01

BUSINESS

BThursday, 25 April, 2013

Tourism can become a very fruitful activity as it enhances people-to-people

contacts and facilitates socio-cultural exchanges and mutual understanding

as well as generate business. – Senate Chairman Nayyer Bokhari

uBl’s assets swell beyond Rs 1tr in Q1FY13

KARACHI:

United Bank

Limited

(UBL)

registered

a profit

after tax of

Rs 4.9 billion

in its consolidated

results for the first quarter of the current

fiscal year, on Tuesday. This, the bank

said, represents 2 percent growth over

the same period last year. The bank said

this translates into an earnings per share

of Rs 3.82 which in March 2012 was Rs

3.97. The Board of Directors, in their

meeting on Tuesday, also approved an

interim cash dividend of 20 percent, i.e.,

Rs 2 per share. Despite falling margins

and severe spread compression, the

bank was able to enhance its fee income

and lower provisions. The bank’s non-

interest income in the first quarter saw

an increase of 17% to Rs 5.1 billion.

Fees and commissions grew by 23% to

Rs 2.7 billion, mainly attributable to

increase in remittances, branchless

banking income, improved general

banking fees and cross-sell of

bancassurance. Dividend income

increased by Rs 0.4 billion to Rs 0.5

billion in the same period, whilst capital

gains increased by Rs 0.6 billion

reaching Rs 1 billion. Provisions reduced

by Rs 182 million compared to the

corresponding period last year and this

has resulted in an improvement in the

Bank’s coverage ratio. STAFF REPORT

KARACHI

ISMAIL DILAWAR

DESPITE the uncertainlaw and order situa-tion in Karachi onWednesday, equity in-vestors reacted over-whelmingly to reports

that the International Monetary Fund(IMF) gave a positive response to cash-strapped Pakistan’s request for a freshbailout package.

“(The) stocks closed bullish amidhigher trades after IMF offered a $5 bil-lion facility for Pakistan’s balance of pay-ment support and debt repayment,” saidsenior stocks analyst Ahsen Mehnati ofArif Habib Securities.

Wednesday saw socio-economic lifein the violence-hit metropolis completelyparalysed given Tuesday’s bombing at anelection office of the Muttahida QaumiMovement (MQM) at People’sChowrangi.

The terrorist attack killed three MQMsupporters while Wednesday witnessedthe death toll in the attack increasing tofive as injuries to two others proved fatal.

The MQM on Tuesday had an-nounced to observe Wednesday as a dayof mourning with its leader Altaf Hussainappealing to traders, transporters and

masses to share the party’s grief.As expected, the city responded posi-

tively and all businesses, educational in-stitutions and offices remained closed.Attendance in offices and facto-ries was thin as no publictransport was seen ply-ing on the city roadsuntil 5pm.

Petrol pumpsalso kept barrierserected throughthe day and onlystarted providingcommuters withfuel after 4pmwhen representa-tives of petroleumdealers announced toopen their filling stations.

Shopping centers and otherretail business activities were also re-sumed after a similar announcement wasmade by the All Karachi Traders Associ-ation. While the entire city was shut, in-vestors at Karachi Stock Exchangeremained unwary to the outside situationand reacted positively to the IMF’s re-ported willingness to bail the dollar-hun-gry Pakistan out of its present liquiditycrunch emanating mainly from the coun-try’s fast depleting foreign exchange re-serves currently standing at $7 billion.

The IMF, according to Adviser toPrime Minister on Finance Dr ShahidAmjad, was ready to lend Islamabad atleast $5 billion which analysts said was a

“flexible” Extended Fund Facil-ity (EFF) to be disbursed

and repaid over a periodbetween three to ten

years.The positive

news made thebenchmark KSE100-share indexhit a historic highof 18,779.66

points gaining132.37 points

against Tuesday’s18,647.29 points. Amid higher trading

volumes, which increased to219.87 million shares from 171.87 mil-

lion of the previous day, the value of theshares traded also grew to Rs 6.380 billioncompared to the previous day’s Rs 4.93billion.

The market capital also swelled to Rs4.596 trillion as against Rs 4.563 trillionon Tuesday. Of the total 370 scrips trade,the value of 217 appreciated and 135 de-preciated. Some 18 remained unchangedto this effect.

Engro Corporation remained in the

limelight, with investors expecting thecompany to post positive results after im-proved performance by its fertiliser busi-ness. Fauji Cement also remained in thelimelight due to speculation of excep-tional results.

Engro Corporation Ltd rose 2.76 percent to 138.85 rupees and Fauji CementCompany Ltd was up 4.41 per cent to 8.76rupees. In the currency market, the rupeeended almost steady at 98.38/98.43against the dollar compared to Tuesday’sclose of 98.36/98.42. Overnight rates inthe money market fell to 9.40 per centfrom Tuesday’s close of 9.50 percent.

According to stocks analysts, the daysaw institutional interest in stocks acrossthe board. This, they said, was amid re-covery in global commodities, strong an-nouncements in oil, banking stocks andspeculations ahead of quarter-end resultsthis week.

Mehanti, however, said equity in-vestors were concerned over the securityunrest and had announced a call for strikein the volatile city.

Regardless of the reasons, the traderssay, one day closure costs trade and busi-ness in this financial capital of the countryat least Rs 10 billion.

This amount, they believe, is not in-clusive of losses daily wagers incur whenthe city is shut for one reason or the other.

IMF BAIlouT oFFeR Pushes Kse sTocKs uP desPITe The vIolence

India in talks to joinIP gas pipeline:Iranian spokesman

TEHRAN: A

spokesman of

the Iranian

Oil Min-

istry has

said that

New Delhi

is in talks

with Tehran

to join the

multi-billion-

dollar pipeline which

Iran is building to export natural gas to

neighbouring Pakistan. “Since India has

been motivated by Pakistan’s seriousness

in building the [Iran-Pakistan] peace

pipeline‚ New Delhi is negotiating to join

the project‚“ spokesman of Iranian Oil

Ministry Alireza Nikzad-Rahbar said, ac-

cording to Meher News Agency on

Wednesday. The Iranian official added

that there has been considerable progress

in the Iran-Pakistan (IP) pipeline‚ with

Iranian contractors starting work on the

Pakistani section of the pipeline‚ after fin-

ishing nearly 900 kilometres of the

pipeline on Iranian soil. In March‚ Indian

Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas M

Veerappa Moily voiced his country’s will-

ingness to join the pipeline project. The

pipeline will enable the export of 21.5

million cubic meters of Iranian natural

gas to Pakistan per day. NNI

Bank Alfalah postsProfit before Tax ofRs1.527 billion KARACHI: Bank Alfalah has posted a

healthy profit before tax of Rs. 1.527 billion

for the first quarter ended March 31, 2013,

a commendable achievement considering

the challenging macro-economic landscape

and the declining interest rates

environment. Profit after tax for the first

quarter was recorded at Rs 1.011 billion

and earnings per share were reported at Rs

0.75. The bank has managed to increase

its non mark-up income by 27% to Rs

1.864 billion in the first quarter ended

March 31, 2013 compared to the

corresponding period last year. Revenue for

the first quarter was reported at Rs 5.688

billion, a decline from Rs 6.108 billion

reported in the corresponding period last

year mainly attributable to pressure on net

interest income due to lower interest

rates in the current quarter. Total assets

increased to Rs 544.724 billion at March

31, 2013 as compared to Rs 536.467

billion at year end 2012, further

strengthening the bank’s financial

position. Bank Alfalah’s NPLs to gross

loans ratio remains below the industry

infection ratio, and the bank continues to

maintain adequate provisioning against

the classified portfolio. NNI

KARACHI

NNI

US companies have shown interest ininvesting in the energy sector of Pak-istan considering the great potential inpower, oil and gas sector, said US-Pak-istan Business Council (UPBC) Chair-man Miles Young at the Federation ofPakistan Chambers of Commerce andIndustry (FPCCI) on Wednesday.

The head of the visiting delegationfrom USA, said American companies in-cluding GE, Shell and others are alreadyinitiating their projects in Pakistan.

He said UPBC is quite concerned

about the ongoing energy crisis in Pak-istan and is keen to resolve it. TheUPBC represents major multinationalcompanies of USA in Pakistan and thedelegation is on a fact-finding mission,seeking joint ventures and bilateraltrade promotion during the visit.

Young said the lowest volume offoreign direct investment (FDI) fromUSA to Pakistan during the recent yearswas not due to any particular reason butdue to economic crisis all over theworld that also affected USA. He saidit was a misconception that USAstopped FDI to Pakistan in recent timesand this should not be taken negatively.

He further said the biggest chal-lenge for UPBC is to present Pakistanpositively among American investorssince media, especially CNN and FoxTV, are not projecting a positive imageof Pakistan these days. He said UPBCis not a branch of the US governmentand works independently.

He said that by and large it was a re-sponsibility of the business communityof the two countries to promote bilateraltrade. “We want to do business withPakistan because it is a country of thefuture,” he said.

US companies keen to invest in Pakistan’s energy sector: Miles Young

The positivenews made the

benchmark KSE 100-shareindex hit a historic high of18,779.66 points gaining132.37 points againstTuesday’s 18,647.29

points

MILES YOUNGchairman PaK-US BUSineSS coUncil

The biggest challenge for UPBC is to present

Pakistan positively amongAmerican investors since

media, especially CNN andFox TV, are not projecting

a positive image ofPakistan these days.

ISLAMABAD: The Securitiesand Exchange Commission of Pak-istan (SECP) has approved thedraft Pharmaceutical Industry(Cost Accounting Records)Order, 2013 to facilitatemaintenance of records bycompanies engaged in theproduction, processing andmanufacturing of pharma-ceuticals products. Pharma-ceutical companies arerequired to maintain such costaccounting records including allparticulars relating to utilisation of

material, labour or other inputs ofitems of cost to determine total

product cost. The notification isbeing published for the infor-

mation of all parties likely tobe affected thereby. Thedraft will become effectivein thirty days after its publi-cation in the OfficialGazette. Any objections or

suggestions which may be re-ceived from any person in re-

spect of the said draft before theexpiry of the said date will be con-sidered by SECP NNI

SECP approves draftpharmaceutical industry order

ISLAMABAD

INP

Great potential exists for expansion intrade and economic relations betweenPakistan and the Philippine and the twocountries should successfully tap itthrough increased contacts betweenbusiness sectors, said Ambassador ofPhilippine in Pakistan Domingo Luce-nario during a meeting with the businesscommunity of Islamabad Chamber ofCommerce & Industry (ICCI).

He said the business communities ofthe two sides should join hands for jointventures as and chambers of commerceof Pakistan and Philippine must interactwith each other to achieve their ultimateobjectives of enhancing bilateral tradevolume. He said there was a need to ac-tivate framework of agreements on tradeand economic ties.The ambassador saidPhilippines emerged as one of the bestperformers in services exports as well asin semi-conductor area which providedopportunities for Pakistan to enhance

trade with Philippine. He further saidboth countries should focus on discover-ing complementary industries. In hiswelcome address, ICCI President ZafarBakhtawari said Pakistan attached greatimportance to enhancing its relationshipwith Philippines as an important countryof ASEAN regional bloc and stressed tofurther accelerate economic and trade re-lations among all ASEAN countries. Healso emphasised that Philippine shouldalso help Pakistan in becoming a full-di-alogue partner in ASEAN.

Philippine envoy for enhancingtrade ties with Pakistan

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BUSINESSThursday, 25 April, 2013

samsung employeesenjoy a ‘great WorkingPlace’ experience

LAHORE: Samsung Electronics is a global leader

and award-winning innovator in

Telecommunications and Digital Technologies.

Recently, Samsung Pakistan arranged an exciting

and fun-filled outdoor recreational activity

celebration, in which all Samsung employees were

invited to participate and have delightful

experiences. This celebration is named “Great

Working Place” (GWP) activity at Oasis Aqua resort

and is held on a 5th April to promote Team-Building

opportunities among the Samsung staff. It helps

the hard-working, passionate and innovative

employees to relax and cheer with numerous

outdoor fun activities for participants of varying

ages. An interactive meeting for operational

deliberations was also held on that fun-filled day to

enhance the team-building skills of the employees.

Samsung Pakistan’s Managing Director – John Park

said; “It is delightful to see Samsung employees

from the various operational departments, strive to

maintain friendly and cordial relations among

themselves, by coming together as one big

Samsung family, and participating in numerous

recreational and sporting activities with a team-

building spirit, to make the “Great Working Place”

activity a resounding success”. PR

standard charteredrecognised as ‘Beststructured Trade FinanceProvider’ in PakistanKARACHI: Standard Chartered was recently

recognised as the Best Structured Trade Finance

provider in Pakistan by Asset Triple A Country

Award 2013. This award is recognition of Standard

Chartered’s superior structuring and distribution

capabilities, and reinforces its dominant leadership

position in Wholesale Banking. Commenting on the

recognition Mohsin A. Nathani, Chief Executive,

Standard Chartered Pakistan said, “The Best

Structured Trade Finance House award reflects the

Bank’s commitment towards innovation and is a

testament to the exceptional performance that the

Bank has achieved across its business in the

country. Banks have an essential role in society and

thereby we actively invest in innovative products

and services to provide our clients with world class

financial solutions that cater to their specific

needs.” PR

Team Inspire Pakistanjoins nationwide cleanup drive

ISLAMABAD: To live up to the resolutions they

made on 23rd March that “I will not litter” under

their campaign Pakistan resolution 2013, Team

Inspire Pakistan got together today on Earth Day

(22nd April) for a nationwide clean up drive being

carried out in different cities of Pakistan. To begin

with Cleanup projects were carried initially in their

major cities that include Islamabad (F-10 Markaz),

Rawalpindi (Chaklala Scheme 3) and Lahore (Civic

Centre & (Barkat Market) New Garden Town). The

events were conducted in collaboration and support

of credible organizations/groups that include Heal

Pakistan, Ronaq e Qainaat, Warid Telecom,

Shashca (online media partner), The Do Good

Mob, Pakistan Go-Green (Social media support),

Ministry of Loltype Affairs (social media support)

and Subh e Nau: An Environment and Public

Health Concern. At the occasion Team Inspire

Pakistan representatives emphasized on the need

of taking ownership. They said they are being the

change they want to see around. Such activities

will be carried out through the year under their

campaign Pakistan Resolution 2013. PR

AgM of Pak-JapanBusiness Forum

KARACHI: The Annual General Meeting of the

Pakistan Japan Business Forum (PJBF) was held in

Karachi the other day. The Chairman of PJBF, Sohail

P Ahmed welcomed the members and guests to the

event and provided them with a report on the

progress and on the activities of the PJBF during

2012. The highlight of the activities was the Joint

Dialogue held in Tokyo in March which was largely

attended by both the Government officials of

Pakistan and Japan as well as the business

community of both countries. Feroz Shah, the

treasurer of PJBF presented the accounts. The

outgoing Senior Vice Chairman, Satoshi Nakagawa

also addressed the gathering and informed that his

tenure as the Country General Manager of

Marubeni Corporation is to end. He further

informed about the unanimous decision of the

Japanese members of the PJBF to nominate

Shunichi Katagiri, Country General Manager of

Sumitomo Corporation to succeed him as the next

Senior Vice Chairman of the PJBF. PR

Pso, hBl signagreements on ATMsKARACHI: Pakistan State Oil (PSO) and Habib

Bank Limited (HBL) have signed an agreement

for the deployment of ATMs at PSO retail outlets

nationwide. This agreement between the

nation’s leading energy company and the

country’s largest private sector bank promises

to be a mutually beneficial partnership and one

which will translate into convenience for the

general public. PR

CORPORATE CORNER

02

B

Organic fertilizers can not only fulfil demands of fertilizer in the

country but Pakistan could also compete at the international

level in organic food products. – Shahzada Ahsan Ashraf

Major Gainers

COMPANY OPEN HIGH LOW CLOSE CHANGE TURNOVERUnilever Food XD 4600.00 4830.00 4750.00 4830.00 230.00 1,340nestle Pak. XD 6025.00 6200.00 6025.00 6200.00 175.00 140Bata (Pak) XD 1800.00 1890.00 1711.00 1890.00 90.00 850Wyeth Pak ltd XD 1313.63 1346.00 1300.00 1346.00 32.37 1,350murree Brewery 279.23 293.19 289.00 293.19 13.96 19,600

Major Losersclariant PaK. 302.46 309.00 290.05 294.05 -8.41 45,200abbott lab. XD 259.31 264.00 253.00 253.10 -6.21 600Pak refinery 90.16 92.50 85.66 85.66 -4.50 268,000national Foods 349.80 348.80 340.10 345.53 -4.27 2,500Faisal Spinning 104.00 104.00 100.00 100.80 -3.20 2,500

Volume Leaders

Fauji cement 8.39 8.90 8.35 8.75 0.36 46,463,500Wateen Telecom ltd 4.68 4.95 4.67 4.72 0.04 15,659,500TrG Pakistan ltd. 9.61 9.89 9.22 9.30 -0.31 14,978,000engro corporation 135.12 139.88 134.70 139.35 4.23 11,313,400P.T.c.l.a 18.04 18.57 18.00 18.41 0.37 8,682,000

Interbank RatesUSD PKr 98.4026GBP PKr 150.3494JPY PKr 0.9882eUro PKr 128.0710

ForexBUY SELL

US Dollar 99.70 99.95 euro 128.20 128.44 Great Britain Pound 150.45 150.70 Japanese Yen 0.9870 0.9973 canadian Dollar 95.51 97.20 hong Kong Dollar 12.56 12.79 Uae Dirham 26.90 27.15 Saudi riyal 26.40 26.65

KARACHI: (from left to right) Naeem Y Mir, CEO & MD-PSO, and Nauman Dar, President and

CEO - HBL. Also in the picture are (from left to right) Arif Nasib, GM Marketing Services PSO

and Faiq Sadiq - Head Payment Services - HBL. PR

ISLAMABAD

ONLINE

TO resolve pendingmatters of theKarachi Electric Sup-ply Company(KESC), a Senate

body on Wednesday decided to ex-tend a last chance to its managing di-rector (MD) to appear before the

parliamentary committee.Senate Standing Committee on

Rules of Procedure and Privilegeswas held under the chairmanship ofSenator Col (r) Tahir HussainMashadi. The MD’s consecutive re-fusal to appear before the committeehas pushed the Senate body to use itsultimate powers to summon an indi-vidual through a proper channel.

The committee has also taken

serious notice of the absence of theminister for water and power.

The chairman of the Senatecommittee has already written in hisreport in the last meeting that the at-titude of the KESC’s MD was unfairand abusive to a parliamentaryforum.

Meanwhile, Senator Mian RazaRabbani suggested to the chairmanthat if the MD does not appear in the

next meeting, he should be arrestedand brought before the committee.

“The MD will remain absent un-less arrested, send him a final noticeto attend the next meeting. The par-liament must use its power to issuehis arrest warrants if he does not ap-pear on the notice,” Rabbani said.

The committee is expected tohold its next meeting during the firstweek of May.

Kesc Md gIven lAsT chAnce ToAPPeAR BeFoRe senATe BodY

Industries minister for regular policy for fertilizersLAHORE: CareTaker Federal Minister for Industries and ProductionShahzada Ahsan Ashraf Sheikh has stressed the need for regular policy formanufacturing of fertilizers, keeping in view the necessities of the country.Addressing a reception during his visit to National Fertilizers Corporation(NFC) headquarters on Wednesday, he said it was the need of the hour towork for alternative methods of manufacturing fertilizers. He said thecountry could be self-reliant in energy and fertilizer sectors if bio-gasplants were constructed on large scale, systematically. The minister saidorganic fertilizers to be produced in bio-gas plants could not only fulfildemands of fertilizer in the country but Pakistan could also compete at theinternational level in organic food products. He said organic fertilizerswere health beneficial and economical which could also be helpful in gen-erating heavy foreign exchange for the country. He directed the NFC ad-ministration to evolve a new fertilizer policy and set up regional offices inPeshawer and Quetta. Earlier, NFC Chairman Rizwan Mumtaz Ali briefedthe minister about the institution and its causes. APP

eFP launches employer of the Year awardsKARACHI: The Employers’ Federation of Pakistan (EFP) has launchedthe maiden “Employer of the Year Award 2012” to recognise efforts ofenterprises for their contribution towards the creation of a skilled work-force. EFP Vice President Zaki Ahmed Khan termed the awards a uniqueopportunity for employers to compete in any of the two categories,namely “Best Enterprise for Human Resource Development” and “BestEnterprise for Work Place Safety”. He said the employers throughout Pak-istan were allowed to participate by submitting their nominations by adeadline of May 15, 2013. A three-member jury consisting highly re-spected personalities in the market has been formed for scrutinising thenominations. The awards are being offered to the large, medium andsmall-sector organisations, he said, while the award ceremony is plannedto be held on August 20, 2013 in Karachi. “The high point of this awardcompetition is the “Outstanding CEOs Award” which will be given to thecompany heads winning first prize in any of the category and receivingmore than 50% marks in the second category,” said Khan. PR

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