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It’s all downhill fromhere… Page 2

Saturday, 31 March, 2012

BRENt crude is likely toremain bid in theinternational market for at

least the foreseeable future,another fine example of howexogenous shocks can hold ourfragile economy hostage at anystage. And considering ouroverwhelming reliance onimported fuel, consumers mustbrace for repeated price shocksacross the board (oil being anessential input in far too manyprocesses). Normally one wouldexpect the post 18th amendmentenvironment to feature provincialgovernments stepping in to providesubsidy, but seeing bloated deficitsand shrinking revenue, not tomention disappointingincompetence in the wake ofdevolution of power, there’s littlechance of prices not rising.Moving from what should be doneto the more practical what can stillbe done, the government must atleast heed ogra’s advice ofposturing towards long termcontracts. Apparently theregulatory authority is up to speedon reasons for oil’s abnormal bullrun in the absence of justifyingdemand-supply dynamics. thereason is geopolitical uncertainty –Iran war, arab spring, revolutionsin Africa’s commodity producers –that is near impossible to factor inusing conventional riskmanagement procedures. If we areto watch our interests, we must by-pass unforeseen fluctuations andset long term prices. As geopoliticalrisk premium increases, so willfutures contracts, so the sooner weget a handle on the price issue thebetter. It might just provide a littleprice stability in the non-energymarket as well. At the risk of repetition, outsidefactors assume existential financialproportions only when deficits areswollen out of control. And that,more often than not, especially ineconomies like ours, reflects more afailure of the incumbent than justtrying times. In the macroframework the oil phenomenon isonly about as relevant as the PSEdebate. All centre on, or encroachupon, the government’s fiscal elbowroom. So long as its budget is notbrought under control, the economywill remain exposed to price shocks,both external and homegrown.

cOmment

Oil will remaina problem

KARACHI

GHULAM ABBAS

FoR the first time in the over 60years history of Indo-Pakrelations, the businessmen onboth sides have seriously

started talks/deals after the expectedphase out of negative list of trade by theend of this year.the traders, exporters and importers inthe two South Asian neighbors havestarted making trade deals and futureplanning in various sectors in view ofthe opening of border for business byDecember 2012 as the government hasannounced to normalize bilateral trade.the concerned people from all thosesectors which directly or indirectly areexpected to be affected by the importsfrom the neighboring country, have alsostarted taking measures aimed to savetheir sectors as the government andspecially Ministry of Commerce decidedto keep the list no more affective by theend of this year.

though the ministry has notified over1200 items in the negative list on therequest of various sectors but all thesaid items would be importable after theannounced phase out timings. Despitethe reservations of various industriesincluding auto, pharmaceutical, rice andothers, the cabinet has approved thesummery forwarded by the ministryokaying the phase out plan.As the trade normalization processnears, the sources claimed that theexporters and importers on both sidesof the birder have started interactionswith their counter parts. Interestingly,the import of rice from India, where theproduct is comparatively cheaper, hasalready started via Azad Kashmir.According to sources, variouscompanies of Monocyclemanufacturers/assemblers have almostfinalized planning to import parts fromIndia, which would later be reassembledin the country as the Indian motorbikeswere comparatively cheaper.Besides, the sources said, the Indian

motorbikes would have more veritiesand value addition as compared to theexisting vehicles in the country. Apartfrom the giant motorbikesmanufacturers like honda and Suzuki,the small groups and companies of thesector were likely to go for imports fromthe neighboring country.on the other hand, sources claimed,Nokia products, which were mainlyassembled/manufactured inChinanad later imported to Pakistan wouldalso do the same business from India.this way, they said, the Nokia cellphones would be cheaper by Rs 200to Rs 300/ set as compared to theexisting prices in the country.Interestingly, the rice exporters ofthe country who were against thetrade normalization process have alsoreportedly changed their minds afterthe sudden hike in price of theproduct in international market.According to rice exporter the prices ofthe highly consumed commodity hasjumped by 15 percent in international

markets despite of the lower price ofIndian rice. the price of Basmati inlocal markets was also increased by 10percent approximately.the exporters, who were fearful aboutthe influx of Indian cheaper rice in thelocal market, were seen confident of itsshare in the international market afterthe jump in price. they, sourcesclaimed, were now thinking of havingtrade links with the Indian riceexporters and importers.According an exporter, who did notwant to be named, said that over 300businessmen from various sectors wereplanned to visit New Delhi next monthduring the scheduled event of “lifeStyle Pakistan’ where fruitful Businessto Business meetings and trade talkswere likely be held with their countersparts in India.According to sources almost 300exhibitors have applied for Indian Visawhile another 100 businessmen werealso scheduled to attend theforthcoming important event in Delhi.

ISLAMABAD

AMER SIAL

Although the AdvisoryCommittee of the IndusRiver System Authority(IRSA) on Friday amicably

resolved the issue of water releases forthe early Kharif period but withestimated water losses of 40 percentand overall shortage of 10 percent forthe current season, the provincialdiscord on water releases is likely tointensify by the next meeting in late

May if the water inflows did notimprove. An official source said that the Punjabraised objection over the estimated 40percent losses for the season but theother provinces opposed it on thegrounds that during low water inflowperiod the losses were on the higherside. It was pointed out that since therecord of inflows and outflows wasdone manually there was lessacceptability of the reliability of thefigures. the revival of telemetrysystem was again stressed at the

meeting. Even Chairman IRSA MazharAli Shah later talking to reportersaccepted that telemetry system wasrequired to mechanically access thedata. he said that they wereconsidering on reviving the telemetrysystem. the telemetry system wasdeployed at a cost of Rs 380 million in2003-04 to counter the provincialdisharmony over the water inflows butthe system failed to take off due tonumber of reasons including providingof substandard equipment by thecontractor and non installation ofequipment on provincial borders dueto law and order issues. About the

water availability for the season, hesaid, it was estimated at 63.88 millionacre feet (MAF), out of which Punjabwill be getting 31.65 MAF, Sindh 28.82MAF, Balochistan 2.56 MAF andKhyber Pakhtunkhwa 0.82 MAF. hesaid the shortage for the early Kharifperiod from April 1 to June 10 wasestimated to be 20 percent but overallthe water shortage is estimated toremain 10 percent during the wholeseason till September 30. According tothe source, Water and PowerDevelopment Authority (WAPDA)representatives informed the meetingthat the resettlement issues with the

Mangla dam affectees were resolvedand the reservoirs would be filled to1242 feet for this year. the previousmaximum level of the reservoir was1202 feet. they gave a green signal fornormal water releases during the earlyKharif period as the reservoir will filledto the brim in the monsoon season,July-August period. Representatives ofthe Met office informed the meetingthat the water inflows will start turningnormal from April 15 with the rise intemperatures and more water will becoming in the rivers as their catchmentareas have received heavy snow duringthe last winter season.

IRSA settles water releases… for nowg Provincial discord likely if water inflows did not improve

g Negative list to bephased out byDecember 2012 g Dealsbegin to shape upamongst businessmenof Pakistan and India

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news02Saturday, 31 March, 2012

KARACH

STAFF REPORT

WhEREAS themanufacturers haveincrease cement prices byRs 10 per bag, the market

analysts foresee another hike of Rs 10 toRs 15 on account of increased demand inthe months ahead.Much ahead of the increasing cementdemand during summer season, cementmanufacturers have raised cement pricesby average Rs200 per ton.

the market observers, however, believethat the prices would further go up byanother 10-15 rupees due to significantincrease in the cement demand on thelocal market front during April-Junperiod.During FY12, cement prices havefollowed an upward trajectory andposted an increase of 9 percent FYtD(Jul-11 to date) to Rs 425 per bag, saidthe analysts at InvestCap.“We have taken average at Rs 406 in ourfinancial models for the companies wefollow,” said Yawar uz Zaman.

According to the InvestCap analyst, whilelocal cement demand, during Jul-Feb12,stood at 7.4 percent YoY, it was expectedto swell from Mar-12 onwards to settle atabove 8 percent. “thus, rising cementprices with improved dispatches will onlyfuel companies’ bottomlines further inFY12,” said Yawar.the expected hike in cement priceswould have a major impact on FCCl’searnings and tP because of its highoperating as well as financial leverage(the company’s P&l is facing hugedepreciation as well as financial charges

amid commissioning of new plant of7,200tons/day in 1hFY12) while luCK’sfinancial leverage is on the decline amidrepayment of its long-term loans.As far as DgKC is concerned, whilefinancial leverage is also high butcompany’s huge other income helpsnormalize impact on its bottomline.therefore, our sensitivity analysissuggests a massive surge in FCCl’sexpected bottomline for year FY12 andits target price given a price increase ofRs20/bag (see table alongside). on theother hand, DgKC and luCK’s earningsare expected to climb by 21.2 percent and21.5 percent with their target pricesgoing up by 0.9 percent and 3.1 percent,

respectively.As discussed earlier, Yawar said cementdemand in the domestic market isalready up 7.4 percent YoY during last8MFY12 while demand in the localmarket is expected to have shown furtherimprovement in Mar-12 wheredispatches are expected to clock in at 2.4million tons (24 percent MoM, 8 percentYoY). At the same time, demand fromexports front is also expected to movearound 0.68 million (20 percent MoM, -17 percent YoY) during Mar-12.As such, improvement in totaldispatches along with the presence ofhealthy cement prices, cement sector isexpected to post another eye-catchingquarter. With the cement sector stockstrading at attractive multiples, weexpect the out-performance to continueto extend as another result season i.e.3QFY12 sets in.

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

All Pakistan textile MillsAssociation (APtMA)Chairman Mohsin Aziz hasexpressed concern over

continuing decline in exports since lasttwo quarters of current fiscal.he said textile exports in quantityterms have dropped by over 30% in themonth of February comparing withcorresponding period.he said it was only first quarter ofcurrent fiscal year when textileexports showed steady growth whichwas due to the BMR in the previousyear which had brought in hope ofachieving $16 billion exports by theend of end of current fiscal. however,the latter two quarter results are quitedismal and exports are consecutivelyshowing declining trend since october2011 till date.Chairman APtMA said exports ofcotton cloth, knitwear, bed wear andreadymade garments are down on anaverage by 31%, 36%, 31% and 19%respectively in quantity terms sinceNovember and dreams of attaining $16billion exports target in 2011-12 isunlikely to materialize by the end offiscal year. on the contrary, the

exports of previous year which were$14 billion will also not be achievedand the year may end up with meagre$12 billion.It is only raw cotton exportsregistering growth, whichunfortunately is agriculture crop withno value addition until beingprocessed through value-added textilechain, he said.he said energy shortage was the prime

cause of decline in exports, as 40 percent of production capacity of textileindustry is dysfunctional due to shortsupply of electricity and gas.According to him, the textile industrybased on independent and groupedfeeders are facing serious setback dueto load constraints and shut downs forfour to eight hours a day. Resultantly,he said, textile industry has failed toproduce export surplus and is not

likely to meet $16 billion exports andis likely to close the year at $12 billionexports. Even, the European uniontrade concessions will not bring in anydesired results and effort would alsogo waste as we are not producingexport surplus to be able to achievenew market access due to consecutiveand frequent closures and shut downthe mills are still facing financial lossesout of proportion their abilities. thebanking sector is reluctant to come upand extend helping hand and industryis now facing severe liquidity crunch.Also, he said, the textile industry inPunjab has witnessed 61 days gasclosure since December 27 till dateand the federal government hasrecently restored five days a week gassupply from March 26. But still theAPtMA member mills arecomplaining about low pressure andmuch more is needed to be done toensure uninterrupted gas supply totextile mills. irman APtMA said thewarning regarding consecutive dropin exports and the health of textilesector is being taken up by APtMA atvarious forums. however, no is thetime that the repair has to be madeotherwise irreparable loss to properlyassets, as mills will close downbringing exports to further decline.

It’s all downhill from here… PIAF talks about petroleumprices, finalnails and coffins

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

PAKIStAN Industrial & tradersAssociation Front (PIAF) hasoutrightly rejected the proposed

massive increase in the petroleum pricesand said that any such move would provelast nail in the coffin.PIAF, in its Executive Committee meetingon thursday, warned the government thatany further increase in Pol prices woulddent the government reputation badly thatis already on stake due to awaful energycrisis.Chairman PIAf Sohail lashari presided overthe meeting while the lCCI president IrfanQaiser Sheikh, lCCI former president MianAnjum Nisar, PIAF Vice Chairman JunaidIqbal Sheikh and PIAF EC members werepresent on the occasion.Speaking on the occasion, Chairman PIAFEngr. Sohail lashari said that petroleumprices were already at the highest level andany further increase would prove the laststraw that breaks the camel’s back.he said that the government should cut thenumber of taxes on petroleum products asthe fuel is the engine of growth. If the fuelwould be heavily taxed the entire economywould suffer and the same happened inPakistan as the repeated increases in thePol prices had ruined the industrial andeconomic activities.he said that only because of high cost ofdoing business in Pakistan, a large numberof industrial units had already shifted theiroperations to other countries and decisionof further increase would force moreindustrialists to follow the suit who werealready discouraged due to acute electricityshortage.Engr. Sohail lashari said that the entireindustrial sector was already facingmultiple internal and external challengesand any new increase in Pol prices wouldfurther aggravate the economic situation.he said that Pakistan agriculture sector wasengine of growth. the increase in petroleumprices would increase the input cost ofagriculture production as high speed dieselis being used in tractors, tube-wells,harvesters, thrashers and other agriculturemachinery. he said that the cost of thermalgeneration by private sector to go up. hesaid that not only the transportation cost ofgoods would multiply but fares of publictransport would also increase manifold.he said that government is producing hugeamount of electricity through thermalmeans and after increase in petroleumprices, prices of electricity would touch newhighs.he urgd the Prime Minister Syed YousafRaza gillani to reject the proposed increasein the Pol prices otherwise anger of peoplewould go up and they would be compelledto take to the streets.Meanwhile, PIAF Chairman urged the lCCImembers to get their membership renewedby the March 31st.

g APtmA concerned over plummeting export over last two quarters

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

Aspokesman of financedepartment, Punjabhas said that theposition of

outstanding electricity duespayable by Punjab governmentwas reviewed in the meeting ofthe committee constituted byFederal government onrecovery of electricity dues byProvinces held on 11.02.2012 inwhich the position of paymentof outstanding electricity duesby Punjab government wasviewed as “satisfactory” byrepresentatives of PEPCo andFederal government. thespokesman said that afterdeducting the amount payableby PEPCo to Punjabgovernment on account ofElectricity Duty collected by iton behalf of Punjabgovernment, the net payable

amount by Punjab governmentis only Rs.3.1 billion. on theother hand, the otherprovincial governments have abalance of PEPCo outstandingdues equivalent to Rs.76.1billion including an amount ofRs.49.1 billion payable bygovernment of Sindh whereasan amount of Rs.6.5 billion ispayable by Federalgovernment against itsDepartments/Ministries. hesaid that Punjab government isthe first Provincial governmentwhich has authorized PEPCoand its distribution companiesto disconnect electricityconnections of governmentoffices except hospitals, jailsand important offices such asProvincial Assembly, governorSecretariat and Chief MinisterSecretariat and this policy hasbeen evolved to ensure timelypayment of electricity dues bythe government departments.

the new policy has helpedfurther increase rate ofpayment of electricity dues byPunjab governmentdepartments. the policy wasappreciated by the Ministry ofFinance and other provincialgovernments have beendirected to adopt the policyand issue similar instructionsto their respective supplycompanies. the spokesmansaid that the government hasprovided sufficient resourcesto all its agencies/offices to beable to make payment ofelectricity dues in time. theallocation would enable thedepartments to make paymentof all their reconciledelectricity dues by the close ofthe current financial year. thespokesman said that theviewpoint of governor, Punjabregarding the role of Punjabgovernment in circular debt isnot based on facts.

Failing to cement pricesg cement prices to further increase by Rs 10-15 on increasing demand

KARACHI

ISMAIL DILAWAR

thE country’s agrarian economy might be bracing for a freshsetback 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 hasinformed the EFl, a 100 percent subsidiary of Engro Corporation,that the gas supply to it would be discontinued. Citing curtailedsupplies from some of its gas fields the SNgPl announced that thefertilizer giant would get no gas for its new fertilizer plant. “As aconsequence of curtailed supply from some gas fields due tosabotage activity and other reasons and in order to manage thedemand-supply position they (SNgPl) are discontinuing gas supplyto the new fertilizer plant of Engro Fertilizer,” Andalib Alavi,company secretary of Engro Corporation, on Friday shared with thecompany’s shareholders at country’s three stocks exchanges inKarachi, lahore and Islamabad. however, the market analysts seeno knee-jerk impact on the prices of agriculture input, fertilizer,saying the current gas curtailment was of operational and short-term nature. “(It) therefore has been implemented to manage thedemand-supply position on the SNgPl network,” said hasan Raza,research analyst at InvestCap. “thus, we deem it once again a short-term operational phenomenon that is expected to be restored soon,”added the analyst. Raza said no downward reversion in fertilizerprices was expected now because of the ongoing gas curtailmentissues, as opposed to earlier expectations of downward pricerevision amid sufficient availability of urea in the market. the FFCand FFBl, the analyst said, would be the major beneficiaries due tocontinued supplies to their fertilizer plants. “there are no gas supplydisruptions to their plants currently,” said Raza.

Phew… Punjab govt onlyowes Rs 3.1b to PEPCO

Halfway through a knee-jerk

g PePcO representatives declare this as ‘satisfactory’ since Sindh owesa mammoth Rs 76.1b in electricity bills

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news

Saturday, 31 March, 2012

03

Bank AL Habib declares 25pc cashdividend, 15pc bonus sharesKARACHI: the Annual general Meeting of BankAl habib was held at its Registered office inMultan on March 28, 2012. the shareholdersapproved the Annual Accounts for the year endedDecember 31, 2011. the payment of 25% CashDividend (Final) and the issue of 15% BonusShares was also approved. Deposits of the Bank ason December 31, 2011 were Rs. 302.099 Billionand Profit after tax was Rs. 4.533 Billion.

Jawad Amin Khan appointed coordinator to president AJKMIRPUR: the president of Azad Jammu andKashmir, Sardar Muhammad Yaqoob Khan , hasappointed Jawad Amin Khan, the managingdirector of ZAFA group as his coordinator forbusiness community. this appointment was madeon Monday, March 19, 2012 vide presidentialnotification no. 796-72/2012 . this honoraryposition has been bestowed upon him for ‘hisvaluable contributions to the Kashmiricommunity living in Karachi.” Mr. Jawad AminKhan, apart from being the head of one of thelargest and most prestigious pharmaceuticalcompanies of Pakistan, is an eminent professionaland industrialist who has been representingPakistan and the business community at variousforums. his contributions to the development ofbusiness in general and pharmaceutical industryin Pakistan in particular are well known and it isexpected that he will help in making valuablecontribution in his new role. PRESS RELEASE

total Operating Income of Al BarakaBank Pakistan Rises by 177% in 2011KARACHI: Al Baraka Bank Pakistan, asubsidiary banking unit of Al Baraka Bankinggroup B.S.C. (ABg), announced a remarkableincrease of 177% in total operating income in year2011. Shareholders equity enhanced by 6.6%, totalassets also increased by 19%, total customerdeposits including IAh by 24.8% and financingand investments by 28% at the end of 2011. theyear 2011 was another difficult year for thePakistani economy. however, the Bank's financialstatements for year 2011 show that the totaloperating income went up by 177% to reach PKR2.2 billion. After deducting operating expenses,which increased by less than 21%, net incomeshowed a record increase of 140% and touched

PKR 410 million in 2011. PRESS RELEASE

Governor Punjab inaugurates 2ndIcoBm 2012 at Umt

LAHORE: the second International Conferenceon Business Management (ICoBM) 2012organized by the university of Management andtechnology (uMt), at its purpose-built campus,concluded after two days of deliberations andpresentations by 150 speakers and 1000delegates from government, academia, andcorporate world. the event was attended by alarge number of dignitaries, educationists,intellectuals, business executives, governmentrepresentatives, and public policy makers,representatives of the corporate world andstudents of business schools. Addressing theconcluding ceremony, Mohammedmian Soomro,Former Chairman Senate of Pakistan, said thatthe whole essence of this endeavor is todisseminate and underscore the importance ofknowledge, decision-making and cost-effectiveness in business. he said that basically,anywhere and everywhere, management is aboutmanaging people and resources. he advised allthose present to be analytical and critical in theirapproach. he said that we live in changing timesand the importance of research in this contextassumes great importance. on a special note, headded that women are a great resource and wemust work towards economic emancipation ofwomen. he said that we must also focus onconservation of resources. PRESS RELEASE

Germany on the roadLAHORE: the german Embassy, in cooperationwith the Pakistan german Business Forum(PgBF) and german-linked companies and

institutions active in Pakistan held a uniqueexhibition titled “germany on the Road” at BuchExecutive Villas, Multan. “germany on the Road”has been designed to present the multitude oflinkages between germany and Pakistan bygiving german companies, germany-linkedcompanies and german institutions theopportunity to display their activities in Pakistanin a concise and vivid manner. During theexhibition up-to-date information aboutgermany as well as appealing give-aways werehanded out and a buffet dinner was offered. theevent was sponsored by BASF Pakistan., CEIlogistics, EXCEl group/PrintSol, gWE germanWater & Energy, KSB Pumps,Küppersbusch/teka Pakistan, MAN DieselPakistan, MEtRo Cash & Carry Pakistan, NordexSE germany, SAAS Synergie/Alno and SAPPakistan. these companies as well as germaninstitutions in Pakistan presented their activitieswith attractive stalls during the event. thisexhibition had earlier been displayed in lahoreand Sialkot. STAFF REPORT

ecc allows PASScO to off-load wheat stocksLAHORE: Economic Coordination Committee(ECC) of the Cabinet has allowed the PakistanAgricultural Storage and Services Corporation(PASSCo) to off-load it wheat stock of 0.450million tons to private sector. the ECC during itsrecent meeting held on March 13 decided thatPASSCo would contract with interested partiesagainst security money at the rate of one per centof total cost of contracted quantity. According toPASSCo, disposal of wheat was underway and0.137 million tons of wheat had been lifted tillthursday, while the remaining quantity would bedisposed-off by April 15 to create fresh storagespace for procurement of new crop that wouldstart from mid-April. STAFF REPORT

Punjab Industrial estate’s exit policyLAHORE: the Board of Directors PunjabIndustrial Estates has approved an Exit Policy forthose allottees of the Sundar Industrial Estate totransfer their plots in a year time, who did notenter into process of industrialization. this Policyhas been adopted in line with the vision of ChiefMinister Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif to make theProvince as an Industrial hub in the Country. thiswas stated by SM tanveer Chairman PunjabIndustrial Estates in a statement released hereyesterday. he said this policy would helpaccelerate the Province of colonization in SundarIndustrial Estate. the PIE spokesman says that in

spirit of colonization of Sundar Industrial Estateand as suggested by worthy industrialists.PIEDMC management has announced a newpolicy named “Exit Policy-2012”. this policy holdsin abeyance, for one year, earliercustomers/allottees were not allowed to sell ortransfer their plot until 3 months ofproduction/Sale Deed. STAFF REPORT

Ufone celebrates FaisalabadFAISALABAD: ufone arranged for fun filledthree day fiesta to celebrate Faisalabad and thesuccess of the city. the attractive event boastedof 100 different stalls which were set up by thelocal industry. the festival was open to thegeneral public so that they could witness thediversity of the industries in Faisalabad whichare a source of pride for the entire nation.‘Celebrating Faisalabad City’ was a familyfestival which gave the local entrepreneurs anopportunity to display, sell and interact directlywith customers while giving visitors anopportunity to shop, enjoy food and have fun allunder one roof. there were also liveperformances including stand-up comedy andthe kid’s area boasted of a jumping castle, stufftoys, slides and other various sources ofentertainment for the children. PRESS RELEASE

PESHAWAR: Mr Bilal Mustafa Managing Director TheBank of Khyber (BOK) & Chairman 21st BOK AGMspeaking at Bank’s Annual General Meeting at BOKHead Office Peshawar. Mr Muhammad Asif MemberBOK Board of Directors and Senior Officer, FinanceDepartment Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa arealso present on the occasion. PRESS RELEASE

CORPORATE CORNER

Major Gainers

Company Open High Low Close Change Turnover

Nestle PakXD 4399.95 4495.00 4179.96 4447.00 47.05 670Bata (Pak) Ltd. 573.90 587.50 570.00 587.03 13.13 142UniLever Pak LtdXD 5588.54 5625.00 5601.00 5601.00 12.46 11Attock PetroleumXD 446.11 455.00 447.00 453.25 7.14 53,160Sapphire Fiber 116.30 122.11 122.11 122.11 5.81 5

Major Losers

National Refinery 251.01 254.80 245.00 247.40 -3.61 81,111Unilever Food XD 1814.27 1820.00 1750.00 1811.25 -3.02 40Shahtaj Sugar Mills 64.99 67.76 62.00 62.17 -2.82 647Pak.Int.ContXD SD 137.01 139.99 135.00 135.00 -2.01 7,947Atlas Battery Ltd. 194.79 194.99 192.30 192.98 -1.81 2,810

Volume Leaders

Lafarge Pakistan 4.38 4.92 4.48 4.82 0.44 54,063,147NIB Bank Limited 2.73 3.15 2.75 2.98 0.25 49,022,536B.O.Punjab 10.15 10.90 9.15 9.21 -0.94 27,413,713Jah.Sidd. Co. 21.35 22.15 20.65 21.76 0.41 26,771,720TRG Pakistan Ltd. 4.11 4.75 4.10 4.64 0.53 24,872,440

Interbank RatesuS Dollar 90.6516uK Pound 144.8612Japanese Yen 1.1036Euro 120.9020

Dollar EastBuy Sell

US Dollar 90.50 91.10Euro 120.06 121.75Great Britain Pound 143.97 145.93Japanese Yen 1.0883 1.1028Canadian Dollar 89.85 91.56Hong Kong Dollar 11.50 11.73UAE Dirham 24.56 24.87Saudi Riyal 24.04 24.36Australian Dollar 92.99 95.70

KARACHI

ISMAIL DILAWAR

ShoWINg what themarket observers calledit “a sterling”performance during the

first quarter of FY12, thebenchmark index at KarachiStock Exchange (KSE) ispredicted to cross the 14,000level by the end of current fiscalyear. the analysts cite thefederal finance minister’sJanuary 21st acceptance of theSECP’s Cgt-related reformsproposals as a primaryattributive, as the KSE100-shareindex gained 2,414 points (21percent) during the reviewperiod, July-September FY12,“Despite the challenging securityenvironment, prevalent energycrisis and structural weaknessbearing on the economicconditions, the country’sequities have depicted a sterlingperformance,” said MohammedSohail, chief executive of toplineSecurities. the float-based KSE-30 also rallied by 19 percent, 18percent in dollar terms, whileMSCI Pakistan posted ahandsome gain of 17 percent.the market capitalization also

inched up 19 percent during thesaid quarter to reach $ 39billion, or Rs 3.5 trillion.“the 21 percent gain in 1Q2012was the highest return after 9-quarters,” said Sohail termingthis as highest 1Q gains since2006. “KSE Index will reach14,300 points in 2012,”forecasted the analyst.A rejuvenated interest,particularly from retailinvestors, has also added themuch-needed depth to themarket with average tradingvalue increasing to 196 millionshares or Rs 4.7 billion, $ 52million.“In terms of shares last quartervolume has occurred after 14quarters and in terms of valueafter 3 quarters,” he said.Sohail said the finance minister’sacceptance of SECP’s proposalshad reignited the investors,particularly the individual oneswho were sidelined after theimposition of Cgt and itscumbersome calculationmethodology as most of gainsgenerated in last 36 years wasnot properly declared.“Now investors hope that tons ofmoney would come back to thestock market once the

Presidential order is issued,” theanalyst said.Moreover, he said, dividendspayouts by listed companieswere also better than expectedwhich helped market to recover.lastly, the analyst said, as of 29March foreign fund managersturned net buyers after a gap ofthree quarters. “they boughtshares worth $189 million andsold $164 million resulting innet buying of $25 million.”the performance of Pakistanmarket in the outgoing quarterwas far better then its regionalpeers. As of March 29, MSCIPakistan gain of 17 percent wasbetter than MSCI Asian EM andMSCI FM Asian that posted animprovement of 12 percent and8 percent, respectively.Similarly, amongst the Asian FMmarkets as defined by MSCI,Pakistan remained Number 2after Vietnam.Cgt reforms, better thananticipated foreign flows andimproved earnings projections,he underlined, as some keydevelopments that would drivethe index forward this year. theindex is currently trading at PEof 6.3x, while offering a dividendyield of 8 percent.

Bulls on paradePakistan equity market delivers six-year best, index foreseen to cross 14,000 points level

case againstLccI presidentis baseless: cm adviser

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

ADVISoR to ChiefMinister on trade andformer lCCI President

Mohammad Ali Mian Friday tooka strong exception to registrationof case against lCCI PresidentIrfan Qaiser Sheikh and formerKCCI President Qaiser AhmadSheikh on baseless grounds ofroad-blocking/holding of publicgathering on the occasion ofPakistan National Day and urgedthe Inspector general of Police towithdraw the case. In a statementissued here, the Advisor to theChief Minister said that the lCCIPresident Irfan Qaiser Sheikhand former KCCI PresidentQaiser Ahmad Sheikh wereeminent businessmen havingrepute in both public and privatesectors and regularly organizesuch function on PakistanNational Day in Chiniot. he saidthat this year also the held such afunction with the priorinformation to the concernedquarters there the registration ofcase against them is beyond theunderstanding of the businesscommunity.

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