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Saturday, 31 March, 2012
cOmment
Oil will remain a problem
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Negative list to be phased out by December 2012 g Deals begin to shape up amongst businessmen of Pakistan and India g
KARACHI
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GHULAM ABBAS
oR the first time in the over 60 years history of Indo-Pak relations, the businessmen on both sides have seriously started talks/deals after the expected phase out of negative list of trade by the end of this year. the traders, exporters and importers in the two South Asian neighbors have started making trade deals and future planning in various sectors in view of the opening of border for business by December 2012 as the government has announced to normalize bilateral trade. the concerned people from all those sectors which directly or indirectly are expected to be affected by the imports from the neighboring country, have also started taking measures aimed to save their sectors as the government and specially Ministry of Commerce decided to keep the list no more affective by the end of this year.
though the ministry has notified over 1200 items in the negative list on the request of various sectors but all the said items would be importable after the announced phase out timings. Despite the reservations of various industries including auto, pharmaceutical, rice and others, the cabinet has approved the summery forwarded by the ministry okaying the phase out plan. As the trade normalization process nears, the sources claimed that the exporters and importers on both sides of the birder have started interactions with their counter parts. Interestingly, the import of rice from India, where the product is comparatively cheaper, has already started via Azad Kashmir. According to sources, various companies of Monocycle manufacturers/assemblers have almost finalized planning to import parts from India, which would later be reassembled in the country as the Indian motorbikes were comparatively cheaper. Besides, the sources said, the Indian
motorbikes would have more verities and value addition as compared to the existing vehicles in the country. Apart from the giant motorbikes manufacturers like honda and Suzuki, the small groups and companies of the sector were likely to go for imports from the neighboring country. on the other hand, sources claimed, Nokia products, which were mainly assembled/manufactured inChina nad later imported to Pakistan would also do the same business from India. this way, they said, the Nokia cell phones would be cheaper by Rs 200 to Rs 300/ set as compared to the existing prices in the country. Interestingly, the rice exporters of the country who were against the trade normalization process have also reportedly changed their minds after the sudden hike in price of the product in international market. According to rice exporter the prices of the highly consumed commodity has jumped by 15 percent in international
markets despite of the lower price of Indian rice. the price of Basmati in local markets was also increased by 10 percent approximately. the exporters, who were fearful about the influx of Indian cheaper rice in the local market, were seen confident of its share in the international market after the jump in price. they, sources claimed, were now thinking of having trade links with the Indian rice exporters and importers. According an exporter, who did not want to be named, said that over 300 businessmen from various sectors were planned to visit New Delhi next month during the scheduled event of “life Style Pakistan’ where fruitful Business to Business meetings and trade talks were likely be held with their counters parts in India. According to sources almost 300 exhibitors have applied for Indian Visa while another 100 businessmen were also scheduled to attend the forthcoming important event in Delhi.
RENt crude is likely to remain bid in the international market for at least the foreseeable future, another fine example of how exogenous shocks can hold our fragile economy hostage at any stage. And considering our overwhelming reliance on imported fuel, consumers must brace for repeated price shocks across the board (oil being an essential input in far too many processes). Normally one would expect the post 18th amendment environment to feature provincial governments stepping in to provide subsidy, but seeing bloated deficits and shrinking revenue, not to mention disappointing incompetence in the wake of devolution of power, there’s little chance of prices not rising. Moving from what should be done to the more practical what can still be done, the government must at least heed ogra’s advice of posturing towards long term contracts. Apparently the regulatory authority is up to speed on reasons for oil’s abnormal bull run in the absence of justifying demand-supply dynamics. the reason is geopolitical uncertainty – Iran war, arab spring, revolutions in Africa’s commodity producers – that is near impossible to factor in using conventional risk management procedures. If we are to watch our interests, we must bypass unforeseen fluctuations and set long term prices. As geopolitical risk premium increases, so will futures contracts, so the sooner we get a handle on the price issue the better. It might just provide a little price stability in the non-energy market as well. At the risk of repetition, outside factors assume existential financial proportions only when deficits are swollen out of control. And that, more often than not, especially in economies like ours, reflects more a failure of the incumbent than just trying times. In the macro framework the oil phenomenon is only about as relevant as the PSE debate. All centre on, or encroach upon, the government’s fiscal elbow room. So long as its budget is not brought under control, the economy will remain exposed to price shocks, both external and homegrown.
IRSA settles water releases… for now g
Provincial discord likely if water inflows did not improve ISLAMABAD
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AMER SIAL
lthough the Advisory Committee of the Indus River System Authority (IRSA) on Friday amicably resolved the issue of water releases for the early Kharif period but with estimated water losses of 40 percent and overall shortage of 10 percent for the current season, the provincial discord on water releases is likely to intensify by the next meeting in late
May if the water inflows did not improve. An official source said that the Punjab raised objection over the estimated 40 percent losses for the season but the other provinces opposed it on the grounds that during low water inflow period the losses were on the higher side. It was pointed out that since the record of inflows and outflows was done manually there was less acceptability of the reliability of the figures. the revival of telemetry system was again stressed at the
meeting. Even Chairman IRSA Mazhar Ali Shah later talking to reporters accepted that telemetry system was required to mechanically access the data. he said that they were considering on reviving the telemetry system. the telemetry system was deployed at a cost of Rs 380 million in 2003-04 to counter the provincial disharmony over the water inflows but the system failed to take off due to number of reasons including providing of substandard equipment by the contractor and non installation of equipment on provincial borders due to law and order issues. About the
water availability for the season, he said, it was estimated at 63.88 million acre feet (MAF), out of which Punjab will be getting 31.65 MAF, Sindh 28.82 MAF, Balochistan 2.56 MAF and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 0.82 MAF. he said the shortage for the early Kharif period from April 1 to June 10 was estimated to be 20 percent but overall the water shortage is estimated to remain 10 percent during the whole season till September 30. According to the source, Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) representatives informed the meeting that the resettlement issues with the
Mangla dam affectees were resolved and the reservoirs would be filled to 1242 feet for this year. the previous maximum level of the reservoir was 1202 feet. they gave a green signal for normal water releases during the early Kharif period as the reservoir will filled to the brim in the monsoon season, July-August period. Representatives of the Met office informed the meeting that the water inflows will start turning normal from April 15 with the rise in temperatures and more water will be coming in the rivers as their catchment areas have received heavy snow during the last winter season.
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It’s all downhill from here… g
APtmA concerned over plummeting export over last two quarters LAHORE
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STAFF REPORT
ll Pakistan textile Mills Association (APtMA) Chairman Mohsin Aziz has expressed concern over continuing decline in exports since last two quarters of current fiscal. he said textile exports in quantity terms have dropped by over 30% in the month of February comparing with corresponding period. he said it was only first quarter of current fiscal year when textile exports showed steady growth which was due to the BMR in the previous year which had brought in hope of achieving $16 billion exports by the end of end of current fiscal. however, the latter two quarter results are quite dismal and exports are consecutively showing declining trend since october 2011 till date. Chairman APtMA said exports of cotton cloth, knitwear, bed wear and readymade garments are down on an average by 31%, 36%, 31% and 19% respectively in quantity terms since November and dreams of attaining $16 billion exports target in 2011-12 is unlikely to materialize by the end of fiscal year. on the contrary, the
exports of previous year which were $14 billion will also not be achieved and the year may end up with meagre $12 billion. It is only raw cotton exports registering growth, which unfortunately is agriculture crop with no value addition until being processed through value-added textile chain, he said. he said energy shortage was the prime
Halfway through a knee-jerk KARACHI
Phew… Punjab govt only owes Rs 3.1b to PEPCO PePcO representatives declare this as ‘satisfactory’ since Sindh owes a mammoth Rs 76.1b in electricity bills g
ISMAIL DILAWAR
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cause of decline in exports, as 40 per cent of production capacity of textile industry is dysfunctional due to short supply of electricity and gas. According to him, the textile industry based on independent and grouped feeders are facing serious setback due to load constraints and shut downs for four to eight hours a day. Resultantly, he said, textile industry has failed to produce export surplus and is not
likely to meet $16 billion exports and is likely to close the year at $12 billion exports. Even, the European union trade concessions will not bring in any desired results and effort would also go waste as we are not producing export surplus to be able to achieve new market access due to consecutive and frequent closures and shut down the mills are still facing financial losses out of proportion their abilities. the banking sector is reluctant to come up and extend helping hand and industry is now facing severe liquidity crunch. Also, he said, the textile industry in Punjab has witnessed 61 days gas closure since December 27 till date and the federal government has recently restored five days a week gas supply from March 26. But still the APtMA member mills are complaining about low pressure and much more is needed to be done to ensure uninterrupted gas supply to textile mills. irman APtMA said the warning regarding consecutive drop in exports and the health of textile sector is being taken up by APtMA at various forums. however, no is the time that the repair has to be made otherwise irreparable loss to properly assets, as mills will close down bringing exports to further decline.
hE country’s agrarian economy might be bracing for a fresh setback as the Sui Northern gas Pipelines limited (SNgPl) is going to discontinue gas supply to the Engro Fertilizer limited (EFl), a major urea producer in Pakistan. the SNgPl has informed the EFl, a 100 percent subsidiary of Engro Corporation, that the gas supply to it would be discontinued. Citing curtailed supplies from some of its gas fields the SNgPl announced that the fertilizer giant would get no gas for its new fertilizer plant. “As a consequence of curtailed supply from some gas fields due to sabotage activity and other reasons and in order to manage the demand-supply position they (SNgPl) are discontinuing gas supply to the new fertilizer plant of Engro Fertilizer,” Andalib Alavi, company secretary of Engro Corporation, on Friday shared with the company’s shareholders at country’s three stocks exchanges in Karachi, lahore and Islamabad. however, the market analysts see no knee-jerk impact on the prices of agriculture input, fertilizer, saying the current gas curtailment was of operational and shortterm nature. “(It) therefore has been implemented to manage the demand-supply position on the SNgPl network,” said hasan Raza, research analyst at InvestCap. “thus, we deem it once again a shortterm operational phenomenon that is expected to be restored soon,” added the analyst. Raza said no downward reversion in fertilizer prices was expected now because of the ongoing gas curtailment issues, as opposed to earlier expectations of downward price revision amid sufficient availability of urea in the market. the FFC and FFBl, the analyst said, would be the major beneficiaries due to continued supplies to their fertilizer plants. “there are no gas supply disruptions to their plants currently,” said Raza.
LAHORE
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STAFF REPORT
spokesman of finance department, Punjab has said that the position of outstanding electricity dues payable by Punjab government was reviewed in the meeting of the committee constituted by Federal government on recovery of electricity dues by Provinces held on 11.02.2012 in which the position of payment of outstanding electricity dues by Punjab government was viewed as “satisfactory” by representatives of PEPCo and Federal government. the spokesman said that after deducting the amount payable by PEPCo to Punjab government on account of Electricity Duty collected by it on behalf of Punjab government, the net payable
amount by Punjab government is only Rs.3.1 billion. on the other hand, the other provincial governments have a balance of PEPCo outstanding dues equivalent to Rs.76.1 billion including an amount of Rs.49.1 billion payable by government of Sindh whereas an amount of Rs.6.5 billion is payable by Federal government against its Departments/Ministries. he said that Punjab government is the first Provincial government which has authorized PEPCo and its distribution companies to disconnect electricity connections of government offices except hospitals, jails and important offices such as Provincial Assembly, governor Secretariat and Chief Minister Secretariat and this policy has been evolved to ensure timely payment of electricity dues by the government departments.
the new policy has helped further increase rate of payment of electricity dues by Punjab government departments. the policy was appreciated by the Ministry of Finance and other provincial governments have been directed to adopt the policy and issue similar instructions to their respective supply companies. the spokesman said that the government has provided sufficient resources to all its agencies/offices to be able to make payment of electricity dues in time. the allocation would enable the departments to make payment of all their reconciled electricity dues by the close of the current financial year. the spokesman said that the viewpoint of governor, Punjab regarding the role of Punjab government in circular debt is not based on facts.
PIAF talks about petroleum prices, final nails and coffins LAHORE STAFF REPORT
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AKIStAN Industrial & traders Association Front (PIAF) has outrightly rejected the proposed massive increase in the petroleum prices and said that any such move would prove last nail in the coffin. PIAF, in its Executive Committee meeting on thursday, warned the government that any further increase in Pol prices would dent the government reputation badly that is already on stake due to awaful energy crisis. Chairman PIAf Sohail lashari presided over the meeting while the lCCI president Irfan Qaiser Sheikh, lCCI former president Mian Anjum Nisar, PIAF Vice Chairman Junaid Iqbal Sheikh and PIAF EC members were present on the occasion. Speaking on the occasion, Chairman PIAF Engr. Sohail lashari said that petroleum prices were already at the highest level and any further increase would prove the last straw that breaks the camel’s back. he said that the government should cut the number of taxes on petroleum products as the fuel is the engine of growth. If the fuel would be heavily taxed the entire economy would suffer and the same happened in Pakistan as the repeated increases in the Pol prices had ruined the industrial and economic activities. he said that only because of high cost of doing business in Pakistan, a large number of industrial units had already shifted their operations to other countries and decision of further increase would force more industrialists to follow the suit who were already discouraged due to acute electricity shortage. Engr. Sohail lashari said that the entire industrial sector was already facing multiple internal and external challenges and any new increase in Pol prices would further aggravate the economic situation. he said that Pakistan agriculture sector was engine of growth. the increase in petroleum prices would increase the input cost of agriculture production as high speed diesel is being used in tractors, tube-wells, harvesters, thrashers and other agriculture machinery. he said that the cost of thermal generation by private sector to go up. he said that not only the transportation cost of goods would multiply but fares of public transport would also increase manifold. he said that government is producing huge amount of electricity through thermal means and after increase in petroleum prices, prices of electricity would touch new highs. he urgd the Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza gillani to reject the proposed increase in the Pol prices otherwise anger of people would go up and they would be compelled to take to the streets. Meanwhile, PIAF Chairman urged the lCCI members to get their membership renewed by the March 31st.
Failing to cement prices g
cement prices to further increase by Rs 10-15 on increasing demand KARACH
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STAFF REPORT
hEREAS the manufacturers have increase cement prices by Rs 10 per bag, the market analysts foresee another hike of Rs 10 to Rs 15 on account of increased demand in the months ahead. Much ahead of the increasing cement demand during summer season, cement manufacturers have raised cement prices by average Rs200 per ton.
the market observers, however, believe that the prices would further go up by another 10-15 rupees due to significant increase in the cement demand on the local market front during April-Jun period. During FY12, cement prices have followed an upward trajectory and posted an increase of 9 percent FYtD (Jul-11 to date) to Rs 425 per bag, said the analysts at InvestCap. “We have taken average at Rs 406 in our financial models for the companies we follow,” said Yawar uz Zaman.
According to the InvestCap analyst, while local cement demand, during Jul-Feb12, stood at 7.4 percent YoY, it was expected to swell from Mar-12 onwards to settle at above 8 percent. “thus, rising cement prices with improved dispatches will only fuel companies’ bottomlines further in FY12,” said Yawar. the expected hike in cement prices would have a major impact on FCCl’s earnings and tP because of its high operating as well as financial leverage (the company’s P&l is facing huge depreciation as well as financial charges
amid commissioning of new plant of 7,200tons/day in 1hFY12) while luCK’s financial leverage is on the decline amid repayment of its long-term loans. As far as DgKC is concerned, while financial leverage is also high but company’s huge other income helps normalize impact on its bottomline. therefore, our sensitivity analysis suggests a massive surge in FCCl’s expected bottomline for year FY12 and its target price given a price increase of Rs20/bag (see table alongside). on the other hand, DgKC and luCK’s earnings are expected to climb by 21.2 percent and 21.5 percent with their target prices going up by 0.9 percent and 3.1 percent,
respectively. As discussed earlier, Yawar said cement demand in the domestic market is already up 7.4 percent YoY during last 8MFY12 while demand in the local market is expected to have shown further improvement in Mar-12 where dispatches are expected to clock in at 2.4 million tons (24 percent MoM, 8 percent YoY). At the same time, demand from exports front is also expected to move around 0.68 million (20 percent MoM, 17 percent YoY) during Mar-12. As such, improvement in total dispatches along with the presence of healthy cement prices, cement sector is expected to post another eye-catching quarter. With the cement sector stocks trading at attractive multiples, we expect the out-performance to continue to extend as another result season i.e. 3QFY12 sets in.
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news
case against LccI president is baseless: cm adviser LAHORE STAFF REPORT
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DVISoR to Chief Minister on trade and former lCCI President Mohammad Ali Mian Friday took a strong exception to registration of case against lCCI President Irfan Qaiser Sheikh and former KCCI President Qaiser Ahmad Sheikh on baseless grounds of road-blocking/holding of public gathering on the occasion of Pakistan National Day and urged the Inspector general of Police to withdraw the case. In a statement issued here, the Advisor to the Chief Minister said that the lCCI President Irfan Qaiser Sheikh and former KCCI President Qaiser Ahmad Sheikh were eminent businessmen having repute in both public and private sectors and regularly organize such function on Pakistan National Day in Chiniot. he said that this year also the held such a function with the prior information to the concerned quarters there the registration of case against them is beyond the understanding of the business community.
Bulls on parade Pakistan equity market delivers six-year best, index foreseen to cross 14,000 points level KARACHI
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ISMAIL DILAWAR
hoWINg what the market observers called it “a sterling” performance during the first quarter of FY12, the benchmark index at Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) is predicted to cross the 14,000 level by the end of current fiscal year. the analysts cite the federal finance minister’s January 21st acceptance of the SECP’s Cgt-related reforms proposals as a primary attributive, as the KSE100-share index gained 2,414 points (21 percent) during the review period, July-September FY12, “Despite the challenging security environment, prevalent energy crisis and structural weakness bearing on the economic conditions, the country’s equities have depicted a sterling performance,” said Mohammed Sohail, chief executive of topline Securities. the float-based KSE30 also rallied by 19 percent, 18 percent in dollar terms, while MSCI Pakistan posted a handsome gain of 17 percent. the market capitalization also
inched up 19 percent during the said quarter to reach $ 39 billion, or Rs 3.5 trillion. “the 21 percent gain in 1Q2012 was the highest return after 9quarters,” said Sohail terming this as highest 1Q gains since 2006. “KSE Index will reach 14,300 points in 2012,” forecasted the analyst. A rejuvenated interest, particularly from retail investors, has also added the much-needed depth to the market with average trading value increasing to 196 million shares or Rs 4.7 billion, $ 52 million. “In terms of shares last quarter volume has occurred after 14 quarters and in terms of value after 3 quarters,” he said. Sohail said the finance minister’s acceptance of SECP’s proposals had reignited the investors, particularly the individual ones who were sidelined after the imposition of Cgt and its cumbersome calculation methodology as most of gains generated in last 36 years was not properly declared. “Now investors hope that tons of money would come back to the stock market once the
Presidential order is issued,” the analyst said. Moreover, he said, dividends payouts by listed companies were also better than expected which helped market to recover. lastly, the analyst said, as of 29 March foreign fund managers turned net buyers after a gap of three quarters. “they bought shares worth $189 million and sold $164 million resulting in net buying of $25 million.” the performance of Pakistan market in the outgoing quarter was far better then its regional peers. As of March 29, MSCI Pakistan gain of 17 percent was better than MSCI Asian EM and MSCI FM Asian that posted an improvement of 12 percent and 8 percent, respectively. Similarly, amongst the Asian FM markets as defined by MSCI, Pakistan remained Number 2 after Vietnam. Cgt reforms, better than anticipated foreign flows and improved earnings projections, he underlined, as some key developments that would drive the index forward this year. the index is currently trading at PE of 6.3x, while offering a dividend yield of 8 percent.
Major Gainers Company
Open
High
Low
Close
Change
Turnover
Nestle PakXD Bata (Pak) Ltd. UniLever Pak LtdXD Attock PetroleumXD Sapphire Fiber
4399.95 573.90 5588.54 446.11 116.30
4495.00 587.50 5625.00 455.00 122.11
4179.96 570.00 5601.00 447.00 122.11
4447.00 587.03 5601.00 453.25 122.11
47.05 670 13.13 142 12.46 11 7.14 53,160 5.81 5
Major Losers National Refinery Unilever Food XD Shahtaj Sugar Mills Pak.Int.ContXD SD Atlas Battery Ltd.
251.01 1814.27 64.99 137.01 194.79
254.80 1820.00 67.76 139.99 194.99
245.00 1750.00 62.00 135.00 192.30
247.40 1811.25 62.17 135.00 192.98
4.92 3.15 10.90 22.15 4.75
4.48 2.75 9.15 20.65 4.10
4.82 2.98 9.21 21.76 4.64
-3.61 81,111 -3.02 40 -2.82 647 -2.01 7,947 -1.81 2,810
Volume Leaders Lafarge Pakistan NIB Bank Limited B.O.Punjab Jah.Sidd. Co. TRG Pakistan Ltd.
4.38 2.73 10.15 21.35 4.11
0.44 54,063,147 0.25 49,022,536 -0.94 27,413,713 0.41 26,771,720 0.53 24,872,440
Interbank Rates uS Dollar uK Pound Japanese Yen Euro
90.6516 144.8612 1.1036 120.9020
Dollar East US Dollar Euro Great Britain Pound Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar Hong Kong Dollar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal Australian Dollar
Buy
Sell
90.50 120.06 143.97 1.0883 89.85 11.50 24.56 24.04 92.99
91.10 121.75 145.93 1.1028 91.56 11.73 24.87 24.36 95.70
CORPORATE CORNER Bank AL Habib declares 25pc cash dividend, 15pc bonus shares KARACHI: the Annual general Meeting of Bank Al habib was held at its Registered office in Multan on March 28, 2012. the shareholders approved the Annual Accounts for the year ended December 31, 2011. the payment of 25% Cash Dividend (Final) and the issue of 15% Bonus Shares was also approved. Deposits of the Bank as on December 31, 2011 were Rs. 302.099 Billion and Profit after tax was Rs. 4.533 Billion.
PKR 410 million in 2011. PRESS RELEASE
Governor Punjab inaugurates 2nd IcoBm 2012 at Umt
Jawad Amin Khan appointed coordinator to president AJK MIRPUR: the president of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Sardar Muhammad Yaqoob Khan , has appointed Jawad Amin Khan, the managing director of ZAFA group as his coordinator for business community. this appointment was made on Monday, March 19, 2012 vide presidential notification no. 796-72/2012 . this honorary position has been bestowed upon him for ‘his valuable contributions to the Kashmiri community living in Karachi.” Mr. Jawad Amin Khan, apart from being the head of one of the largest and most prestigious pharmaceutical companies of Pakistan, is an eminent professional and industrialist who has been representing Pakistan and the business community at various forums. his contributions to the development of business in general and pharmaceutical industry in Pakistan in particular are well known and it is expected that he will help in making valuable contribution in his new role. PRESS RELEASE
total Operating Income of Al Baraka Bank Pakistan Rises by 177% in 2011 KARACHI: Al Baraka Bank Pakistan, a subsidiary banking unit of Al Baraka Banking group B.S.C. (ABg), announced a remarkable increase of 177% in total operating income in year 2011. Shareholders equity enhanced by 6.6%, total assets also increased by 19%, total customer deposits including IAh by 24.8% and financing and investments by 28% at the end of 2011. the year 2011 was another difficult year for the Pakistani economy. however, the Bank's financial statements for year 2011 show that the total operating income went up by 177% to reach PKR 2.2 billion. After deducting operating expenses, which increased by less than 21%, net income showed a record increase of 140% and touched
LAHORE: the second International Conference on Business Management (ICoBM) 2012 organized by the university of Management and technology (uMt), at its purpose-built campus, concluded after two days of deliberations and presentations by 150 speakers and 1000 delegates from government, academia, and corporate world. the event was attended by a large number of dignitaries, educationists, intellectuals, business executives, government representatives, and public policy makers, representatives of the corporate world and students of business schools. Addressing the concluding ceremony, Mohammedmian Soomro, Former Chairman Senate of Pakistan, said that the whole essence of this endeavor is to disseminate and underscore the importance of knowledge, decision-making and costeffectiveness in business. he said that basically, anywhere and everywhere, management is about managing people and resources. he advised all those present to be analytical and critical in their approach. he said that we live in changing times and the importance of research in this context assumes great importance. on a special note, he added that women are a great resource and we must work towards economic emancipation of women. he said that we must also focus on conservation of resources. PRESS RELEASE
Germany on the road LAHORE: the german Embassy, in cooperation with the Pakistan german Business Forum (PgBF) and german-linked companies and
institutions active in Pakistan held a unique exhibition titled “germany on the Road” at Buch Executive Villas, Multan. “germany on the Road” has been designed to present the multitude of linkages between germany and Pakistan by giving german companies, germany-linked companies and german institutions the opportunity to display their activities in Pakistan in a concise and vivid manner. During the exhibition up-to-date information about germany as well as appealing give-aways were handed out and a buffet dinner was offered. the event was sponsored by BASF Pakistan., CEI logistics, EXCEl group/PrintSol, gWE german Water & Energy, KSB Pumps, Küppersbusch/teka Pakistan, MAN Diesel Pakistan, MEtRo Cash & Carry Pakistan, Nordex SE germany, SAAS Synergie/Alno and SAP Pakistan. these companies as well as german institutions in Pakistan presented their activities with attractive stalls during the event. this exhibition had earlier been displayed in lahore and Sialkot. STAFF REPORT
ecc allows PASScO to off-load wheat stocks LAHORE: Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet has allowed the Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (PASSCo) to off-load it wheat stock of 0.450 million tons to private sector. the ECC during its recent meeting held on March 13 decided that PASSCo would contract with interested parties against security money at the rate of one per cent of total cost of contracted quantity. According to PASSCo, disposal of wheat was underway and 0.137 million tons of wheat had been lifted till thursday, while the remaining quantity would be disposed-off by April 15 to create fresh storage space for procurement of new crop that would start from mid-April. STAFF REPORT
spirit of colonization of Sundar Industrial Estate and as suggested by worthy industrialists. PIEDMC management has announced a new policy named “Exit Policy-2012”. this policy holds in abeyance, for one year, earlier customers/allottees were not allowed to sell or transfer their plot until 3 months of production/Sale Deed. STAFF REPORT
Ufone celebrates Faisalabad FAISALABAD: ufone arranged for fun filled three day fiesta to celebrate Faisalabad and the success of the city. the attractive event boasted of 100 different stalls which were set up by the local industry. the festival was open to the general public so that they could witness the diversity of the industries in Faisalabad which are a source of pride for the entire nation. ‘Celebrating Faisalabad City’ was a family festival which gave the local entrepreneurs an opportunity to display, sell and interact directly with customers while giving visitors an opportunity to shop, enjoy food and have fun all under one roof. there were also live performances including stand-up comedy and the kid’s area boasted of a jumping castle, stuff toys, slides and other various sources of entertainment for the children. PRESS RELEASE
Punjab Industrial estate’s exit policy LAHORE: the Board of Directors Punjab Industrial Estates has approved an Exit Policy for those allottees of the Sundar Industrial Estate to transfer their plots in a year time, who did not enter into process of industrialization. this Policy has been adopted in line with the vision of Chief Minister Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif to make the Province as an Industrial hub in the Country. this was stated by SM tanveer Chairman Punjab Industrial Estates in a statement released here yesterday. he said this policy would help accelerate the Province of colonization in Sundar Industrial Estate. the PIE spokesman says that in
PESHAWAR: Mr Bilal Mustafa Managing Director The Bank of Khyber (BOK) & Chairman 21st BOK AGM speaking at Bank’s Annual General Meeting at BOK Head Office Peshawar. Mr Muhammad Asif Member BOK Board of Directors and Senior Officer, Finance Department Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are also present on the occasion. PRESS RELEASE