profit.com.pk

Say bonjour to enhancedFrench-Pak economic tiesPage 02

Friday, 06 April, 2012

ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

tHE government on thursdayconstituted ten committeescomprising of leading businesspersons and officials to make

suggestions for solving energy crisis, pro-moting regional trade, protection foriPRs, much needed financial sector re-forms and tariff rationalization and ad-dressing various tax related issues in theupcoming budget for the next fiscal year.

Finance Minister Dr. abdul Hafeezshaikh chaired a meeting of the BusinessPersons Council. the meeting reviewedthe current state of economy, the role ofthe private sector and enhancement ofeconomic reforms in the country. thecouncil decided to form 10 committees togive recommendations on their respectiveareas and to present precise report withintwo weeks. the first committee includingsecretary Economic affairs Division willwork on broadening of tax base. secondcommittee including Governor state Bankof Pakistan will work on financial sectorreforms. third committee includingDeputy Chairmen Planning Commissionwill work on tariff rationalization. Fourthcommittee including secretary Commercewill work on regional trade. Fifth commit-tee including secretary industries willwork on incentives for investment. sixthcommittee including secretary Financewill work on expenditure management.seventh committee including secretaryinvestment will work on intellectual prop-erty rights. Eighth committee includingChairman FBR will work on refund accel-eration of taxes and other FBR related is-sues. the ninth committee also includingChairman FBR will work on tax reliefpackage for Fata and Balochistan. Whilethe tenth committee including secretaryWater and Power, secretary Petroleumand Deputy Chairmen Planning Commis-sion from will work on energy crisis.

Business persons highlighted theirconcerns and gave proposals for the com-ing budget. the discussion circled around

reasons for reducing external financing,FBR related issues especially concernsover sRO-191, energy and gas crisis im-pact on industrial sector, import and ex-port related matters, tariff and interestrate and intellectual property rights is-sues. On a question regarding increasingdebt burden, secretary EaD clarified thatdebt could never be seen in nominal way.Debt is dealt in the context of GDP. theperception of increasing debt burden wasnot true, as rather ratio of debt to GDP hasdecreased. the minister informed thecouncil about the overall economic per-formance, estimating growth rate of 3.8percent, which would be highest in lastthree years despite many challenges. He

said difficult decision taken in tax reformenabled to achieve 25 percent increase intax revenue. Massive funds were distrib-uted among the poor through Benazir in-come support Program. the budget forBalochistan was doubled. talking aboutthe challenges, he said the governmentfaced inherited a complex energy crisisand reduction in external financing. Hesaid that the country was in transitionphase with new public financing arrange-ments between center and provinces.

the matter of tax refund was also dis-cussed. Finance Minister and ChairmanFBR assured business community thattheir refunds would be given immediately.FBR will energize the process to issue re-

funding amount at the earliest. a cere-mony is expected to be held within threeweeks to distribute the refunding checks tothe people. the council also concluded tohold an intensive meeting before the an-nouncement of budget, in which delegatesfrom various chambers and associationswill participate. President Federation ofPakistan Chamber of Commerce and in-dustry, senator Haji Ghulam ali, memberkarachi Chambers of Commerce and in-dustry siraj Qasim taili, member LahoreChambers of Commerce and industryirfan Qaisar shaikh, member saaRCChambers of Commerce and industrytariq saeed and other leading businesspersons participated in the meeting.

Let the budget dogfight begin…

It’s interesting that very fewapologists for the previous regimerepeat the mantra of some years ago,

that bullish sentiment in the ksE – at thetime the best performing asian market –is an adequate indicator of economicgrowth. Yet even if today’s ground realitybetrays a hollowness in the assertion,there is usually some level of couplingbetween national income trajectory andstock market mechanism. But ours is astrange story. the economy is nearcollapse, deficits are out of control, taxrevenue is minimal and export earningsare dropping due to crippling energyshortage, yet the ksE is on steroids,breaching barrier after barrier with sometechnical analysts even predicting a riseall the way to 18,000. are they really intheir right minds?Best not get ahead of ourselves. true, themarket has displayed tremendous,unexpected resilience. and while the latestsurge owes to a multiplication of factorslike bid in the international commoditiesmarket, rising regional cement demand,improving Pak-Us ties, etc, the pointmight not be far when all-round euphoriaactually becomes a precursor to collapse.it’s somewhat like the old real-estate-bubble warning – take profits and exitwhen everyone including the taxi drivertells you to buy property. in the stockmarket, it’s a good idea to leave whenstocks with fundamentally no life starttesting upper limits in day trading. and that, unfortunately, has begun.Perhaps now, or soon enough, is just theright time for market regulators to makesure a re-run of the ’05 and ’06 collapsesis not in the offing. it’d be a shame if therecent roller coaster turns out just anotherdespicable, deliberate act of manipulation,of bad guys entering, bidding up themarket, inviting all and sundry, andleaving after whitening a lot of blackmoney. a lot of middle class wannabeshave been burnt this way before. it shouldnot happen again.

coMMent

Market mechanismg 10 committees comprising business persons formed to make recommendations for upcoming budget

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

Pakistan industrial & traders association Front(PiaF) has called for allocation of maximum funds inthe upcoming budget to overcome shortage of

electricity. in its budget proposals, the PiaF Chairman Engr.sohail Lashari said that the country’s economic revival is onlypossible if the government takes private sector on board inbudget-making exercise. He said that energy is the onlysector that has taken the entire trade and economy hostagetherefore the budget should be focused on energy-relatedprojects. the PiaF chairman also urged the government togive special package to all the industrial estates in the countryso that He could be able to establish their own power houses.He said that the government would have to allocate funds forrevival of public sector enterprises (PsEs) that are presentlyeating up much of the budgeted money. the increase theexports, the PiaF leaders proposed cut in duties on rawmaterials for export-oriented industry while the appointmentof commercial attaches in foreign countries should be linkedto promotion of Pakistani merchandise in global market. Hesaid that high markup needs to be brought down to singledigit as it would increase industrial productivity on the onehand while help increase local investment in the country. thebanking spread that has crossed the figure of seven per centshould also be narrowed down in the larger interests of tradeand industry. as the country at the moment is facing anumber of external and internal pressures, the PiaF leaders

suggested to the government to curtail all non-productiveexpenditures to the minimum level so that the funds could beutilized for the betterment of people. He said that thegovernment should also announce austerity drive in thebudget and all government functionaries entitled to useofficial vehicles should be directed to use small vehicles andtheir fuel consumption limit should also be fixed. as thiswould help save precious foreign exchange. Over law andorder situation, the PiaF leaders said that there is a dire needto allocate special funds to strengthen intelligence network inthe country as the previous happenings have proved thatpolice alone can not handle any untoward incident. the PiaFChairman also urged the government to evolve both short-term and long term policies to overcome the shortage ofelectricity. in this regard, he local businessmen could beasked to make investment in power sector jointly orindividually. as a large number of industrial units havestopped their operations while many are on the way toclosure. He said that uninterrupted supply of electricity to theindustry would not only increase industrial production but itwould also arrest the fast galloping unemployment graph. Hesaid that the government should also announce work onkalabagh Dam which had been politicized for nothing as itwould not only expedite economic activity but would alsoensure cheapest electricity on completion. the PiaFChairman said that there is a dire need to promote researchculture in the country as despite having all the resources thecountry is lagging far behind in every sector only because onnon-availability of required information.

Give power generation the biggest share of the budget pie: PIAF

PRO 06-04-2012_Layout 1 4/6/2012 12:32 AM Page 1

news02Friday, 06 April, 2012

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

JUst like equity marketvolumes having beensupercharged so far,cement volumes have also

unleashed their bull-run duringthe just-concluded month ofMarch, said the analysts atinvestCap.Even with the very onset of thesummer feel, the analysts saidcement sector volumes hadstarted warming up their musclesas the total cement volumes inMarch 2012 had recorded solidgrowth, a straight 27 percentMoM, with total monthly volumesstanding at 3.18mn tons.Most encouragingly, volumes onthe local front punched in thehighest growth of 32 percent MoMin the month of Mar-12, and it washard to locate a growth this highin the recent years, especially inMarch. Local volumes stood at2.55 million tons with country’snorthern region taking themaximum lead with 2.07 milliontons of dispatches (up 33.9percent MoM, 16.4 percent YoY)and southern region sharing the

rest, with a healthy growth of 23.0percent MoM and 8.6 percent YoYduring Mar-12. not only on the local front didcement volumes show suchmassive growth turnaround,export dispatches also turnedgreen with marked improvementof 11.2 percent MoM revealedduring Mar-12. Positive volumegrowth in exports was recordedafter a persistent decline sinceDec-11, with total export volumesclocking in at around 630k tons inMar-12 against 567k tons in Feb-12. However, on a YoY basis,exports during Mar-12 were stilldown by 23 percent. as far ascumulative cement volumes go, asa result of shining volumes growthrecorded in Mar-12, total volumesgrowth during 9MFY12 improvedto 3.6 percent YoY from 3.4percent YoY recorded till 8MFY12.total cement volumes, in thisregard, stood at 23.6mn tonsduring 9MFY12 (local 17.4mntons, up 8.4 percent YoY, exports6.2mn tons, down 7.7 percentYoY) against 22.8mn tonsrecorded during 9MFY11 (local16.0mn tons, exports 6.7mn tons).though capacity utilization jacked

up by 200bps MoM to 71 percent,it was still down 400bps YoY(against Mar-11’s) while averageutilization stood at around 71percent during 9MFY12, down100bps YoY.such massive jump in volumescoupled with consistently risingprices on both local (over Rs8,500/ton or Rs425/bag) andexport fronts (over UsD60/tonFoB), and a high degree offinancial leverage (DFL) withrelatively stable production costs(mainly coal prices), should alltranslate into windfall gains forthe entire sector with a massiveturnaround in return on equity forsector’s shareholders.“We expect another excellentquarter i.e. 3QFY12, in terms offinancial performance for theentire cement sector on the basisof flourishing profit marginswhich almost all of the companieshave now been sailing through,”said Yawar Uz Zaman andkhurram schehzad of theinvestCap. the analysts expectDGkC, LUCk, FCCL, aCPL,MLCF, LPCL, BWCL, kOHt andfew others taking the lead in termsof profitability.

Bulls march to cement exportsg cement exports up by 11.2 percent as volumes turn bullish during March LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

xPORts that provided cushion to thecement manufacturers againstunutilised capacities continued theirdownward trend in March-2012.

Exports of cement declined by 23.72 per cent inMarch 2012 compared to last year defeating thecommendable increase of 14.8 per cent indomestic sales that crossed 2.5 million tons.all Pakistan Cement Manufacturers association(aPCMa) spokesman has expressed delightthat the domestic sales have picked up by ahealthy margin in March with local salescrossing the 2.55 million tons mark – making itthe first month ever when the sales crossed the2.5 million tons physiological barrier. He saidthat total domestic sales in the first ninemonths of the current year have reached 17.386million tons against 16.040 million tons duringthe same period last year, showing an overallgrowth of 8.40 per cent.“this is better but domestic industry needsmuch more sales to utilise its idle productioncapacity.” He further added that thedisappointing performance in exports hadreduced the gains made by the domestic salesgrowth. He said the exports in March-2012were only 625,358 tons compared to 819,805tons in March-2011. “in the first nine monthsof this fiscal the cement exports have declinedby 7.76 per cent to 6.243 million tons comparedto 6.769 million tons during the correspondingperiod last year.” He expressed concerns aboutthe decline in sea exports witnessed by the

cement plants located in the south. He said theexports from sea declined during the first ninemonths of this fiscal by 22 per cent to 2.425million tons against exports of 3.107 milliontons during corresponding period last year.He said that exports to afghanistan registered agrowth of two per cent in the first nine monthsof this fiscal from 3.403 million tons in July-March 2011 to 3.336 million tons in the firstnine months of this fiscal. the less growth inexports is mainly due to prolong winter seasonand it is hoped that by the end of current fiscalthe industry shall cross five million tonsquantity. He said exports to india though stillmuch below potential registered a healthyincrease of over 26 per cent in the first ninemonths of this fiscal from 382,763 tons in July-March 2011 to 483,337 tons in the first ninemonths of this fiscal. He hoped that indiawould remove the non-tariff barriers to paveway for much accelerated exports in next threemonths of this fiscal.

exports extend their downward journey

LAHORE

STAFF REPORT

FREnCH ambassador toPakistan Philippe thiebaudhas said that Pakistan-France Joint Commission for

Economic Cooperation is beingestablished to give boost to bilateraltrade and economic relations.the French ambassador was speakingat the Lahore Chamber of Commerce& industry on thursday. the LCCisenior Vice President kashif YounisMeher presented the address ofWelcome while Vice President saeedanazar, former President MianMisbah-ur-Rehman, former seniorVice Presidents abdul Basit, tahirJaved Malik, Executive CommitteeMember nasir saeed, Mian abuzarshad, sheikh Mohammad ayub,ahmad Hasnain, nabila intisar andshoaib Zahid Malik also spoke on theoccasion.the ambassador said that France isalso providing financial and technicalassistance to Pakistan for execution ofhydel power projects to helpovercome current energy crisis. Hesaid that France is striving to developGsP plus mechanism for Pakistaniproducts’ access to EU market. Hesaid that this would give aconsiderable boost to Pakistaniexports.the ambassador said that over $ 1.3billion trade volume betweenPakistan and France in 2011 wasenough to make the point that boththe sides have multifaceted andstrong trade ties. He said that Frenchcar makers have shown their interestin Pakistani market and they mighthave their presence in near future.the French ambassador said thatFrench large companies have

recognized Pakistan’s potential andare interested to make investmenthere. On French cooperation ineducation sector, the ambassadorsaid that presently over 600 Mastersand Ph D students were gettingeducation in France while France isworking with Higher EducationCommission to facilitate morePakistani students.speaking on the occasion, the LCCisenior Vice President kashif YounisMeher said that Pakistan and Franceare not only steady trading partnersbut have been substituting greatgestures of love, respect andcooperation in other fields of life. Hesaid that considering the size ofPakistan’s consumer market which isover 180 million and the extravagantstyle of spending by the rich class,French companies should takePakistan as a potential market fortheir brands. He said that four kindsof weather and varied types of terrainwiden the range of French products to

be marketed in Pakistan.More than half of our populationconsists of youth who are brandconscious and also inclined to followthe fashion trends. so, i think moreand more French brands can beintroduced in Pakistan to tap such ahuge fraction of society. the LCCisenior Vice President said thatcatalogue exhibitions, exchangingtrade information and organizingfranchising exhibitions could play avital role to enhance the bilateraltrade.Pakistan exports comprise of textileclothing and hosiery items, bed &kitchen linens, appliances used inmedical sciences, floating docks andlight vessels, footwear, carpets, rice,leather goods and etc. Whereas weimport turbo-jets, turbo-propellersand other gas turbines, aircraft parts,electric generating sets, rotaryconverters, medicament mixtures,colza seeds, natural milk productsand etc.

kashif Younis Meher said thatPakistan has the potential to exportquality fashion garments to Franceparticularly made of finest leather.Likewise we can supply sports goods,organic fresh fruits and vegetablesetc. Other products which can beimported from France arepharmaceuticals, electro-medicalapparatus, machinery parts andremelting scrap etc. tourism isanother important area in which bothcountries can cooperate with eachother for its promotion. He said thatthat French multinationals could findthe favourable environment for long-term investment in Pakistan. thesuccess attained by French brandslike total and LU on the basis of thestrength of their products has provedthat there is enormous potential ofForeign Direct investment inPakistan. apart from that, there are severalareas in Pakistan in which Frenchfirms can venture independently or inpartnership with public and privatesectors. Energy and transport can bemost lucrative sectors for Frenchinvestors amidst other fields liketelecommunication, chemicals,automobiles, ship building anddefence. to further expandcommercial and economic ties, it isnecessary that both countries shouldhave access to each other’s markets.this will definitely lead both sides toa more strengthened and stableeconomic partnership. the LCCi VicePresident saeeda nazar, speaking onthe occasion called for collaborationin education and fashion industry forthe benefit of Pakistan. she said thatthe fashion industry in France is welladvanced and Pakistanientrepreneurs could learn a lot fromits expertise.

ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

tHE government plans to install anadditional 747 MW combined cyclepower plant at Guddu in sindh

province to enhance power generation.Ministry of Water and Power has directedthe relevant executing department toexpedite the required formalities. theproposed power project would consist oftwo gas turbines of 243 MW each, twoheat recovery steam generators (HRsG)followed by one steam turbine having acapacity of 261 MW and associatedequipment. site for the proposed power plant islocated within the premises of theexisting Guddu power plant complex inkashmore district. the existing plantincludes 640 MW steam turbine unitsconsisting of two 110 MW units and two210 MW units, 600 MW combined cycleplant and 415 MW combine cycle plant,making a total plant capacity of 1,655MW. the existing combined cycle unitshave the facility of dual firing. However,fuel oil is used only during interruptionsin gas supply. there will be no additionalgas required for this new 747 mw plantand the existing supply will be used forthis additional generation.an environmental impact assessment(Eia) of the proposed project has beenconducted in accordance with thestipulations of the environmental lawsand the environmental guidelines of theinternational Finance Corporation (iFC). the power plant will help the governmentin coping with the increasing demand ofelectricity in the country. the installationof the power plant will further enhancethe power supply to this area, make thesupply more reliable and thereforeimprove the quality of service. the projectwill also create employment opportunitiesin the area.

Say bonjour to enhancedFrench-Pak economic tiesg French Ambassador discuss ties while speaking at LccI g Vows to provide technical assistance

Government’sGuddu gameplan g 747 MW combined cycle power

plant planned at Guddu

g Decline of 23pc, overshadows highest ever local sales

PRO 06-04-2012_Layout 1 4/6/2012 12:32 AM Page 2

news

Friday, 06 April, 2012

03

Free Lounge Service launched by UBL atJinnah International Airport, KarachiKARACHI: UBL, one of Pakistan’s largest privatebanks, inaugurated its Lounges at Jinnah interna-tional airport, karachi on tuesday, 27th March, 2012.these lounges situated at both the domestic and in-ternational terminals of the airport will provide freeof charge amenities and friendly hospitality to valuedUBL customers as they await boarding their flights.Mr. atif R. Bokhari, President UBL was present at theoccasion, accompanied by other senior executivesfrom UBL. “UBL has always strived to provide thebest of products and services to its customers”, saidMr. Bokhari at the event, “through the Lounges atkarachi airport UBL is augmenting its endeavor tobetter facilitate our customers and reaching out tothem at all possible touch-points”. PRESS RElEASE

coca-cola, KASHF Foundation sign MoUto help small women entrepreneurs

LAHORE: Coca-Cola Beverages Pakistan Ltd.(CCBPL) and kasHF Foundation signed a Memoran-dum of Understanding (MoU) on Monday 2nd of april2012, for the Women Entrepreneurship Program. ac-cording to the MoU, CCBPL will provide kasHF foun-dation with a grant of Rs. 2.5 million to support theWomen Entrepreneurship program. the Mou wassigned in CCBPL’s Lahore office by Zohair Mahmood,External affairs Director, CCBPL and Roshaneh Zafar,Director kasHF Foundation. PRESS RElEASE

Islamic Microfinance can be capturedthrough Venture capitalLAHORE: By using venture capital, islamic microfi-nance sector can implement the dream of eliminatingpoverty from the world. islamic microfinance is facingmany hurdles globally, like access of funding undershari’ah compliance sources, lack of awareness andquantity of funding and cost of funds. these remarkswere made by nur Global strategies Managing Direc-tor kavilash Chawla, who was addressing a workshopon islamic microfinance here on thursday. the work-

shop was organised by the alHuda Centre of islamicBanking and Economics. speaking on islamic micro-finance sector in Pakistan, Chawla said that like othercountries Pakistan was also facing hurdles in the de-velopment of microcredit. He pointed out that inter-national donor institutions avoid funding to Pakistandue to lack of awareness in the country. He appreci-ated the role of alHuda Centre of islamic Banking andEconomics, and said that it was the sole institution inthe country that conducted road shows, workshopsand training programs countrywide for the awarenessof islamic microfinance. STAFF REPORT

Meezan Bank profits up 106pc toRs3.4b during 2011KARACHI: Meezan Bank’s profit-after-tax for 2011grew by 106 percent to Rs 3.4 billion against lastyear’s Rs 1.65 billion, irfan siddiqui, president andCEO of the bank, told the shareholders at the 16th an-nual General Meeting held here. siddiqui said thebank’s earnings per share for the year increased to Rs4.22 (2011: Rs. 2.05) and deposits grew by 30 percentto Rs 170 billion as at December 2011 (2010: Rs 131billion). the bank opened 53 new branches in 2011making it the 9th largest bank branch network in Pak-istan with 275 branches spread across 83 cities ofPakistan. approving the bank’s annual and consoli-dated audited accounts, the shareholders cleared 12.5percent bonus shares for the year continuing thebank’s unbroken payout record since its date of listingon karachi stock Exchange. STAFF REPORT

Samsung Galaxy note Studio comesto Park towers KarachiLAHORE: after the resounding success of theGalaxy note studio event in Lahore, samsungElectronics Co. Ltd. the global leader in digitaltechnology and telecommunications, will holdanother colorful event at Park towers-karachifrom 6th to 8thapril, 2012. these events in Pak-istan are a continuation of a global series of pro-motional activities for the samsung Galaxy note- the first tablet and smart-phone hybrid thatprovides unmatched ease in capturing those “bigideas” using samsung’s sophisticated “s pen”technology, to accurately digitize sketches, art-works and handwritten text. at the Galaxy notestudio, skillful artists and sketchers will drawfree caricatures of the participants, using the rev-olutionary “Caricature” feature in the smartphone. these caricatures will also be printed ontot-shirts & Mugs and presented as souvenirs forthe participants. along with fun filled activities,the visitors shall also be able to purchase Galaxynote at a discounted price. STAFF REPORT

KSe, StAP join hands to educate market participants

KARACHI: the karachi stock Exchange (ksE) andsociety of technical analysts of Pakistan (staP) thurs-day signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) toenhance technical skills of the investors, traders andstock analysts. Managing Director ksE nadeem naqviand President staP Ovais ahsan signed the MoU hereat the ksE auditorium in the presence of ksE boardmembers, management committee of staP and otherconcerned. “this would be a positive step towards en-hancing the technical skills of investors, traders, andanalysts”, naqvi said adding the ksE would continue toplay a vital role in educating the investors. the MD em-phasized that any investment decision, whether shortterm or long term, needed discipline to manage andmitigate the risk. in this respect, technical analysis canprovide such a discipline. STAFF REPORT

MoU signed between Hec recognisedIcM-UK and nccSLAHORE: HEC recognized Uk based examiningbody institute of Commercial Management (iCM-Uk) has signed MoU with the nCCs, a franchise col-lege network of the ‘University of south asia’, tooffer 4-Year Uk Bachelor (Hons) level qualificationin Management studies & Computing across Pak-istan. M. Moazam shahbaz naqeebi, Regional Direc-tor of iCM-Uk, said that we aim to make borderlessrecognised qualifications accessible to students evenin smaller towns & cities in Pakistan and this MoUwill help achieve this goal. PRESS RElEASE

oracle’s Mark Hurd delivers strategy todrive It simplificationKARACHI: today, Oracle President Mark Hurd ad-dressed the Oracle OpenWorld tokyo audience, speak-ing about the explosion of data and the critical businessneed to simplify it. With 65 percent of the world’s en-terprise data stored in Oracle databases, the need forreal-time business analytics ranks among the most im-portant business challenges for C-level executives. “Or-acle offers the market’s only complete, integratedBusiness analytics solutions that enable customers to

analyze and leverage information intelligence at thespeed of thought,” said Mark Hurd, President, Oracle.“Business analytics — getting the right data to the rightperson at the right time to make the optimal decisionis the most important thing you can get from your data.analytics is in Oracle’s Dna and is a vital part of every-thing we do – database, middleware, applications andengineered systems.” “Oracle’s continuous stream oftechnology innovation, across Engineered systems, in-memory analytics, enterprise discovery, prebuilt ana-lytic and performance management applications,advanced analytics and Big Data ensure our customerscan leverage existing it investments and gain in-creased business advantage by rapidly gaining greaterlevels of analytical insight,” said Balaji Yelamanchili,senior vice president, analytics and Performance Man-agement Products, Oracle. STAFF REPORT

Ufone signs up Pakistan’s top golfers

KARACHI: Ufone has accentuated its ongoing com-mitment to sports in Pakistan by signing up the topgolfers Pakistan has to offer. this is the first time in thehistory of Pakistan that golf has been endorsed at sucha massive country wide scale. this endorsement shallgive Pakistan golf a chance to gain international expo-sure and acclaim. By signing on shabbir iqbal (Pakistanno.1), Matloob ahmed (Pakistan no.2), MuhammadMunir (Pakistan no.3) and Mubariz ahmed (PakistanJunior Champion), Ufone has reaffirmed its convictionto support sports in the country. speaking at the occa-sion abdul aziz President & CEO Ufone said that thesegentlemen have, had a great career and it is indeed agreat opportunity for them to share their talent with thewhole nation. PRESS RElEASE

iSlAmAbAd: Airline Senior Officials delegation metFederal Finance minister, mr.Abdul Hafeez Shaikh inislamabad on 03rd April 2012 to discuss the issuesrelated to Federal Excise duty. Picture shows From l-R: mr. Salim bhutto, mr. Feroz Jamal, mr. Ken marshal,mr. Salim motiwala and mr. Rizwan Ali merchant alongwith other airline officials. PRESS RElEASE

CORPORATE CORNER

Major Gainers

Company Open High Low Close Change Turnover

Indus Motor Company 240.00 252.00 240.00 252.00 12.00 8,304Sanofi-Aventis 152.01 159.61 153.00 159.61 7.60 7,515Lucky Cement 116.59 122.41 116.65 121.95 5.36 4,670,970Shezan Inter. 112.33 117.00 110.50 116.96 4.63 1,497Mari Gas Company 87.31 91.67 87.01 91.67 4.36 297,635

Major Losers

Nestle PakXD 4405.54 4519.00 4300.00 4319.29 -86.25 77Rafhan MaizeXD 2667.00 2800.00 2607.00 2608.36 -58.64 22Bata (Pak) Ltd. 615.71 640.00 605.00 623.01 7.30 48Philip Morris Pak. 120.10 115.00 114.10 114.10 -6.00 1,642Millat Tractors 499.09 502.00 494.50 494.94 -4.15 16,209

Volume Leaders

Lafarge Pakistan 5.11 5.37 5.02 5.17 0.06 33,024,204D.G.K.Cement 38.62 40.19 38.20 39.12 0.50 29,596,699Jah.Sidd. Co. 22.77 23.20 21.64 21.78 -0.99 29,313,582Fauji Cement 5.52 5.90 5.52 5.70 0.18 26,800,880Dewan Cement 4.72 5.72 4.85 5.72 1.00 26,684,388

Interbank RatesUs Dollar 90.4509Uk Pound 143.3918Japanese Yen 1.1014Euro 118.3369

Dollar EastBuy Sell

US Dollar 90.50 91.10Euro 120.16 121.48Great Britain Pound 144.11 145.73Japanese Yen 1.0839 1.0957Canadian Dollar 90.15 91.65Hong Kong Dollar 11.49 11.67UAE Dirham 24.56 24.83Saudi Riyal 24.06 24.30Australian Dollar 93.15 94.61

KARACHI

STAFF REPORTER

tHURsDaY saw the karachi stocksmarket shedding 113.83 points amidwhat the analysts said institutionalprofit-taking in blue-chip stocks

ahead of major earning announcements duenext week.the benchmark, ksE 100-share index closedat 13,831.47 points against Wednesday’s13,945.30 points. the intraday high and lowwas recorded, respectively, at 13,985.14 and13,811.04 points.according to ahsan Mehanti, director arifHabib investments, the negatives likeuncertainty over announcements on therevised Capital Gains tax regime andconcerns over the security situation in the cityafter Malir blast affected the investors’sentiments. the trading volumes at the ready-counterwere recorded higher at 457.944 millionshares against 409.301 million shares of theprevious trading session. the trading valuetoo increased to Rs 9.375 billion as against Rs9.219 billion on Wednesday.“speculations in cement stocks after rise inlocal and export prices and expectations for

stronger earnings outlook in oil sectorsupported the market to close above its dayslow,” said Mehanti.the market capital dropped slightly andclosed at Rs 3.549 trillion compared to Rs3.575 trillion a day earlier. Of the total 374traded scrips, 146 gained, 158 lost and 70finished as unchanged.the free-float ksE-30 index also shed 91points to finish at 12,181.16 points against theprevious 12,272.53 points.Lafarge Pakistan maintained its status of theday’s volume leader and counted its tradedshares at 33.024 million with the opening andclosing rates standing, respectively, at Rs 5.11and Rs 5.17.the companies followed include D.G khanCement, Jahangir siddiqui Company, FaujiCement, Dewan Cement, Bank of Punjab,national Bank of Pakistan, Engro Polymer,iGi investment Bank and azgard nine whosetrading turnover for the day was counted at29.59 million, 29.31 million, 26.800 million,26.68 million, 20.84 million, 17.90 million,17.53 million, 15.63 million and 14.98 millionshares, respectively.On the future market, the trading volumejumped to 26.382 million shares against16.66 million of the previous day.

Massive bear hug haltsbull run amid institutional profit-taking

Re$eRVe$ RI$eDollar reserves up to $16.505bfor second consecutive week

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

COUntRY’s dollar reservescontinue to increase for the secondconsecutive week which saw a hike

of 0.3 percent up to March 30. Last week(up to March 23), the country’s foreignexchange reserves had increased by $ 46million to stand at $ 16.441 billion from $16.395 billion the country held thepreceding week ending on March 16.During the week under review thecountry’s holding of the greenbackswelled to $ 16.505 billion, up by $ 64million or 0.3 percent compared with $16.441 billion of last week. the positivetrend in the foreign exchange isattributable to an upward trend in thecentral bank’s reserves which rose by $ 70million or 0.5 percent this week and $ 96million or 0.8 percent last week. againstlast week’s $ 11.767 billion, the bank held$ 11.837 billion during the review week.However, the commercial banks’ reservesagain set in the red zone and shrank by $5 million to$ 4.668 billion. Last week toothe banks had seen their reservesdepleting to $ 4.673 billion, down by $ 51million or 1.0 percent compared topreceding week. after hitting a record $18.31 billion mark in July 2011, thecountry’s foreign exchange reserves arestaggering at the $ 16 billion mark withofficial and unofficial observers citingrepayments on account of exports andexternal loans as a major drain on thedollar holdings.

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