of America and Barclays Plc, are also defendants in the New York case. Other defendants include Facebook Chief Financial Officer David Ebersman and several directors. Barclays spokesman Mark Lane and Goldman spokesman Michael DuVally declined to comment. Bank of America and JPMorgan did not immediately respond to requests for a comment. The case is Brian Roffe Profit Sharing Plan et al v. Facebook Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 12-04081.
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Thursday, 24 May, 2012
news
Euro zone braces itself for the Greek tragedy g
Each euro zone country will have to prepare a contingency plan for the eventuality of Greece leaving the single currency, euro zone sources said on Wednesday BRUSSELS REUTERS
O
FFICIALS reached the consensus on Monday afternoon during an hour-long teleconference of the Eurogroup Working Group (EWG). As well as confirmation from three euro zone officials, Reuters has seen a memo drawn up by one member state detailing some of the elements that euro zone countries should consider. The EWG consists of officials who prepare meetings of finance ministers and also form the board of the temporary bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF). It consists mostly of deputy finance ministers and senior treasury officials. "The EWG agreed that each euro zone country should prepare a contingency plan, individually, for the potential consequences of a Greek exit from the euro," said one euro zone official familiar with what was discussed on the call. "Nothing was prepared so far on the euro zone level for now, for fear of leaks," the official said. A second official confirmed the EWG agreement. The situation in Greece, which faces elections on June 17, seems certain to be discussed at an EU summit later on Wednesday. The Greek finance ministry denied in a statement that there was agreement to
prepare contingency plans. "The Ministry of Finance categorically denies the reports stating that during the teleconference of the Euro Working Group on May 21st 2012, it was agreed that each eurozone country should prepare contingency plans for the potential consequences of a departure of the Hellenic Republic from the single currency area," the statement said. But Belgian Finance Minister Steven Vanackere, asked by reporters ahead of the EU summit, said: "All the contingency plans (for Greece) come
PARC refuses to implement PM’s order to restore 269 employees ISLAMABAD
back to the same thing: to be responsible as a government is to foresee even what you hope to avoid." "We must insist on efforts to avoid an exit scenario but that doesn't mean we are not preparing for eventualities. I believe many countries have their contingency plans for the things they want to avoid at all cost, like terrorist attacks, and to say that we don't have a contingency plan would be irresponsible," Vanackere said. The Greek election, the second in two months, is widely seen as a referendum on whether
The Prime Minister’s order regarding restoration of 269 sacked employees has been flatly refused by Pakistan Agriculture Research Counsel (PARC) as its Board of Governance(BoG)has decided to resend the case with some objection. The meeting of National Assembly Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research held here on Wednesday chaired by member parliament Javed Iqbal Warriach. Federal Secretary Ministry of National Food and Security and Research Shafqat Hussain Naghmi informed the committee that Prime Minister had already approved the reinstatement of 269 sacked contract and regular employees of PARC but his minister Mir Israr Ullah Zehri stopped the restoration process of sack employees and asked that Board of Governance should be allowed to decide the fate of employees. He said that now the Board of Governance has decided to re-send the case to the prime minister with some objections. “PARC Board of Governance has no right to roll back Prime minister’s order and i must say that the order of prime minister’s regarding the restoration of 269 sacked employees should be implemented in letter and spirit,” said the secretary, adding that the recommendations of Board of Governance have no significance against the prime minister’s order that was why he had written descending note. The committee also approved the proposed amendments in seed act, 1976 to incorporate increasing role of private sector by the registration of seed companies, seed dealers and seed processing units and to enhance penalties to curb the sale of sub-standard seed in the market.
the debt-laden country should stay in the euro zone and undertake painful reforms and austerity, or leave and try its luck with its own currency. Polls suggest the vote could go either way. 50-BILLION-EURO GOODBYE? The document seen by Reuters detailed the potential costs to individual member states of a Greek exit and said that if it came about, an "amiable divorce" should be sought. It also said that if Greece were to decide to leave, the EU/IMF could give it up to 50 billion euros to ease its path. The document said Athens would bear huge costs if it decided to abandon the currency, while other euro zone countries would have more limited costs. But the paper said that the risk of knock-on effects that could hit other euro zone countries under market scrutiny now was underestimated. "The markets will definitively distrust the euro," the paper said. Germany's Bundesbank said on Wednesday a Greek exit from the euro would be "manageable". The German central bank also said euro zone states should have a say on further payments of aid to Greece under its 130 billion euro bailout program. So far the euro zone has disbursed 38.4 billion euros from the second bailout program to Greece. The emergency lending is linked to conditions of tough reforms, which most Greeks oppose.
KESC launches Rs2b utility sector retail bond issue KARACHI
ONLINE
g
Name’s Bond, Retail Bond g
STAFF REPORT
The Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) has launched the public offering of country’s first ever Utility Sector Retail Bond Issue titled as “KESC AZM TFC”. The Term Finance Certificates (TFCs) are instruments of redeemable capital as defined under section 120 of the Companies Ordinance. This issue is listed, secured and rated, offered in multiple tenors having a total face value of Rs 2 billion and is available for subscription to the public for a three month period, starting from May 25 (2012) until August 24 (2012). Investments received would be utilized for financing KESC’s permanent working capital requirements. The KESC AZM Certificate issue is the most flexible TFC issue in the country, available in maturities of 13 months (KESC AZM TFC 1), three years (KESC AZM TFC 2) and five years (KESC AZM TFC 3). Coupon/profit rates per annum
Budget brawl to culminate soon
are 13.00 percent p.a. payable monthly for the 13-month issue, 14.75 percent p.a. payable quarterly for the three years issue and 15.50 percent p.a. payable quarterly for the five years issue. The total face value of the issue is Rs 2,000 million including a Green Shoe option of Rs 1,000 million. Total amount offered is Rs 300 million, Rs 1,200 million and Rs 500 million for 13 months, 3 years and 5 years issue, respectively. The minimum investment amount has been fixed at Rs 10,000 in order to allow for broad based participation in the venture. Principal repayment of the investment would be available at maturity. Early redemption option would also be available to investors subject to varying redemption charges and a 15 day prior notice. Each AZM TFC is secured by monthly collections from over 700 of KESC's top corporate customers expected to provide over 10 times coverage on average on each monthly payment amount. The security also includes charge on fixed assets.
NA budget session summoned on June 1 ISLAMABAD ONLINE
Acting President Senator Nayyar Hussain Bukhari Wednesday summoned the budget session of the National Assembly on June 1. The upcoming budget 2012-13 will be the fifth and last budget of the PPP and its allies which will be presented by Finance Minister Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh. The Spokesman of the NA Secretariat said the session has been summoned according to the article 54 clause 1 of the constitution. Sources said the Finance Minister would deliver the budget speech on June 1, and then the session will be suspended for two days. On June 4 formal debate on budget session would be started including on cut motions presented by various parties. Sources said it is expected that budget 2012-13 would be approved on June 22.
Companies suffer due to cyber crimes KARACHI STAFF REPORT
The unwillingness of cyber-crime victims to pursue cases is the major hurdle in the way of investigations and action against hackers and criminals in the country. This was stated by the President Pakistan Information Security Association (PISA) and former additional director general FIA Ammar Jaffery while speaking at the "Information Security Conference" via Skype in connection with CONNECT 2012 at Karachi Expo Centre on Wednesday. He said that as much as 200 cases were reported for cyber-crimes including hacking of website, tracing of emails, frauds through internet and mobile phones during 2011. He pointed out that most of the cyber-crime victims do not report the incident of internet misuse to investigators due to several reasons including fear of police, black mailing and personal secrets. Jaffery said that cyber-crimes are on the rise, causing colossal damages to the victim companies and individuals in the country. He noted with pleasure that FIA has revived Cyber Security Task Force to deal with computer based crimes. "Use of forensics science system can help a lot in effectively detecting and curbing cyber-crimes", he added. He underlined the need for creating awareness among the mass especially the users of Internet about the availability of legal means to try the hackers and misuse of cyber facilities. Quoting the official of Internet search engine Google, he said the Pakistan is among those three countries in the world that are shy of using Internet for trading activities. As much as 190 countries in the world are using it.
The bill brims, the oil does not Wheat to go from our east to our west g
Government must control the spiraling oil import bill: Yassar Sakhi Butt
g
India to hold talks with Iran
ISLAMABAD
NEW DELHI
ONLINE
ONLINE
Payments for oil import bill is the key factors that has put pressure on our fragile economy adds to the electricity generation cost, hitting hard the ordinary consumers as well as raising the cost of production for manufacturers. In a statement issued here on Wednesday President Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) Yassar Sakhi Butt said that Government should give immediate attention to run the existing power units by converting them form expensive fuels to cheaper options like coal-fired deriving coal from Thar coal fields and other renewable energy sources for cutting the oil import bill. ICCI President expressed his concern over soaring oil import bill by 43.52 per cent to reach $12.583 billion during the first ten months of the outgoing financial year 2011-2012 against $8.768 billion in the same period of last year. He said that oil imports comprise almost 40 percent of Pakistan’s total import bill that resulting in a huge trade deficit thus puts pressure on the local currency. He was of the view that government could also curtail oil import bill by availing Iranian offer to supply 80,000 barrel crude oil daily and also by completing Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline for which Iran is willing to provide US$250 million to take care of foreign exchange component of pipeline. Yassar Sakhi Butt also highlighted the problem of circular debt that has swelled to Rs.670billion and becoming a big threat to economic survival of the country. He said that with every passing day the country is sinking deeper and deeper into economic mire that needs an economic stimulus plan to get it back on track. ICCI President said that any further increase in oil import bill would fuel inflation in the country and disturb the balance of payments. If this trend continued, rupee would come further under pressure, therefore, he stressed upon the Government to take urgent measures to bring some stability in the falling value of rupee by controlling oil import bill.
India plans to aggressively push wheat exports to Iran by offering lower prices than rival Pakistan and will hold talks with Tehran early next month to resolve objections over traces of a fungal disease found in grain exports. Iran, which has been scouting for food supplies due to Western sanctions, is eager to buy wheat from India but wants to ensure a supply of grain free of Karnal bunt, a fungal disease found in India's breadbasket northern states. "We are hoping to arrive at an agreement with Iran," a Food Ministry official was quoted as saying by WSJ. The government is also trying to identify regions in the country that can supply disease-free grain. It is aiming to export up to four million metric tons of grain to Iran this year. India, the world's second-largest wheat producer, is looking to export grain to Iran at $280 a ton, free on board, compared with $290-$300/ton for Pakistani wheat. India's need to export grain has acquired greater urgency due to a storage crunch of more than 10 million tons. India is also anxious to export agricultural commodities following a bumper crop. Shipments to Iran have to be cleared by a ministerial panel, but the government is hoping to expedite clearance and start exports as early as mid-June. The panel may meet within a fortnight, another Food Ministry official said. Iran may not have much choice. Wheat imports will likely become more difficult amid sanctions and tightening global wheat supplies. For example, Russian exports are expected to fall to 15.5 million tons from 17 million tons due to lower-than-estimated production, according to Rabobank. Separately, Indian exporters have contracted to ship around 300,000 tons of soymeal to Iran during the marketing year that ends on Sept. 30, said Davish Jain, former president of the Central Organization for Oil Industry and Trade. He said around 50,000 tons of soymeal exports had been contracted with Iran last week, in the price range of $572/ton free on board.
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Thursday, 24 May, 2012
03
news WAKE uP!
PROFIT TAKING BEARS AND THEIR INTIMACY:
SECP organises awareness session for journalists KARACHI STAFF REPORT
The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) Wednesday organized an awareness session here at a local hotel to provide the journalists an overview of its working. In the well-attended workshop, presentation were made by the senior officers of SECP to sensitize the journalists on important areas such as the reforms introduced in company registration and compliance, mutual funds, Modarabas, investment banking and leasing, operational structure of the stock exchanges, Central Depository Company (CDC), National Clearing Company of Pakistan (NCCP). The participants were also briefed on the reforms undertaken by the apex regulator over the past years and the SECP’s future market reform agenda. Shakil Chaudhary, head of SECP’s Media and Corporate Communications Department, said the journalists could aptly interpret and comment on the government's policies and performance if they were fully conversant with the functioning of the various government departments. He said this workshop was organized to bridge a longstanding communication gap between the SECP and the media.
KSE had a hug to bear KARACHI
P
STAFF REPORT
AKISTAN Stocks closed lower on amid profit-taking in stocks across the board ahead of federal budget announcements due early next month. Viewed by Ahsan Mehanti, Director at Arif Habib Investments Limited. The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) 100-share index declined 109.26 points or 0.77 percent to close at 14,032.82 points as compared to 14,142.08 points of the previous session. The KSE 30-share index shed 79.40 points to close at 12,187.63 points as compared with 12,267.03 points. The market turnover was down to 175.620 million shares after opening at 179.108 million shares. The overall market capitalization declined 0.04 percent and traded Rs 3.584 trillion as against Rs 3.611 trillion. Losers outnumbered gainers 114 to 151, while 78 stocks were unchanged. Mehanti added “Fall in global commodities and stocks amid Greece debt crises and slowdown in the stock valuations.” The KMI 30-share was plunged by 148.51 points to close at 24,209.30 points from its opening at 24,357.81 points. The KSE all-share index closed with a loss of 72.33 points to 9,863.49 points as against 9,935.82 points. Bank Al-Falah was the volume leader in the share market with 16.878 million shares as it closed at Rs 17.77after opening at Rs 17.24, up by 53 paisas. P.T.C.L.A traded 15.676 million shares as it closed at Rs 15.82 after opening Rs 16.02 down by 20 paisas. D.G.K Cement traded 14.968 million shares as it closed at Rs 41.37 from its opening at Rs 41.92, decreasing Rs 55 paisas. TRG Pakistan Limited traded 14.702 million shares and closed at Rs 4.22 as against its opening at Rs 4.22, increase by Rs 68 paisas. Jahangir
Siddiqui Company traded 11.958 million shares as it closed at Rs 16.49 as compared to its opening at Rs 16.91, decreasing Rs 50 paisas. He added that the limited foreign interest, security concerns in the city, uncertainty over federal budget announcements for corporate sector played a catalyst role in bearish sentiments at KSE despite hopes for improvement in Pak-US relations on progress over NATO supplies. On the future market, the turnover decreased to 18.820 million against 20.879 million shares of Tuesday. The Bata Pakistan Limited and Mithchells Fruit, up Rs 15.39 and Rs 11.70, led highest price gainers while, Unilever Food XD and Unilever Pakistan XD down Rs 90.00 and Rs 86.71 respectively, led the losers. TRADING TERmINALS Of TwO fIRmS DEACTIVATED fOR NON-COmPLIANCE: The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) has deactivated all trading terminals of two listed firms for their non-compliance with the Capital Adequacy Requirements under Schedule 5 of the relevant regulations. The A.H.K.D. Securities and INVISOR Securities are the two companies which attracted the front regulator’s ire for failing to submit their bi-annual Net Capital Balance Certificates within prescribed period. Schedule 2.1 of the Regulations Governing Risk Management of the Exchange requires the listed firms to submit their bi-annual Net Capital Balance Certificates. The deactivation has been given affect from May 07 (2012). According to KSE, it may allow reactivation of the defaulting firms’ trading terminals under Regulation 44 (2) of the General Regulations after expiry of at least 10 business days of such deactivation. This, however, is subject to the removal of causes of such disciplinary actions by the respective members, the regulator clarified.
CORPORATE CORNER Wateen Telecom wins Pakistan Advertisers Society Award LAHORE: Wateen Telecom, recently ranked as Pakistan’s No. 1 wireless broadband provider by the PTA, was recently awarded the Pakistan Advertisers Society award for best advertisement in the 'Computer and Internet Category'. The award was presented at a ceremony held at the Expo Centre in Karachi on Friday, and attended by representatives of the country’s leading national and multinational brands. Wateen beat Wi-Tribe and Qubee who were also nominated in this category. The judges for the event included stalwarts from media, advertising agencies, and marketing representatives from leading organizations and faculty members from the top universities in the country.
fected by the heating effect. Resultantly the transformer became inoperative. Since the requisite facilities of reclamation and testing were not available at Barotha Power Complex, it was shifted to PTESU Workshop at Lahore where the engineers and staff, after discussing its design, modus operandi for repair, improvisation, testing and other technical problems unprecendently repaired this high voltage (about 2.3 times of previous voltage) transformer.
Qatar Airways launches flights to Iraq
Landmark achieved in repairing extra high voltage power transformers
LAHORE: WAPDA Power Transformer Engineering Services Unit (PTESU) of Pakistan WAPDA Foundation has achieved a landmark by reclaiming extra high voltage 515 kilovolt (KV) transformer in their Workshop. The reclaimed transformer is now successfully operating and transmitting electricity to the National Grid. Such a colossal task of repairing high voltage power transformer was undertaken for the first time in the history of Pakistan. Besides building the in-house capacity, the said reclamation also helped save Rs.200 million – the cost of a new transformer. The said transformer was originally installed at Barotha Power Complex where it developed a serious fault. The preliminary inspection at site revealed the burning and damage of tap winding, whereas the adjoining parts were also af-
ERBIL: Qatar Airways has extended its Middle East footprint to Iraq with today’s launch of scheduled flights to the northern city of Erbil. The Doha-based airline is operating four-flights-aweek non-stop on the route – the first of two new Iraqi services being launched within two weeks. Effective June 7, Qatar Airways will start flights to the capital Baghdad, also operating four-times-aweek. Both the Erbil and Baghdad services are being operated with an Airbus A320 in a two-class configuration of 12 seats in Business Class and 132 in Economy. Qatar Airways Senior Vice-President GCC, Levant, Iran, Iraq and Indian Sub continent Fathi Al Shehab was onboard inaugural flight QR 446 which arrived at Erbil International Airport
to a traditional water salute welcome followed by an airport ceremony attended by local officials.
Royal Palm Golf Course gets top ranking LAHORE: In a periodic review of Golf Courses around the world carried out by Golf Digest under the label,Planet Golf,the Royal Palm Golf and Country Club Golf Course has been ranked as the best golf course in Pakistan.(Ref Golf Digest,May 2012,vol 63,no 5,page 124).The ranking of Royal Palm Golf Course is a part of the individual rankings of golf courses in 203 countries based on a large global panel survey involving 609 panelists,11426 individual course evaluations,with input from 30 international editions of Golf Digest. A significant feature that emerged through this survey was that growth of golf in USA has stalled and in 2011 there was a net loss of 140 courses in America.The survey also highlights that,internationally,a lot of exciting new prominent golf courses have come up,like Yas Links in Abu Dhabi,Barnbough Lost Farm in Australia,Castle Stuart in Scotland,Black Mountain in Thailand and many others.Then there are other countries which have joined the league of golf nations by adding their first golf course and include Belarus,Equatorial Guinea and Sudan.However some countries still have no golf course,the most populous being Iraq(32 million inhabitants) and Yemen(24 million).The survey also states that Planet Golf is a world of 32,515 golf courses,played and beloved by 60 million people who are proud to call themselves golfers. As for Royal Palm Golf Course,it has played host to numerous national and regional golf tournaments including the National Amateur,Pakistan Open,SAARC Golf Champioship.In these competitions ,national teams and players of South Asia participated.Soon Royal Palm hopes to host the Asian Tour Event in Lahore.
Major Gainers Company
Open
High
Low
Close
Change
Turnover
Bata (Pak) Limited Mithchells Fruit Shezan Inter. Colgate Palmolive Wyeth Pak Limited
620.97 236.76 202.93 950.00 819.00
639.00 248.59 213.07 970.00 850.00
630.00 248.00 212.00 950.00 810.00
636.36 248.46 213.07 957.00 824.00
15.39 11.70 10.14 7.00 5.00
57 594 71,865 52 492
Major Losers Unilever FoodXD UniLever PakXD Pak.Int.Cont SD Philip Morris Pak. Island Textile
3090.00 7200.00 160.28 144.00 194.03
3090.00 7230.00 159.00 143.99 190.00
3000.00 7060.00 152.27 139.00 190.00
3000.00 7113.29 152.68 139.46 190.00
17.90 16.05 42.19 4.34 17.19
16.90 15.27 40.70 3.52 16.39
17.77 15.82 41.37 4.22 16.49
-90.00 -86.71 -7.60 -4.54 -4.03
33 18 7,874 4,563 1
0.53 -0.20 -0.55 0.68 -0.42
16,878,509 15,676,232 14,968,563 14,702,434 11,958,473
Volume Leaders Bank Al-Falah P.T.C.L.A D.G.K.Cement TRG Pakistan Ltd. Jah.Sidd. Co.
17.24 16.02 41.92 3.54 16.91
Interbank Rates US Dollar UK Pound Japanese Yen Euro
91.9837 144.6076 1.1579 116.2766
Dollar East US Dollar Euro Great Britain Pound Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar Hong Kong Dollar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal
Buy
Sell
93.00 116.06 144.97 1.1593 89.78 11.81 25.21 24.71
93.60 117.45 146.68 1.1728 91.34 12.01 25.48 24.95
Rupee’s not doing too well in the neighbourhood either g
Indian rupee plummets to historic low against dollar NEW DELHI ONLINE
The Indian rupee has continued its downward slide of the past few days and hit an all-time low against the dollar in early trade on Wednesday. The Indian currency fell to 55.82 rupees against the US dollar, down from 55.39, Indian media reported. The slide comes amid concerns that slowing growth and a high rate of inflation may hurt India's economy. Analysts said worries about a global economic slowdown had fanned those fears further. The Indian rupee has been dropping against the US dollar since August last year, falling by almost 26% against the US currency since then. Various reports have suggested that India's central bank, the Reserve Bank of India, could intervene by selling dollars via state-run banks to arrest any further falls. Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said that the government was taking a number of steps to arrest the volatility in the foreign exchange market and boost the rupee. Earlier this month, the central bank asked exporters to convert 50% of their foreign exchange holdings into Indian rupees in an attempt to prop up the currency. It also said that exporters would only be allowed to buy foreign currency after using up all of the foreign exchange holdings in their accounts. However, these attempts have so far not been able to stem the rupee's fall.
China approves loan for Neelum-Jhelum project BEIJING ONLINE
LAHORE: Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan (ICMAP) is celebrating its 61st anniversary with the name of Accountants Day. Flag hoisting ceremony was arranged today at ICMAP Lahore campus to celebrate the Accountants Day.
The Export-Import Bank of China has approved a US$448M loan to fund construction of the 969MW Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project in Pakistan. According to newswire reports, the loan will help ensure the project is completed to schedule in 2016, after fears there may be a delay in construction if funding was not approved. Back in 2008, project developer the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) awarded a consultancy contract for the project to a joint venture led by MWH and including local firms Nespak, ACE and NDC together with Norplan of Norway. The project involves construction of a concrete gravity diversion dam, headrace tunnel, surge chamber and underground powerhouse with four generating units. TBM’s are being put to use on the build.