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 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...

We preview Kapco's 2QFY12 results (scheduled to be announced on February 15, 2012) and expect the company to report net profit of PKR1,380mn (EPS PKR1.57, down 24% YoY), gross profit of PKR2,663mn (up 4% YoY) and top line of PKR25,596mn (up 85% YoY). We also expect the company to announce cash dividend of PKR3/share. Target Price and Price catalyst ·          June-12 price target: PKR50.5/share on account of DDM based methodology. ·          Catalyst: Rupee devaluation and resolution of circular debt. (Source: Foundation Securities)

finan c ial valu a tions of P SO i s fut i le… Pakistan’s biggest petroleum handle r , Pakistan State Oil ( P S O ) is on the verge of financial collapse since its o u t standi n g dues from various ‘ e ner g y sector’ e ntities has reach e d to the extent of Rs 1 80 b n (whi c h is highest in 4‐y e ars). It seems t hat no bailing out is for t h c o ming from m i nistry of finan c e (M o F). A c tual cash flows o f t he entity have gone n e gative due t o incidence of more short term loans t o keep the dai l y operations afloat. It is imperative that the calculation o f DCF value o f such an entity may be a futile exercise and thus ta n t a mount to mislead investors. Liabiliti e s swe l ling… Wh e n PS O is not receiving du e p a yments, it is hard for the i r treasury to a r range paym e nts for r efineries. Ri g ht now PS O has t o p a y R s 1 7 2 b n of man y companies th a t also include international pri n cip...

Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) was selected as the largest corporate giver in the category of total volume of donations for 2008 as well as 2009 at the Pakistan Corporate Philanthropy (PCP) Awards held in Karachi on December 6. The company bagged the award for the fifth and sixth consecutive year in the same category. MD and CEO Khalid Rahman received the awards from Federal Minister for Finance, Revenue, Economic Affairs and Statistics Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh. The event, hosted by PCP, was attended by leading businessmen, representatives of multinational companies, government and civil society representatives, donors and media. In his inaugural address, Chairman PCP Dr. Shamsh Kassim Lakha highlighted the organization’s growing role in “professionalizing the process of grant making” and redefining philanthropy not as charity but social asset creation used towards facilitating sustainable development.