JS Group says Ali Siddiqui received $4.3m bonus for PiCT heroics

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buSineSS

BFriday, 5 April, 2013

PROMOTION OF INDO-PAK TRADE(

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LHC bars SBPdeputy governorfrom working

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

The Lahore High Court has barred StateBank of Pakistan Deputy Governor AshrafWahtra from working.LHC Justice Mansoor remarked as to howthe SBP deputy governor was appointeddespite the ban on recruitment in the gov-ernment departments. The bench alsosought a detailed report from the federalgovernment on Monday over the hiring ofAshraf Wathra.

Olson emphasises privatesector role in modernizingPakistan’s agri market

LAHORE

ONLINE

At the 2nd annual Dawn AgricultureExpo, U.S. Ambassador Richard Olson,Thursday, emphasized the private sector’scrucial role in expanding Pakistan’s agri-cultural markets. He also celebrated more than 50 years ofU.S.-Pakistan cooperation in the agricul-ture sector – a partnership that contributedto the Green Revolution of the 1950s andmore recently has increased incomes for800,000 families over the last three years. The Expo highlighted new technologiesand development projects being imple-mented in Pakistan through the collabora-tive efforts of international donors, privatesector companies, and the Pakistan gov-ernment. These efforts are focused on cre-ating jobs, increasing farmers’ incomes,and improving Pakistan’s food security. Speaking at the Expo, Ambassador Olsonemphasized that the private sector must beinvolved for development assistance to beeffective. “The challenge for Pakistan’slong-term sustainable agricultural devel-opment ultimately depends on private sec-tor initiatives to take these programs andtransfer them into viable commercial en-terprises.” Since 2009, the U.S. govern-ment has invested more than $230 millionto fund projects that support the economicgrowth of Pakistan’s agriculture sector.At the Expo, the U.S. Agency for Interna-tional Development, the U.S. ForeignCommercial Service, and the U.S. Depart-ment of Agriculture highlighted many ofthese agricultural initiatives.

SINGAPORE

ONLINE

TIMELY parliamentaryelections and a stableand credible govern-ment are crucial forPakistan to obtainfresh external

funding and address its dwin-dling foreign exchange reserves.

That’s according to a report, ti-tled “Successful Elections Are Cru-cial as Pakistan’s Balance OfPayments Pressures Mount,” thatStandard & Poor’s Ratings Servicespublished here on Thursday.

“Little likely improvement inPakistan’s trade and capital flows,and the lack of alternative sources of bi-lateral or multilateral funding make it im-

perative for the country to secure fresh In-ternational Monetary Fund (IMF) fundingto shore up its reserves and boost donorand investor confidence,” said Standard &Poor’s credit analyst Agost Benard. Secur-ing access to renewed external funding islikely only after a new government takesoffice following parliamentary elections

scheduled for May 11,2013. It will also

require credible plans to correct Pakistan’sunsustainable fiscal and economic poli-cies. The post election honeymoon period

should allow the new government to takeunpopular decisions that a new IMF loanwould certainly entail, Mr. Benard said. Aswith the previous IMF program, fiscal ad-justments in the form of subsidy cuts ortax increases are likely to be key demandsfor the deal. But any new coalition will

find these hard to implement be-cause of popular opposition.

In our base-case scenario, weexpect a new coalition gov-ernment to be formed inJune and a new IMF

arrangement to be in place inJuly or August. This wouldhelp stabilize the sovereign

ratings on Pakistan (B-/Sta-ble/B) at the current level. The ratingscould come under downward pressure ifthe formation of the new government orsigning the IMF deal is delayed.

Timely polls, effective new govt keyto Pakistan’s creditworthiness: S&P

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

Jahangir Siddiqui & Company Limited(JSCL) on Thursday conceded that one ofits eight-member Board of Directors hadreceived over Rs 430 million ($4.3 million)as an advisory fee.

The amount paid to Ali Jahangir Sid-diqui, son of Jahangir Siddiqui- founder ofthe country’s leading business conglomer-ate, JS Group- is reported to be the highestbonus a non-executive company directorhas ever received in Pakistan.

“He should be a hero to you for bring-ing foreign exchange of $ 37 million inPakistan,” Imran Shaikh, a spokesman ofJS Group, told a group of journalists at thegroup’s head office.

Giving a “correct order of facts,” thespokesman said the bonus paid to the di-rector was in conformity with internationalcorporate standards.

“Yes, Ali has received the quoted advi-sory fee. This, however, needs to be seen

in the complete context,” emphasisedImran, adding the non-executive directorhad earned the company a remarkable cap-ital gain of Rs 2.4 billion in its $37 milliondeal with foreign buyers, Pakistan Interna-tional Container Terminal (PICT).

The JS had sold out 23 million of itsvoting shares in the PICT to the Manila-based M/s ICTSI Mauritius in March 2012at Rs 150 per share.

Imran said Ali was able to fetch Rs3.63 billion for the company in the PICTdeal which had been estimated at Rs 1.18billion. The company also had got a “spe-cialised dividend” of Rs 494.5 million outof the PICT sell-off, he added.

“He (Ali) earned for the company a netcapital gain of Rs 2.95 billion,” thespokesman said.

Ali was therefore granted a bonusequivalent to 14 percent of the total PICTinvestment by JSCL’s Board, Imran said.

The bonus, he said, was in accordancewith international corporate standards. “In-ternationally, people get these kinds of

bonuses,” Imran claimed. However, whenasked, he said he had “no idea” if a non-executive member of a company had everreceived such a huge bonus in Pakistan.

Asked if the company’s board couldreverse its decision about the confermentof the bonus to Ali, Imran replied, “Whywould we reverse it. He has earned such ahandsome amount for our company.”

The Securities and Exchange Commis-sion of Pakistan (SECP) is reported to haveasked the JSCL, on April 1, to substantiatethe advisory services rendered by the con-cerned director.

The JSCL spokesman, however, said itwas not the first time the apex regulatorhad asked the company for an explanationabout its financial accounts. “SulemanLalani (CEO of JSCL) has responded tothe (SECP) letter, but we cannot commenton it,” said Imran.

He said the SECP letter was a matterof routine as his company had also re-ceived one such letter in 2010 from thecommission, asking about the grant of an

advisory fee. Imran could not recall theamount then paid against the head in ques-tion. “SECP has the right to ask any com-pany for an explanation on its accounts,”the spokesman added.

Earlier, Imran gave a briefing, inchronological order, on his company’slegal battle with a rival business group ledby Shunaid Qureshi and Haji Abdul Ghaniwho, he claimed, had launched a “defama-tion” campaign against his side.

“Since this matter is sub judice in theHigh Court, we are not giving you an opin-ion or comment,” said Imran. He, however,read out some extracts from the lawsuitwhich, he said, were self-explanatory toprove financial anomalies which Shunaidand Ghani had committed in Al AbbasSugar Mills case.

The crux of his statement was that eversince Ali and Lalani had mobilised, theSECP on March 8 and the Singh High Courton March 12, against Shunaid and Ghani,the latter were all out to bring his companyin disrepute in one way or another.

Little likely improvement inPakistan’s trade and capital

flows, and the lack ofalternative sources of bilateralor multilateral funding make itimperative for the country to

secure fresh InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF) fundingto shore up its reserves and

boost donor and investorconfidence

Ali Siddiqui was able to fetch Rs 3.63 billion

for the company in the PICT deal which had been estimated

at Rs 1.18 billion. The company also

had got a ‘specialiseddividend’ of

Rs 494.5 million out of the PICT sell-off

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

The corporate leaders of South Asian re-gion have said that Pakistan and Indiashould remove non-tariff barriers to in-crease bilateral trade which would en-able theireconomies toflourish.

Top market-ing leaders andchief operatingofficers of sev-eral multina-tional companiesfrom Pakistan,India and SriLanka gatheredat a local hotelfor a two-dayconference titledSouth Asia Strategic Leadership Sum-mit. Addressing the broader theme of“Collaborating for Change”, the eventwas organised by Nutshell Forum alongwith India and Pakistan Chambers ofCommerce and Industry.

Shaukat Tarin, adviser to the chair-man Silk Bank Limited and former fed-eral minister for finance and economicaffairs, said Pakistan is experiencing thefirst successful transition – in recent his-tory – from one democratic governmentto another. However, he said, Pakistanhas failed to exploit its growth potential

in the last two decades. Pakistan has lostits ranking in the fields of health and ed-ucation systems worldwide, he added.

Tarin said only five percent studentsin the country have access to higher ed-ucation, while two million children donot go to schools. “Pakistan is spending

1.8 percentof its GDPon educa-tion, whileI n d i aspends 4.1percent andBangladeshspends 2.4percent ofits GDP on

education,” he said. According to Tarin,Pakistan imparts technical education tojust 150,000 students per annum whereasthe requirement is for many more.

Tarin said that in order to bringchange, civil society, industry and thegovernment should collaborate witheach other.

Dr Atta-ur-Rahman, former federalminister for science and technology,highlighted innovations in the field ofscience and technology and claimed thatthe number of PhD holders in Pakistanhas increased in the last eight years.

Despite the technological advance-ment growth of business in the world islinked with the growth of people (em-ployees) as qualitative and brand man-power always leads to any organizationtowards success.

“As a strategic business partner wealways strive to attract, retain and de-

velop talent, championchange and manageperformance to achieveour goals. Besides ourquest is to facilitate aculture that enables therealisation of humanpotential & leader-ship,” said P.Dwarakanath, DirectorGroup Human Capital,Max India Limitedwhile addressing atwo-day “South Asia

Strategic Leadership Summit” held hereat a local hotel on Tuesday. He was de-livering a speech on ‘building leader-ship, culture and branding’.

South Asian corporate leaders for removal of non-tariff barriers

ALTHOUGH PAKISTAN ISEXPERIENCING THE FIRSTSUCCESSFUL DEMOCRATICTRANSITION, THE COUNTRY HASFAILED TO EXPLOIT ITS GROWTHPOTENTIAL IN THE LAST TWODECADES, SHAUKAT TARIN

Sindh to procure1.38m MT wheat at Rs 38b from todayKARACHI: With the huge loss to thestanding crops by the flashfloods that couldnot be contained as yet, the Sindh govern-ment has decided to procure at least 1.3metric tons of wheat at a total cost of Rs 38billion, during the wheat procurement thatcommenced the other day, it is learnt.Interestingly, the Sindh government could notenhance the wheat procurement target due tolow-productivity of the crop after the flash-floods had badly hit the crops in almost alldistrict of the province. And, even the wheatsupport price has not been enhanced that isfixed at Rs 1200 per 40 kilograms, sources infood department told Pakistan Today.The overall wheat procurement processwould require at least Rs38 billion forwhich the department would borrow theloan from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP),they said, adding that the tenders for gunnybags had been invited and the process hadalready been completed.In order to ensure facilitate the poor grow-ers, at least 409 procurement centers havebeen established in different parts of theprovince while deployment of the officialswould be ensured at the centers to ensureeradication of role of the middlemen in theentire process, sources added.Besides, at least 13 million sacks (Bardana)would also be made available at the centersand senior officials would monitor theprocess, ensuring wheat support price of Rs1200 per 40 kg, they said. This year, theSindh government had planned to increasethe wheat procurement target to 1.8 metrictons however the plan could not be material-ized as the floodwaters had badly damagedthe standing crops worth billions of rupeesand the authorities remained fail to comeout of situation. STAFF REPORT

What is good for Pakistan, I’ll do it, I

would never do what is not in the interest of

Pakistan. – Maqbool HH Rahmatoola

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buSineSSFriday, 5 April, 2013

Major Gainers

COMPANY OPEN HIGH LOW CLOSE CHANGE TURNOVERUnilever Food 4500.00 4725.00 4444.01 4584.51 84.51 140Rafhan Maize XD 3790.00 3979.50 3800.00 3979.50 189.50 1,420Nestle Pakistan Ltd. 6062.64 6100.00 6100.00 6100.00 37.36 20Shezan Inter. 435.00 456.75 414.00 456.70 21.70 12,000National FoodsXD 353.64 371.32 360.00 371.31 17.67 112,900

Major LosersColgate Palmolive 1962.45 1940.00 1940.00 1940.00 -22.45 150Sunrays Textile 250.00 240.00 237.50 237.50 -12.50 5,500Indus Motor Co 315.00 308.00 303.30 303.43 -11.57 1,300Wyeth Pak Ltd XD 946.50 964.00 936.00 936.00 -10.50 300Packages Ltd. 202.34 204.75 196.50 197.08 -5.26 45,000

Volume Leaders

Dewan Cement 5.34 5.75 5.35 5.40 0.06 20,956,000Maple Leaf Cement 20.32 20.34 19.31 19.37 -0.95 20,199,000Engro Corporation 136.23 139.65 134.60 135.75 -0.48 12,164,900TRG Pakistan Ltd. 7.83 8.15 7.70 8.08 0.25 11,988,500Fatima Fert. XD 22.33 22.80 22.30 22.61 0.28 11,220,500

interbank RatesUSD PKR 98.3345GBP PKR 148.1902JPY PKR 1.0305EURO PKR 125.8780

ForexBUY SELL

US Dollar 99.10 99.35 Euro 125.72 125.98 Great Britain Pound 148.34 148.53 Japanese Yen 1.0114 1.0220 Canadian Dollar 95.84 97.54 Hong Kong Dollar 12.44 12.67 UAE Dirham 26.65 26.90 Saudi Riyal 26.15 26.40

HBL Awarded BestRetail Bank in 2012

KARACHI: Habib Bank Ltd. (HBL) has been named

as the winning bank of the Best Retail Bank in

Pakistan Award for the year 2012 during the 12th

International Excellence in Retail Financial Services.

SimaKamil, Head-Retail & Consumer Banking,

received the award at The International Excellence

in Retail Financial Services 2013 Awards ceremony,

held in conjunction with the region’s most

prestigious retail banking event, the Excellence in

Retail Financial Services Convention. The ceremony

was held at the Westin Chosun, Seoul, South Korea

on March 22. PR

TAG Heuer Link– The NewDress Watch for Ladies!

KARACHI: Like

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glamorous, single

minded yet utterly

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Battle of the Brainscompetition concludes

KARACHI: The Indus Motor Company (IMC) Battle

of the Brains competition recently came to a close.

The competition, which kicked off in December

2012, was geared towards generating ideas from

Pakistan’s top two business schools – Lahore

University of Management Sciences (LUMS) and

Institute of Business Administration (IBA) in

Karachi. Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Parvez

Ghias, CEO, Indus Motor Company, said that this

competition is testament to the immense talent

present in the youth of Pakistan. He added that

“the idea behind this activity is to enable young

minds to use their energies constructively and

provide solutions to actual problems related to

trade and industry. The youth is the future of our

country and this competition is an effective

platform to train them for the task that lies ahead

of them.” The focus of the competition was to

encourage students to think of innovative ideas and

practical solutions to the problems presented to

them. Each business school had four participating

teams that were provided with a case study on

issues related to the automobile industry. PR

Every second counts as AndyMurray wins Miami MastersLENGNAU: Rado sends congratulations to our

global brand ambassador, Andy Murray, on winning

the Miami Masters. In extremely hot and humid

conditions, Andy showed his resolve, strength and

determination to win a memorable match. The win

gained crucial tour points for Andy, and helped to

secure his status as 2 the ATP world rankings. This

was Andy’s ninth Masters title and adds to his

impressive tally of 26 career titles. Commenting on

Andy’s latest victory, Rado CEO Matthias Breschan

said: “We are delighted for Andy that he has won

another career title and returned to 2 in the ATP

world rankings. Andy continues to build on the great

success he had in 2012 and everyone at Rado is

proud to share this journey with him.” Rado is proud

to be the official watch partner of Andy Murray. PR

Farah Legahri’s big come back!

KARACHI: Veteran designer Farah Leghari has

made a remarkable comeback with her unique,

elegant and much awaited lawn prints. From being

a darling of the local fashion scene to articles in the

British newspapers, BBC Radio, Local and

international magazines, Farah Leghari has

wrapped Pakistani Fashion around her finger. The

credit of bringing Farah Leghari back into the world

of style and fashion goes to Gohar Textiles Mills, a

Faisalabad based company who ranks amongst the

top textile companies of our country. Farah has the

honor of being the only official Royal Designer from

Pakistan who was assigned by the Government to

create the royal wardrobe for the visiting Royals.

She has dressed the Queen of Jordan, Camilla,

Duchess of Cornwall, and many a Pakistani society

princess. Endeared by fashionistas and the fashion

conscious, Farah Leghari’s outfits are statements in

quintessential and effortless style. PR

CORPORATE CORNER

02

B

Ministry to clear

backlog issues

including Industrial

policy: Shahzada Sheikh

ISLAMABAD

APP

Caretaker Federal Minister for Indus-tries and Production Shahzada AhsanAshraf Sheikh said Thursday that hispriority is to clear the backlog of is-sues piled in the ministry since long. “We will try to clear backlog policiesincluding new industrial policy left bythe previous government,” the federalminister said while talking to a se-lected gathering of media personshere.This was the first interaction of theminister with media after takingcharge of his office as Caretaker Min-ister for Industries and Production.He said that every ministry has the di-rection to clear backlog of policiesthat have been pending with the re-spective ministries. He said that hisfocus as a minister of Industries andProduction would be to implement thepolicies for the promotion of indus-trial sector to ensure progress andprosperity of the country.

KARACHI: Zong has set up a corporate lounge at Karachi Airport. Picture shows Pan Qingjiang,

acting consul general of China inaugurating the lounge. Also seen are Niaz Malik, executive

director strategy, Yan Zhaohui and Ali Kamran, director corporate sales Zong. PR

ISLAMABAD

AGENCIES

CARETAKER Ministerfor Water andPower DrMusssadiqM a l i kh a s

told the heads of powerdistribution companiesand officers of the Min-istry to improve theirworking and achievetargets or they wouldhave to leave the posts.Addressing a meetingof heads of Power distri-bution companies and of-ficers of the Ministry, DrMussadiq Malik said warnedthat no hurdle would be al-lowed in the implementation ofdecisions for improvement in power

supply system. He directed the officials to takesteps which give relief to the people from loadshedding. The Water and Power Minister said in

addition to improvement in power gener-ation, he asked them to keep a

watch on water availability forirrigation. He said in-

creased wter supplywould improve agricul-

tural production. DrMussadiq saidthough he waslooking after theministry for a lim-ited period but theneed was to takedecisions having

lasting and farreaching impact in

improvement of powersector. He said everyone

will have to join hand todo something for the country

and its people.

OICCI stresses upon revamping tax system

KARACHI: The Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Indus-try (OICCI) urged substantive tax reforms in its 2013 – 2014 proposalssubmitted to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). The trade body hasalso forwarded general and industry-specific suggestions to broaden andrationalize the country’s revenue base to help overcome the prevailingeconomic crunch faced by the country. The proposal include implemen-tation of a consultative tax and revenue enhancement regime involvingall key stakeholders, using every legitimate means to withdraw tax andduty exemptions as well as amnesty schemes barring those impacting thepoor, effective monitoring and scrutiny to identify tax evasion and no-tably, bringing agricultural income into the tax net. STAFF REPORT

Minister asks GENCOs/DISCOs heads toachieve targets or leave

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

The 6th International Power Gen-eration conference & exhibition(POWERGEN PAK 2013) will beheld on April 9 with a theme“Emerging Energy-Mix for Sus-tainable Power Generation” at alocal hotel at Karachi.

Naeem Qureshi, Chairman Or-ganizing Committee of Power GenPak said that the conference willprovide knowledge & awareness,networking and Research & De-

velopment opportunities exclu-sively designed for power genera-tion through coal, hydro,renewable, thermal, and fossilfuels etc and allied industries.

ENERGY UPDATE is organ-izing the event which will offer aninteractive conference; enablinglocal and international energy ex-perts, regulators, power producers,academia to talk on latest ad-vancements being adopted and uti-lized worldwide especially in AsiaPacific Region, he added.

POWERGEN PAK 2012 is

supported by Alternate EnergyDevelopment Board (AEDB),Ministry of Water & Power, Govt.of Pakistan, Renewable EnergyAssociation of Pakistan (REAP),Institute of Research Promotion(IRP), and various academic insti-tutes.

Zubair Motiwala, ChairmanSindh Board of Investment, EjazA. Khan Secretary Thar Coal En-ergy, Haroon Agar, PresidentKCCI, Dr. Shabbir Ahmed MDThar Coal underground coal gasi-fication plant, Irfan Ahmed Direc-

tor Siemens Pakistan, Kalim Sid-diqui former MD PSO, Arif Al-lauddin CEO, Alternate EnergyDevelopment Board, Prof. NasimA. Khan, Former VC HamdardUniversity and other expertswould deliver their speeches onthe Power crises, problems & so-lutions, future strategies, research& development technological de-velopment & advancement, planof action energy efficiency conser-vation and management, impacton economic growth and develop-ment in the country.

6th power generation moot, energy expo on April 9

Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline is a welcoming project and

would bring the two friendly countries more close to each

other. – Senator Tahir Hussain Mashhadi

no hurdle would be allowed in the implementation of decisions for improvement in

power supply system, Dr Mussadiq Malik

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