KARACHI: Affirming its stand as an environmentally responsible Exploration and Production (E&P) organization, Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) won the 6th Annual Environment Excellence Award (AEEA) 2009. This is the third time that PPL has bagged this award, the first being in 2006 followed by 2008. PPL’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Khalid Rahman received the award from the Chief Guest and Federal Minister for Environment Hameedullah Jan Afridi at a well-attended ceremony held on July 9 at Karachi Sheraton Hotel and Towers that drew distinguished guests, including government officials, corporate, environmentalists, experts, civil society and media. Guest of Honour and Provincial Minister for Environment Askari Taqvi pointed out recent initiatives taken by the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency for effective implementation of the National Environmental Quality Standards. Chief Guest Hameeduallah Jan Afridi encouraged the private sector to support government eff...

The Karachi stock market continued to remain under selling pressure on Thursday following prevailing uncertainty over legal outcome of the presidential order for raise in petroleum prices as petroleum development levy (PDL) after SC ordered suspension in implementation of carbon surcharge. The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) 100-share index lost 46.10 points or 0.62 percent to close at 7,430.01 points as compared to 7,476.11 points of the previous trading session. The KSE 30-share index shed 63.84 points and closed at 7,956.56 as compared to 8,020.40 points. The KMI 30 index also decreased by 36.78 points to close at 11,171.62 points as against 11,208.40 points. “Despite opening on a positive note, the market remained under pressure due to uncertainty regarding the relationship between the judiciary and government on oil pricing,” said analyst at Toplien Sec Mohammad Sohail. “Some pressure in oil stocks was also seen due to declining global oil prices.” The market turnover went up by 22.0...

KARACHI: Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) has asked its members to submit the certificate of net capital balance (for the period ending June 30, 2009) by September 30, 2009 to avoid penalty. According to KSE notice of July 9, 2009, the members are required to submit bi-annually certificates from the prescribed auditors confirming their net capital balance as on June 30 and December 31, by September 30 and March 31 respectively. These certificates are used for the purpose of calculating their respective capital adequacy of each member.

The Karachi stock market closed higher on Tuesday amid celebration by investors due to removal of withholding tax (WHT) on share sale. The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) 100-share index gained 10.88 points or 0.14 percent to close at 7,549.37 points as compared to 7,538.49 points of the previous trading session. The KSE 30-share index surged 9.77 points and closed at 8,112.64 points as compared to 8,102.87 points. The KMI 30 index also increased by 98.65 points to close at 11,343.88 points as against 11,245.23 points. Analysts said that expectations of fall in discount rates in the near term led both retail and institutional investors to take long-term positions. The market turnover went up by 54.81 percent and traded 197.67 million shares as compared to previous session’s 127.68 million shares. The overall market capitalisation was up by 0.13 percent to close at Rs 2.226 trillion as compared with Rs 2.223 trillion. Out of total 307 companies, 150 closed in the positive zone, 136 in nega...

The Board of Directors of Al Meezan Investments announced distribution of dividends for its open end Meezan Islamic Income Fund (MIIF), Meezan Capital Protected Fund- I (MCPF-I) and Meezan Cash Fund (MCF) for the year ended June 30, 2009. According to the press release, the Board declared a final distribution for MIIF of Rs 1.75 per unit, in addition to interim dividends of Rs 3.02 per unit, making a total payout of Rs 4.77 per unit. For MCF it is Rs 0.15 per unit (0.3 percent on the face value of Rs 50 per unit) and the dividend distribution for MCPF-I is Rs 0.35 per unit (0.7 percent on the opening NAV of Rs 49.80 per unit).

JS Investments Limited, JSIL has announced the financial results for selected Funds under its management for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2009. The Board of Directors in a meeting held on July 07, 2009, reviewed the performance of the Income Funds and Capital Protected Funds under the management of JSIL and approved the final pay outs for the Unit Holders for the fiscal year. As per the results, JS Income Fund had a payout of Rs. 4.50 per unit, which is in addition to the already distributed interim dividends of Rs. 7.55 per unit, and equals to a total payout of 11.9248% of NAV, while JS Aggressive Income Fund had a payout per unit of Rs. 2.00, which is in addition to the interim distribution already paid at Rs. 4.25 per unit, which was a payout on opening NAV of 6.2357%.

The Karachi stock market remained in the bullish zone on the first trading day of the week Monday on support from Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance, Shaukat Tareen and Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) officials’ address regarding tax issues during their visit to the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE). Analysts said that proposal on removal of withholding tax on sale of securities, minimal audit on federal excise duty collection and presumptive tax regime (PTR) adjustment against due tax was taken positively by both retail and institutional investors resulting in renewed confidence. The KSE 100-share index gained 67.21 points or 0.90 percent to close at 7,538.49 points as compared to 7,471.28 points of the previous trading session. The KSE 30-share index increased by 109.58 points and closed at 8,102.87 points as compared with 7,993.29 points. The KMI 30 index also surged 72.20 points to close at 11,245.23 points as against 11,211.16 points. The market turnover wen...