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Bourse loses 41 points ending bull-run Page 03
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Thursday, 26 January, 2012
Textile exports down by 19.2 per cent YoY KARACHI
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STAFF REPORT
S per the latest data available, Pakistan’s textile exports in December 2011 were recorded at $944.27 million, down 19.2 per cent YoY. However, the same was up 15.3 per cent on a mom basis as cotton cloth, knitwear and bed wear depicted growths of 22-59 per cent in monetary terms. Cumulative textile exports in 1HFY12 were recorded lower by 4.7per cent
YoY at $5.96 billion which was mainly on account of lower cotton prices and lower export volumes of cotton yarn and raw cotton. Although exports are likely to remain subdued compared to last year, recent uptick in cotton prices and better than expected cotton crop production is likely to provide a stimulus to textile exports in 2HFY12. Nevertheless, the energy crisis in the country poses a great risk to meeting export orders by textile manufacturers. TExTILE ExPORTS DOWN 4.7 PER CENT IN 1HFY12: During the
first six months textile exports were recorded at $5.96 billion, down 4.7 per cent YoY. While the exports grew on a monthly basis, lower cotton prices along with enhanced energy crisis in the country were major reasons for the fall in cumulative exports in 1HFY12. Furthermore, slowdown in the european economies amid the recent debt crisis also put pressure on the export orders. All major categories witnessed a double digit decline in export quantities. Going forward, we believe the materialisation of the GSP plus status (expected to be finalised by
PM chides cabinet for putting up low intensity issues KARACHI
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WAQAR HAMZA
rime minister chided Cabinet Committee On investment (CCOi) for putting up low intensity issues, particularly enhancing tariff from three per cent to 7.5 per cent for PTA, with the committee as it is simply a wastage of time because appropriate forums are available for such matters. While chairing the meeting of CCOi held on January 10th after nine years, Pm said that economic Coordination Committee (eCC) has already deliberated on the matter of import tariff of Purified Terephthalix Acid (PTA), so this may be referred to the committee of deputy chairman planning commission who should take all stakeholders on board and decide on the issue in 15 days. Pm was not happy with the Board of investment (Boi) for putting up this matter at such a higher forum, while the finance minister also showed his dissatisfaction by saying that CCOi is not a forum for demand of any individual company. According to the minutes of the meeting, secretary Boi made a presentation aimed at enhancing tariff from three per cent to 7.5 per cent for PTA as the cost of PTA production in Pakistan is three to four per cent higher as compared to China and india, mainly due to high overhead costs. Therefore, PTA industry in reality requires protection as in China and india. in view of the comparative tariff structure of six and five per cent in China and india, respectively, he recommended that the present three per cent tariff may be increased to the previous level of 7.5 per cent. To which, the finance minister pointed out that the subject was discussed in eCC where all agreed not to increase the tariff of PTA except Boi, while the committee of deputy chairman planning commission is already considering entire tariff structure and its report may be awaited. Secretary finance opposed the proposal of Boi as any change in tariff of PTA will disturb the tariff of whole chain and will be opposed by the producers of other value chain products. He proposed that National Tariff Commission (NTC) should study the proposal. Secretary textile also opposed the proposal of Boi as it will have serious ramifications for the downstream industry because PTA plant has already availed tariff protection worth rs50 billion. Deputy Chairman Planning Commission informed that a number of meetings were held on this subject. He informed that it was a government policy to ratio-
nalise and liberalise the tariff and not to increase in tariff. The plant of PTA was purchased by the company cheaply and made lot of profit in the last two years and has not lost anything, he added. Similarly, Chairman FBr informed that PTA was given tariff protection for 10 years at the rate of 15 per cent which was reduced to 7.5 per cent and three per cent in last two years, so the demand of the company is not viable as it will risk the entire chain. STEADY MARGIN ATTRITION PINS EARNING GROWTH: After a strong start to the year, primary margins (PTA-PX) receded during the course of the year, and bottomed out at $140/mT in 4QCY11. For CY11, primary margins averaged $227/mT, implying 17 per cent YoY attrition. in addition to supply dynamics, international PTA prices mirrored the declining trend in international cotton prices, which stood at $0.95/lb in December 2011 after peaking at $2.29/lb in march. Following the same pattern, LOTPTA has seen its earnings steadily decline with 4QCY11 earnings expected to come in at a mere rs0.04 per share. Aside from weakening primary margins in absolute terms, additional pressure will be exerted from the 4Q spike in rupee-dollar depreciation and inventory losses associated with declining PTA prices. THE COIN IS RUSTY ON BOTH SIDES—CY12 OUTLOOK: Global PTA prices are expected to remain subdued in the upcoming year as 9.9 million tonnes of additional capacities are expected to come online. Furthermore, polyester demand is expected to bear the fallout of the euro debt crisis in the form of faltering textile demand in the region. On the flip side, PX supply will not be able to match the startup of new capacities, as only 1.45 million tonnes of fresh capacities are expected to be added. 1QCY12 primary margins are also expected to come under pressure from the PX side, as a number of PX plants are expected to undergo their annual turnaround, resulting in tighter supplies. in addition to the international catalysts, the eCC’s refusal to raise the PTA import tariff from the existing three per cent leaves LOTPTA without an additional security blanket to shield it from the international elements, said Ali Hussain at HmFS. it is to be noted that Lotte Pakistan PTA, Ltd (LOTPTA) is scheduled to announce its CY11 results on January 26, 2012, in which the company is expected to report Profit After Tax of rs4,655 (earning Per Share: rs3.07) for CY11 versus rs4,528 million (ePS:rs 2.99) in CY10, depicting three per cent YoY growth.
end of February – with Bangladesh now lifting the objection) can aid textile exports in the future, said Bilal Qamar at JS. COTTON PRICES OUTLOOK: international cotton prices after diving below a $1 per lbs mark have recovered again and currently hover around $1.03 per lbs. Similarly, prices in the domestic market have also witnessed an uptick currently at rs5,800 (up 18 per cent since hitting a low of rs4,900 in FY12). We believe the recovery in the international cotton prices is likely to bode well for
the textile segment going forward, he added. COTTON ARRIvAL TO REACH 13.5-14MN BALES IN FY12: Surprisingly, cotton arrivals till January 15, 2012 have surpassed 12.5 million bales (initial government target) to reach 12.8 million bales. interestingly, the fortnightly flow came in at 797k bales, which was higher by 53 per cent on a YoY basis. Though, fortnightly flows from here on are likely to slow down, we expect the country to record arrivals of 13.5-14.0 million bales in FY12, he added.
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Thursday, 26 January, 2012
news
SBP allows banks to write off agri loans in calamity-hit areas KARACHI
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STAFF REPORT
OVerNOr State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Yaseen Anwar Wednesday said commercial banks were allowed to restructure or write off the existing loans of the farmers in the flood and rains affected areas of the country. Also, SBP governor urged banks to adopt agricultural financing as a viable business model through development of specific products and disseminate best practices through grass-root level programmes for farmers. He also announced the setting up of an implementation committee to ensure timely implementation of the action plan prepared by ACAC special committee, constituted in December 2010. “Banks are allowed to restructure the existing loans and write-offs in cases where the recovery of loans is not possible,” Anwar said while chairing a meeting of Agricultural Credit Advisory Committee (ACAC) here at SBP. He said relevant federal and provincial government departments, farmers’ representatives and other players in value chain also needed to create credit absorption capacity of farmers through adoption of best modern farming practices, development of storage and marketing systems and resolution of other real side issues. He said heavy rains of 2011 and devastating floods in 2010 had greatly affected national economy in general and agriculture sector in particular. Credit requirements of farmers had also increased significantly besides adjustment of existing agricultural loans, he said adding that agriculture remains the mainstay with a contribution of more than 21 per cent to GDP and around 60 per cent of the population was dependent on agriculturerelated activities for its livelihood. SBP governor said banks need to develop a comprehensive agricultural finance policy for settlement, rescheduling and restructuring of loans of the affected borrowers in addition to providing fresh credits for the rehabilitation and revival of the economic activities in the affected areas. “The federal and provincial governments would also need to initiate support and relief packages for the affected areas,” he added. Anwar said to ensure timely and quick loan disbursement to help agriculture sector and revival of economic activities in the affected areas, SBP in collaboration with banks had taken a number of initiatives including refinance scheme at discounted rates of eight per cent coupled with credit guarantee scheme
for loss sharing of banks up to 40 per cent. He said crop loan insurance scheme introduced by government for production loans for five major crops had also supported the sector whereby claims of around rs800 million, including around rs550 million of the borrowers of ZTBL, had been settled by insurance companies in 2010 and 2011. He pointed out that agricultural credit is highly skewed towards farm sector i.e. around 68 per cent whereas credit to non-farm sector including livestock sector is only 32 per cent compared to its contribution of 55 per cent to agriculture GDP. About the implementation committee, he said the body would be headed by SBPs’ executive director, comprising members from provincial agricultural departments, farmers’ representatives, Pakistan Banks Association (PBA), ZTBL and SBP Banking Services Corporation. Committee will also collaborate with regional agriculture focus groups of SBP-BSC offices to get feedback on implementation strategy and ensure timely implementation of decisions and recommendations. update on the progress of implementation would be made to the ACAC in its next meeting. Anwar highlighted the key initiatives taken by SBP during July, 2010 to December, 2011 that include: n introduction and completion of Pilot Project Phase iii with 87 per cent achievement of set targets, in 51 agriculture intensive districts covering 75 per cent of total farm households in the country. n Successful arrangement of six training workshops for CAD/risk management departments of banks on agricultural loan documents, training 178 senior officials of agricultural lending banks, SBP and DFSD, SBP-BSC. n Finalisation of a primary framework of commodity operations after deliberations with key stakeholders which will evolve proper storage, fair and transparent price mechanism & post-harvest financing system (the assignment has now been shifted to Pakistan mercantile exchange for its implementation). n Arrangement of Agribusiness finance workshop at Netherlands for senior officials of SBP and SBP-BSC and agricultural lending banks to create awareness, build capacity of banks in enhancing outreach of agricultural credit. n Launching of 6-week specialised internship programme for students of Agricultural universities and departments from 5th July, 2010 at SBP to facilitate provision of quality human resource for banks in agricultural financing to achieve
the overall objective of access to finance to the farming community. n Arrangement of knowledge sharing session with Central Bank of indonesia for learning their key success factors in the area of agricultural and rural finance. n To educate agriculture graduates about the basic structure of agricultural financing, related policies, schemes, initiatives taken by SBP to enhance the outreach of agricultural/ rural finance, arranged eight “Policy adequacy and awareness seminars on agricultural financing” so far at different agriculture universities of the country. n To ensure timely disbursement of agricultural credit to the farming community, revised the list of documents to be obtained by banks against various kinds of agricultural loans and streamlined the turnaround time for agricultural loan processing through ACD Circular No 02 of 11th August, 2010. n in order to revive Smes and agricultural activities in flood affected areas, issued a refinance scheme vide SmeFD circular no 16 of 2010 for improving access to finance in 78 flood affected districts notified by National Disaster management Authority (NDmA). n To ensure availability of credit to the farmers for the purchase and maintenance of efficient systems and techniques, developed guidelines for efficient water management financing, which were issued vide AC&mFD circular no 2 of 2011. He said the above-mentioned initiatives of State Bank were important but real benefits could only be reaped through collaborative efforts of all stakeholders including banks, relevant departments of federal and provincial governments and farmers representatives. The meeting was informed the mid-year (July-December 2011-12) performance of agricultural credit remained satisfactory wherein, total disbursement registered an optimistic figure of rs125 billion which included additional rs5.5 billion by microfinance banks as compared to last year’s rs102 billion for the same period with 23 per cent overall growth rate. This positive trend indicates gradually building trust of formal sector towards agricultural financing because of its sustainable nature and showing signs of recovery after overall recessionary environment. An amount of rs285 billion was the indicative agricultural credit disbursement target for banks and microfinance Banks (mFBs) for 2011-12 which is 8.4 per cent higher than 2010-11 target.
Petroleum Policy 2012 goes to ECC for approval again ISLAMABAD
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AMER SIAL
eTrOLeum ministry has finally decided to seek approval of Petroleum Policy 2012 from the economic Coordination Committee (eCC) of the cabinet instead of earlier planned forum of Council of Common interests (CCi). A senior official of the petroleum ministry said the decision was made as the legal opinion received from the ministry of law explains that even after devolution the federal government retains the role of regulator for oil and gas exploration and production. He said approval from eCC will expedite implementation of policy to offer new oil and gas exploration blocks to the companies. Pakistan has offered more than 30 blocks for exploration in 2010, after which no petroleum concessions agreements were signed. The ministry had earlier decided to approach CCi on the new policy as provincial governments had objected to the 50 per cent share of federal government in royalty. An official source said that a meeting with representatives of provincial governments was planned to be held on January 25 but was put off due to non availability of the representative of Punjab government. The meeting was called to address concerns of provincial governments in the light of legal opinion from the ministry of law. Provincial governments wanted to have complete control in the award of exploration blocks under their jurisdiction as well as major beneficiaries of royalties instead of sharing it with the centre. The source said provincial demand of having representation in the state owned oil and gas companies will be addressed. New petroleum policy focuses on promoting
Stagnant agri sector threatening food security FAISALABAD
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FARAKH SHAHZAD
GriCuLTurAL productivity of the country remained stagnant for the last decade, raising a question mark over food security amid the ever-increasing population. This was stated by university of Agriculture, Faisalabad Vice Chancellor Prof Dr iqrar Ahmad Khan while talking a uS delegation comprising David Orden, Senior research Fellow, Pakistan Strategy Support Program (PSSP) and Dr Knigsley Bash, chief of party for PSSP on Wednesday at New Senate Hall. The vice chancellor said due to lack of value chain, marketing and traditional ways of farming were the main hurdle to the increment in productivity. He said strong policymaking is required to feed the growing population. He also urged agricultural scientists to put their all out efforts in a bid to increase production. He was of the view the agricultural land is decreasing because of industrialisation and housing societies. Presenting the statistical date, he said in 1972, agriculture land was 0.29ha per capita; in 1981 it was 0.24 ha per capita and in 2020 it would reduce to 0.11, showing a grim picture of the situation. He said it is the need of the hour to adopt precision agriculture. He said it is observed
Pakistan loses key fruit export markets Country to face 0.1 million tonnes reduction in Kinnow exports despite bumper crop g Only 10,000 tonnes out of routine exports of 0.1 million tonnes made to Iran this year g Pakistan fails to conclude PTA with Indonesia by January 2012 g
KARACHI
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STAFF REPORT
eSPiTe a bumper crop in the country this year, the export of Pakistani Kinnow is expected to be reduced by 0.1 million tonnes against the expected 0.3 million tonnes because of the loss of huge market of iran. Besides, the indonesian market, where at least 45,000 tonnes export of the fruit was expected to be made after concluding the already approved Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), also remained untapped because of the negligence of the government.
As the huge market of iran has already been lost this year under the sanctions imposed by united Nation/united States on the neighboring country, a key fruit export market of the country has been lost. Talking about the reduced export of fruits, Waheed Ahmed Co-Chairman Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable exporters, importers and merchant Association (PFVA) said that unfortunately the country could hardly export around 0.2 million tonnes of kinnow this year; almost 0.1 million less than the target of 0.3 million tonnes despite the bumper crop this season. The major reason for the drastic reduction in exports was the loss of iranian market where trade
investment in the upstream sector and in onshore frontier areas by providing globally competitive incentives. As around 27 per cent of the country’s energy needs are currently being met through imports. Pakistan’s average daily production of crude oil and gas in 2009-10 was 65,000 barrels and four billion cubic feet, respectively. The country’s indigenous oil and gas production meet around 53 per cent of its total energy requirements while other indigenous sources provide 19 per cent. The incumbent government had early given Petroleum Policy 2009 which had to be amended by new Petroleum Policy 2011 as the market conditions warranted urgent changes for investment in view of increasing international energy prices. There has been a paradigm shift in the natural gas scenario due to higher trend of consumption of natural gas in the country and overall energy requirement was changing; therefore there was a great need to bring new policy with additives. Drastic increase in crude oil prices in the international market has changed the complexion of the exploration and production sectors which requires drastic changes in the approach towards the sector. This has forced the government to give new incentives for developing the indigenous hydrocarbon resources. Government plans to review the policy after five years for appropriate adjustments keeping in view the then prevailing conditions. The new policy ends the system of zones and offers a price of $6 per mmBTu for new discoveries instead of previous prices of $4.38 to $5.03 mmBTu in onshore. Shallow discoveries will be offered price of $7 mmBTu, deep $8 mmBTu and ultra deep $9 mmBTu. First three off shore discoveries will get a premium of $1 per mmBTu.
was now already disallowed under the sanctions imposed by uN/uS causing huge surplus/stock of the fruit in the country. under the sanctions, various banks in the country have stopped issuing e-forms to the exporters of fruit causing huge losses to them. The exporters have lost the opportunity to export around 3000 containers of mandarin orange [kinnow] and as a result there has been a revenue loss of at least $30 million. However, only 10,000 tonnes of the fruit have gone to Tehran via land routes, he added. Despite serious concerns shown by the association, he said, the issue remained unnoticed by the concerned authorities. The country exports about
that same fertiliser quantity required for a big tree was being given to a small tree as its (small tree) demand is much less than the quantity of the fertiliser compared to a big tree, which becomes responsible for the wastage of fertiliser. Dr Kingsley said that the goal of PSSP phase1 is to contribute to pro-poor economic growth and enhanced food security. He said main areas of research for his organisation are water management and irrigation macroeconomics, markets, trade, poverty reduction and social safety nets. He said that they were working on growth framework including increased productivity, quality governance, vibrant and competitive markets, quality of life and energetic youth. Dr David said PSSP, which is funded by united States Agency for international Development (uSAiD), seeks to create a more favourable environment for investment and enterprise growth, particularly in the agricultural sector. it is being implemented through close collaboration between iFPri, innovative Development Strategies (Pvt) Ltd. (iDS), and other collaborators, under the guidance of a high-level National Advisory Committee. He urged uAF scientists to put their research proposal and get the funding for the decent work that would bring prosperity in the country.
60,000 tonnes of kinnow annually to iran alone which is between 30 per cent and 40 per cent of its total global kinnow trade, sources pointed out. The indonesian market that the exporters were eying for as an alternative market after iran also remains untapped this season despite the expected implementation of the Pak-indonesia PTA. The PTA already signed at secretary level this year, as claimed by muhammad iqbal Tahir, Commercial attaché of Pakistan in Jakarta in a letter sent to PFVA, was scheduled to come into effect this month. The agreement was important in view of the loss of iranian market, as the exporters could export at least 45,000 tonnes of Kinnow to Jakarta with tariff concession. The PTA was signed at secretary level on October 16 in Jakarta and the zero rated duty regimes could be established after the signing procedure at ministerial level. So far, only 87,000 tonnes of kinnow against the expected 0.1 million tonnes have been exported by the mid of January 2012 with total revenue touching only $54 million. The overall export of the fruit is now hardly touching 0.2 million tonnes this year against the target of 0.3 million tonnes.
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Thursday, 26 January, 2012
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KCCI demands customs to make ‘help desk’ at chamber KARACHI
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GHULAM ABBAS
ArACHi Chamber of Commerce and industry urged the chief collector of customs (South) Amir muhammad Khan marwat to establish a help desk of customs at (KCCi) to facilitate our members and provide them with the required training. President KCCi mian Abrar Ahmad has requested to install a screen at Karachi Chamber for the convenience of members on WeBOC and depute designated officials to give training to members on WeBOC and filing the e-returns. mian Abrar also expressed deep concerns over extraordinary delays in the clearance of consignment in WeBOC system which was causing huge financial losses and misuse of power by concerned officials is spreading discontentment and harassment. He drew the attention of chief collector customs towards WeBOC issues and demanded to allow FiFO (First in First Out) system in WeBOC. He said the risk management system is not efficient in WeBOC; therefore all GDs are directly called for examination. CAre data must be transferred to WeBOC System and GDs should be cleared in reference to that data. At Port
Qasim the group system must be abolished, and GDs should be sent randomly, not to specific appraising officer and principal appraiser. He said WeBOC system does not allow shipping companies to file Vir in advance i.e. 72 hours prior to arrival of ship, and thus does not enable importers to pay duty in advance, but this facility was available in PACCS. in WeBOC AO calls documents twice. The response time for the WeBOC server is very slow, and thus requires an upgrade. He voiced for automation of database instead of manual clearance and that maximum examination should be of three days and thereafter, demur-
rages should be waived off. He also urged that the customs and ports may be de-notified and all the model customs collectorates should remain open on Saturday considering it as normal working day in order to facilitate the trade and industry and getting their consignments cleared for imports and exports. He also requested to withdraw the penalty of rs5,000 on the importer if the invoice is not found lying inside the container. Chief collector of customs (South) Amir muhammad Khan marwat announced the formation of WeBOC-KCCi committee to represent chamber on the issues pertain-
BoI doesn’t get green signal on sales tax proposal KARACHI: Board of investment (Boi) did not get a green signal from the concerned ministries over its proposal of zeroing the sales tax on the import of CNG/LPG buses. According to the minutes of the meeting of Cabinet Committee ON investment (CCOi) held on January 10th under the chairmanship of the prime minister after nine years, Boi did not get through over its proposal that the sales tax on the import of CNG/LNG buses may be subject to zero per cent. ministries of finance, commerce, and industries opposed the said proposal of Boi, while ministry of production endorsed the proposal. Chairman Federal Board of revenue (FBr) informed the committee that the government has introduced a well considered sales tax regime in march 2011, and sales tax is actually paid by the consumer not by the company, therefore, the policy for import of public transport should be non-discriminatory between petrol, diesel, and CNG fuels. Commerce minister stated that availability of CNG must be ensured before allowing any exemption for CNG buses, while ministry for petroleum informed that there is no CNG available and its price is likely to go up in the next few months, so there should be no discrimination on the basis of fuels. Secretary finance endorsed the view point of FBr. Finance minister stated that CCOi is a very big forum to consider a $9m project of import of CNG buses; therefore, a committee of two or three people may be formed to look into the proposal of sales tax exemption. resultantly, the Pm decided that a committee of secretary petroleum, secretary finance and chairman FBr should look into the proposal. Chairman Boi informed the committee that total 111 buses have been released, and they can be converted into LNG also. He said when the agreement was made there was no sales tax, and the sales tax was imposed in June 2011. He further informed that the subject summary was circulated to the ministries of finance, commerce, production, industries and FBr. WAQAR HAMZA
ing to WeBOC system and invited the name of four KCCi members to form the committee for future interaction on the WeBoc issue. Chief collector also agreed with the proposal of president KCCi and announced establishing of help desk at KCCi to resolve WeBOC related issues, he said that one representative of customs will be deputed tomorrow for resolving WeBOC mattes of KCCi members. He said the customs department is striving to make WeBOC more familiar with the stakeholders and customs officials are always available to resolve their problems related to the system. He said, “There are some difficulties but we are trying to resolve them, the department is doing its best to make this system state-ofthe-art in real terms.” He further said customs authorities have also agreed to eliminate all lengthy procedures to obtain user iD and password for WeBOC. moreover, he said the authority has also decided to make payment of duty and taxes as per valuation rulings mandatory for stakeholders and would penalise the good declarants and custom officials in case of its violation. regarding the two holidays in a week, mr marwat said that it is a federal government decision. The customs department is ready to work on Saturdays if it is notified by the government.
LCCI wants turnover tax rate reduction LAHORE STAFF REPORT
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AHOre Chamber of Commerce and industry has demanded Federal Board of revenue to bring down rate of turnover tax on the motorcycle dealers from the existing one per cent to 0.2 per cent. Demand was raised by LCCi president irfan Qaiser Sheikh after having a meeting with a five-member delegation of motorcycle Dealers Association comprising Sheikh Talib Nahid, Huyum Bhatti, Khawar Saeed, Sheikh Waheed Akhtar and mohammad munir. LCCi Senior Vice President Kashif Younis meher was also present in the meeting. irfan Qaiser Sheikh said there is no second opinion about the fact that motorcycle dealers’ demand for cut in the rate of turnover tax is justified as the margin of net profit in the context of turnover, ranges from 0.50 per cent to one per cent and normal tax on profit shall in any case be lesser than one per cent of the turnover but the motorcycle dealers are legally bound to pay one per cent tax of the turnover which is neither prudent nor sustainable.
Bourse loses 41 points ending bull-run KARACHI STAFF REPORT
CTiViTY at local bourse was confined to second and third tier stock yet again as the top four volume leaders represented 1/3rd of the total turnover. Portfolio rebalancing has cut short the bullish run as savvy locals continue to book profit. investors even overlooked the strong earnings as PPL succumbed to the selling pressure while other bellwether oil and gas sector stocks mirrored benchmark KSe-100 performance. The KSe 100 index closed at 11949.75 levels with the loss of 41.63 points, while KSe 30 index lost
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CORPORATE CORNER Faysal Bank brings China UnionPay to Pakistan SHANGHAI: Faysal Bank Limited recently signed an agreement with China unionPay for card issuance and acquiring in Pakistan . The signing ceremony took place in Shanghai and was attended by Naved A. Khan, President and CeO, Faysal Bank Limited and Cai Jianbo, First executive Vice President, unionPay. unionPay is one of the fastest growing payments technology companies in the world. its cards are accepted on 1.5 million ATms and 4.5 million POS terminals, in more than 126 countries. PRESS RELEASE
PTCL unveils its new ‘Life in Motion’ campaign ISLAMABAD: in a sustained effort to redefine telecommunication usage in Pakistan by bringing value to the lives of its customers, PTCL has tapped into the charisma of renowned Pakistani celebrity, reema Khan, in its newly launched ‘Life in motion’ strategic campaign. The telecom giant’s new ‘Life in motion’ campaign depicts scenes from the life of an enterprising celebrity who successfully navigates her busy schedule round the clock with the help of PTCL’s converged and innovative communications solutions. Whether it is plugging 3G eVO Dongle for connectivity while riding a car; or using eVO Wi-Fi Cloud to connect multiple devices simultaneously with internet at an outdoor shoot. PRESS RELEASE
Mobilink marks 2012 as the year of ‘Elevating Consumer Experience’ LAHORE: mobilink has marked 2012 as the year it will create a paradigm shift in Pakistan’s cellular environment by elevating consumer experience to a level that is unparalleled within the local industry. mobilink’s subscribers already have access to the best cellular service in Pakistan, as a result of the operator’s continuing investment in infrastructure and coverage footprint as well as focus on developing superior customer relationships. This was highlighted during a presentation made to the media by rashid Khan, President & CeO mobilink, where he spoke about the achievements of mobilink over the past year, and the cellular operator’s strategy for 2012. PRESS RELEASE
Thousands sign-up to make 2012 a year of change for Pakistan KARACHI: Thousands of Pakistanis from home and abroad have signed up to make 2012 a year of change for Pakistan by joining the nation’s fastest growing social movement, Azme Alishan. As 2011 became 2012, the campaign welcomed its 100,000th member via azmealishan.com. more than 30,000 people from all walks of life have signed Azme Alishan’s ‘pledge for Pakistan’ promising to be an ambassador for the “true face of the nation”, while a further 60,000 have joined the campaign via Facebook. Popular singer Abrar ul Haq, Ayeshah Alam, Amean J and Sarmad Tariq are among the long list of people who have shown their support for the campaign by signing the pledge. PRESS RELEASE
Muslim spelling bee 2012 contest launched in USA NEW YORK: TmA Worldwide, A Chicago based company launches the first ever muslim Spelling Bee contest in uSA. Participants will compete in 10 cities across the uSA to qualify for the finals in Chicago in may 2012. Chicago based entrepreneur Tausif malik and his wife Dr Asma rizvi, saw the need for a platform where muslim communities could connect in the uSA. The idea gave rise to a muslim Spelling Bee competition for children across the uSA and eventually from around the world. PRESS RELEASE
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49.28 points to close at 11132.12 levels. All Share index closed at 8279.89 levels after losing 26.73 points. Total 106 scrips advanced 136 declined and 93 remain unchanged out of total 335 scrips
traded. rumours of bonus along with the full year results fanned optimism in FFC whilst eNGrO closed in the red zone after significant advancement in last three sessions. Although external account remains
highly vulnerable, continued deceleration in inflation has ignited hopes of further rate cut. We reiterate our long view in select stocks with sound fundamentals, said Salman Vidhani, Senior Analyst at HmFS.
Qatar Airways exhibits at Bahrain Air Show 2012 the King of Bahrain, His Majesty Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, pictured right, with Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker on the sidelines of the 2012 Bahrain Air Show. PRESS RELEASE