By Abdul Qadir Qureshi  (Pakistan News & Features Services) The Alpha opening in the basement of Ocean Mall, Clifton, on September 10 was quite a memorable event.  It was an evening to remember as Karachi finally had the presence of Tesco, a reputed British multinational grocery and general merchandise retailer.  As anticipated the launch of Alpha turned out to be a phenomenal success with the large turnout, a clear indication of the project generating immediate attention to the extent of creating waves among the potential customers.  It’s the fulfillment of yet other cherished dream of Nadeem Hussain, Founder and Coach at Planet N Group of Companies, having earned accolades in the financial services industry of Pakistan through his impossibly gifted talents. Living to the reputation of being very passionate about whatever he ventures into, the former Citi Group country chief in Pakistan has now got his Planet N Group off to a flying s...

With year-end right around the corner, participation remained dull at the bourse. The benchmark index rose by mere 3 points to close at 25370.03 level compared to 25366.69 points of the previous day. Equity dealer at Topline Securities Asad Siddiqui said positive momentum continued in the cement sector and specially in FCCL, out of 17 listed stocks in the sector 12 closed in the green zone while one remained unchanged.  On the other hand, profit-taking was seen in oil and gas sector while some pressure was seen in fertilizer stocks barring Engro, which closed with gains of 3pc. FCCL, PTC and PAEL made up for the top 3 volume leaders with trade of 16.7m, 10.2m and 9.7m shares, respectively. KSE-Allshare index shed by 30.02 points or 0.16 percent to end the day at 18690.70 points, KSE-30 share index off by 8.19 points or 0.04 percent to close the day at 18941.99 points while KMI-30 share index misplaced 69.59 points or 0.16 percent to end the day at 42739.21 points.   T...

The Karachi stock market on the last trading day of the week Friday made an intraday high of 25,000 points for the first time in the history of Pakistan and closed below the said level with a rise of 70 points. Analysts cited hopes for improved Indo-Pak bilateral relations and interest of international investors in setting up power plants in Pakistan as the main reasons for the positive trend. The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) 100-share index gained 69.86 points or 0.28 percent to close at 24,870.55 points as compared to previous session’s 24,800.69 points. The KSE 30-share index rose 10.48 points to close at 18,624.99 points as against 18,614.514 points.   “After testing the psychological level of 25,000 points the index was seen scaling back to close at 24,870 points,” said Habib Metropolitan Financial Services’ Muhammad Sultan. “During the second session the index pared gains posted earlier in the day, largely driven by profit-taking by risk averse investor...

Karachi Stocks closed record high led by second and third tier stocks on strong valuations. Sentiments remained bullish ahead of quarter-end earning announcements due next week. The Karachi stock market benchmark KSE-100 share index added 22.59 points or 0.12 percent to end the day at 18,636.03 points compared to 18,613.44 points of the previous day.  Stock analyst Ahsan Mehanti said consolidation in blue chips stocks continued amid concerns for fall in global commodities. Strong data on urea, DAP and cement sales for Mar ‘13, speculations ahead of upcoming SBP policy announcement and expectations of higher LDI revenues for telecom sector played a catalyst role in higher close at KSE amid concerns for rising circular debt issues in energy sector outcome for CCP levy on fertilizer companies on collusion and increasing urea prices. KSE-Allshare index up by 10.56 points or 0.08 percent to end the day at 13,209.70 points, KSE-30 share index increased by 25.38 points or 0.17 ...

The board of directors (BoD) of MCB Bank Ltd has declared final cash dividend of Rs 3 and 10 percent bonus shares, in addition to interim cash dividends of Rs 10 already paid for the year ended December 31, 2012, a statement of the bank said on Thursday. Earnings per share (EPS) for the year came to Rs 22.77 as compared to Rs 21.12 for December 31, 2011. Return on assets came to 2.95 percent, return on equity was recorded at 25.07 percent and book value per share improved to Rs 95.84. The BoD met under the chairmanship of Mian Mohammad Mansha to review the performance of the bank and approve the financial statements. For the year 2012, the bank reported profit before tax of Rs 32.054 billion and profit after tax of Rs 20.941 billion with an increase of 2.0 percent and 8.0 percent, respectively. Total assets of MCB Bank Limited grew by 17 percent to Rs 765.899 billion. The analysis of the asset mix highlights 27 percent increase in investments to Rs 402.069 billion ...

The Public Sector Companies (Corporate Governance) Rules have been approved by the SECP Policy Board. The rules are aimed at improving the governance framework of public sector companies (PSCs) in order to bring about greater transparency and plugging the huge losses of public sector enterprises, which are in the range of Rs400 billion per year. Held on Thursday at the SECP head office, the board meeting was chaired by Mr. Wajid Rana, the federal finance secretary. The board consists of the SECP chairman, federal secretaries for finance, law and commerce, and deputy governor, State Bank.   The rules have been based on the Code of Corporate Governance issued by the SECP as well as on the recommendations contained in the Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises issued by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The salient features of the rules are o          The appointment of the...

 The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has established a task force to identify weaknesses and gaps in the current protection mechanism for the shareholders of the companies and suggest ways and means to overcome these through shareholder activism. The decision has come in the light of the prevalent international practices. In Malaysia, Minority Shareholder Watchdog Group (MSWG) or Badan Pengawas Pemegang Saham Minoriti Berhad, was set up in 2000 as a government initiative to be part of a broader capital market framework to bring about awareness and help protect the interests of minority shareholders through shareholder activism. The MSWG is a professional body licensed under the 2007 Capital Markets and Services Act. It is a self-governing and non-profit body, funded predominantly by the Capital Market Development. It is an important channel for market discipline, encouraging good governance among public listed companies with the objective of raisi...

The Karachi stock market finally managed to close above the psychological level of 17,000 points on Thursday due to heavy buying driven by good corporate results. The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) 100-share index gained 147.69 points or 0.87 percent to close at 17,056.36 points as compared to 16,908.67 points of the previous session. The KSE 30-share index increased 125.28 points to close at 13,931.66 points as compared with 13,806.38 points of the previous session.   “Finally the market managed to close above 17,000 points level,” said Topline Sec dealer Samar Iqbal. “Institutional buying and good corporate results helped the equity prices to improve by approximately 1.0 percent.” Higher than expected earning announcement by Engro Foods helped the market sentiment, she said and added that second-tier cement stocks performed well as investors are expecting healthy profits for the quarter ending in December.   The market turnover went up by 24.38 percent and...

There is a strong need for strengthening of regulatory environment in Pakistan for the development of a modern corporate sector, Chairman, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), Muhammad Ali said while addressing a press briefing at the SECP head office on Thursday.   Briefing the journalists, the SECP chairman said that it has been decided to increase the SECP’s capacity of enforcement by 200%. He said that on-site inspection of all licensed entities including brokers would be conducted annually and offsite monitoring on a quarterly basis. This will increase transparency, investor confidence and foreign portfolio investment. In the past the SECP took action against defaulters by filing criminal complaints and sometimes referring those cases to the NAB. However, in order to ensure compliance with all the relevant statutory requirements, it is necessary that offsite monitoring and onsite inspections should be regularly conducted for all licenses/licensed...

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan has proposed certain amendments to the 2003 Companies (Registration Offices) Regulations,  whereby a substantial reduction in the additional fees for late submission of statutory returns, annual accounts and other documents filed by the companies has been proposed.  As per current regulations, on late filing of documents, heavy additional fee is being charged which might be a reason for non-compliance and low rate of filing of overdue statutory returns by companies. Through this amendment, SECP has proposed to reduce the burden of additional fee to be paid by companies. This is likely to increase compliance rate. Additional fees which are required to be paid as one time additional fee for a delay of not more than 15 days, two times for a delay of not more than 45 days and three times for delay of more than 45 days, shall now be paid as one fourth times for a delay not more than one month, one half times for a delay no...

In order to chalk out a comprehensive strategy to combat business fraud, a meeting of a special committee comprising of representatives of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, Financial Monitoring Unit, State Bank of Pakistan, National Accountability Bureau, Federal Investigation Agency, and the police is being held on Tuesday, January 8,2013, at the SECP head office.   The committee will focus on preventing illegal business activities, including Ponzi and pyramid schemes, carried out by companies and unregistered entities. The committee has been formed to achieve synergy to prevent fraudulent business activities that cheat the public. It will share information to identify and prevent business scams. The participants will consider developing a national anti-fraud strategy and institutionalizing the coordination mechanism by setting up an all-encompassing anti-fraud body in the country. The committee will identify various areas of common interest, including ...

In November the SECP’s Corporatization and Compliance Department took 82 enforcement actions against various corporate entities and penalties amounting to thousands of rupees were imposed on five of them.  The department issued 45 show cause notices and conducted 31 hearings for various violations of the provisions of the 1984 Companies Ordinance, ranging from late filing of annual accounts, non-filing of accounts to non-holding of AGMs and faulty audit of cost accounts. Six orders were issued against five companies: Pakistan Electrical & Electronics Merchant Association (Sections 184, 242 read with 476),  Fahim Nanji & De Souza (Sections 92, 93, 172  read with 476), Chemi Multfabrics Limited (Sections 142, 184 read with 476), United Brands Limited (Section 184 read with 476) and Grand Leisure Corporation Limited (Section 184 read with Section 476).  In addition, the department received seven complaints during the month and four of them were ...

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi (Pakistan News & Features Services) The Pakistan Reinsurance Company Limited (PRCL), rated as AA Company, has posted a net profit of Rs.925 million for the three Quarters ending September 30, 2012. The break-up of Profit & Loss Account of PRCL in Underwriting Profit in nine months having ended on September 30, 2012, is Rs.578 million, as compared to Rs.283 million during the corresponding period last year. The investment income stood at Rs.785 million as compared to Rs.747 million while the rental and other income went up from Rs.36 million to Rs.45 million. The general and administration expenses were brought down from Rs.30 million to Rs.29 million with the exchange gain being Rs.39 million compared to Rs.27 million last year. The net profit before tax and value of available for Sale Investment-write-off was Rs.1408 million as Rs.1073 million last year, less Provision for Taxation Rs.337 million to Rs.217 million...

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi ( Pakistan News & Features Services) “The Pakistani members of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO), a chapter of World Presidents Organization (WPO), together with their international counterparts, would take a leading role through which international events could be held in Pakistan and ideas shared between our government as well as private organizations to create opportunities for further development of our natural resources, energy sector, industries, agriculture and most importantly education.” This was stated by Arif Ali Shah Bukhari, Regional Member YPO while speaking at the launch of YPO Capital Pakistan at a ceremony held in Islamabad . The YPO, he pointed out, as an organization created opportunities for them and in turn allowed them to grow personally and professionally. “The YPO goal is to ensure that every member’s experience is a unique and personal journey...

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi  (Pakistan News & Features Services) Arif Ali Shah Bukhari, Regional Board Member of Young Presidents Organization (YPO), a chapter of World Presidents Organization (WPO), held a meeting with the visiting Bosnian President, Bakir Izetbegovic, in Islamabad. During exchange of views, the Bosnian President invited Arif Bukhari, to bring YPO delegation to Bosnia in order to explore business opportunities over there. They also discussed other matters of mutual interests and Arif Bukhari, founder of YPO capital, expressed his gratitude and informed the President of his best feelings for Bosnia and his plans to arrange meaningful dialogues between the top businessmen of both countries. Arif Bukhari, a Member Board of YPO MENA (Middle East & North African Region), is currently the Chapter Chair of Pakistan. He is also the Founder of YPO Indus chapter and Mentor of WPO Pakistan Chapter.

The capital markets in Pakistan offer transparency, best price and efficient execution coupled with attraction for foreigners as equity market trades at discount as compared to regional valuations. Based on PE (price earning), PBV (price by volume) and payout, the Pakistani capital markets trades at lower levels as compared to regional markets. Such attractiveness must catch the eyes of foreign fund managers to explore the opportunities offered by the Pakistani capital markets.                                               Mr. Shahid Naseem and Mr. Imran Inayat Butt, of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, said this while making a presentation this at an institute organized by the US Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, DC. The SECP s...