01

BUSINESS

BSaturday, 27 April, 2013

KARACHI

iSMAil DilAWAR

DISENChANTED mi-nority shareholders ofthe loss-making NIBBank, which has beenposting losses for threeconsecutive years with-

out declaring a single rupee as dividend forthe equity stakeholders, have had enough itappears.

NIB Bank is owned by the Singaporeaninvestment giant Temasek holdings thatpossesses the bank’s controlling stakes(over 70 percent) since June 2005.

“For all clinical reasons NIB Bank canbe termed ‘a dead horse’,” claimed a letterwritten and sent by a 37-member group ofminority shareholders to the central bankon April 10. An NIB Bank spokesman,however, said the bank, after posting lossesfor years, had hit a “break-even” during thejust-concluded first quarter of 2013 thatsaw the bank posting a profit before tax(PBT) of Rs 145 million.

Not sure about the bank management’sability to transfer profits to shareholders,the spokesman said the current “turn-around” in the bank’s performance wouldcertainly relax the latter.

In the letter, the minority shareholdershave called upon Temasek Group to orderan internal enquiry, the central bank and theSecurities and Exchange Commission ofPakistan (SECP) to appoint forensic audi-tors and the federal finance ministry to in-tervene to save the bank’s minorityshareholders, “who are Pakistanis”.

The stakeholders, who claim to holdthe bank’s shares, worth Rs 2 billion atleast, are concerned over what they claimedwas a possible decrease by its management

in the banks’ capital.“Some of the banks face a daunting

outlook and amongst them is NIB Bank,”read the letter addressed to the State Bankof Pakistan (SBP) governor.

Alleging the bank for having “somehidden and apparent weaknesses,” theshareholders told the SBP governor that thebank had incurred accumulated losses of Rs56.156 billion during three consecutiveyears from 2010 to 2012.

Of the total, they said, Rs 44 billionwere lost in 2012, Rs 2.044 billion in 2011and a whopping Rs 10.112 billion in 2010.

2012’s losses, Rs 44 billion, constitutedabout 42 percent of the bank’s paid up cap-ital which, according to Karachi Stocks Ex-change data, amounted to Rs 103.028billion up to April 22, 2013.

Only the last quarter of 2012, the share-holders said, saw the bank losing over Rs1.31 billion, 34 percent of the first threequarters.

Questioning the ability of the bankmanagement to wipe out these accumulatedlosses, the stakeholders termed the bank’s“huge” administrative expense as thebiggest contributing factor for these losses.

They, in the letter, told the central bankthat during 2012, NIB Bank’s administra-tive expenses were estimated at Rs 5.173billion compared to 2011’s Rs 4.72 billion.

“The bank’s expenditures are extrava-gant to the extent that it has booked sevenfloors at the PNSC Building and is spend-ing millions to renovate the same,” a share-holder said while talking to Pakistan Today,requesting anonymity.

The bank was shifting its main office tothe building, he said, adding the manage-ment had replaced the old and seasonedstaff with those drawing large salaries with-out any productive results.

“The bank has not paid any dividendsince the Temasek took over six yearsback,” the shareholders claimed.

Recalling its pre-Temasek record, theysaid, the bank used to pay dividend, bonusand huge returns to shareholders everyyear. The NIB’s share value was around Rs80 when it was PICIC Commercial Bank.

Despite its claim to be a commercialbank with the largest paid up capital, thebank’s current share price at the KSE

ranges between Rs 1.50 and Rs 2.80.According to KSE quotations, on April

22 the bank’s share was priced at Rs 2.17,with its trading turnover standing at 287.7million. “Probability of any recovery canbe termed ‘hoping against hope’,” reads theshareholders’ letter to SBP.

Even the injection of millions of dollarsby its majority stakeholder, Temasek hold-ings, could not help the bank improve, theyadded. They went on to accuse the bank ofdepriving them of their “right to speak” bysetting up the bank’s head office in Islam-abad. “The minority shareholders cannotafford to travel to Islamabad to raise theirvoice,” they said.

They also expressed concern over thebank’s plan to reduce its capital to Rs 2.50per share. “Temasek, an internationalgroup, can afford this luxury but the minor-ity shareholders cannot,” they warned anddemanded of the Singaporean firm to com-pensate them in buying their shares beforeproceeding with its reduction of capitalplan. The shareholders wondered as to whyregulators, SBP and SECP, quietly wit-nessed the “downfall” of NIB Bank and theequity of its shareholders.

Talking to Pakistan Today, a share-holder said the State Bank had not yet re-sponded to the shareholders’ letter. he saidif the regulator failed to address their con-cern, they would do all they can to maketheir voice heard.

When contacted a spokesman of NIBBank, Ali habib, conceded to have receivedthe shareholders’ letter saying it was truethat the bank was running in losses sincethe last five years. “It is public knowledgebecause the bank is a listed company,” hesaid. But, Ali said, the bank’s performanceduring first quarter of 2013, January-March, had seen a turnaround with the bank

posting a profit before tax of Rs 549 millioncompared to a loss before tax of Rs 98 mil-lion during the corresponding period of2012. Terming the bank’s results as “one ofthe best” in market, the spokesman said thebank, under its new management, that hadtaken over the bank in January 2012, hadstarted showing results.

Ali conceded that the bank’s ability tobenefit equity shareholders remained lim-ited in recent years but that the current pos-itive trend in the bank’s revenues wouldultimately relax stakeholders.

he, however, was uncertain whether ornot his management would now declare themost-awaited dividends for its shareholderson the stocks market. “We are getting es-tablished so the shareholders, I am sure,would be relaxed,” said the spokesman.

Responding to a question about thebank’s alleged extravagant expenditures,Ali said, the situation in fact was other wayround. In 2012, he recalled, the bank’s rev-enues increased by 25 percent compared toits 10 expenditure. In 2013, he said the firstquarter had seen revenues growing by 21percent against the bank’s 2 percent ex-penses. Asked if booking seven floors ofPNSC was an economical move by thebank, the spokesman replied in the affirma-tive. “We have moved to a cheaper prem-ises from one of Pakistan’s most expensiveplaces at I I Chundrigar Road,” he added.

he assured the protesting shareholdersthat the bank’s new management, led byPresident Badar Kazmi, who has servedStandard Chartered Bank for seven years asits CEO, would turn the bank’s businessaround. Running a countrywide network of179 branches, NIB Bank claims to be oneof the fastest growing banks in Pakistanhaving started operations in October 2003with a paid up capital of Rs 1.2 billion.

For all clinical reasons, loss-makingNIB Bank is a dead horse

Pakistan has neverdefaulted in its int’lobligations, saysfinance adviser

ISLAMABAD

Online

Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance Dr

Shahid Amjad Chaudhry said Pakistan has

never defaulted on an international

obligation since 1947 and will never

default in the future. During a meeting

with Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan

Hiroshi Oe, who called on him on Friday,

he said Pakistan’s economy is strong

enough to meet its international

obligations. He said Japan is a very

special country for Pakistan and its

contribution to Pakistan’s development is

fully acknowledged. Pakistan and Japan

should remain engaged continuously to

further consolidate economic ties, the

adviser said. Dr Shahid praised Japan for

extending funds for projects like Karachi

Circular Railways, Thar coal Project and

Lahore water project, declaring them as

pearls of Pakistan-Japan friendship. He

emphasised that exchange of academia

between Pakistan and Japan should also

be promoted to further strengthen

relations between the two countries.

Scholars in Japan working on Pakistan

should also be extended financial help by

Japan the adviser added. The ambassador

said Japan is quite optimistic over the

economic situation in Pakistan. He said

despite financial constraints in Japan, the

government of Japan will continue to

assist and invest in Pakistan, adding that

contribution in infrastructure development

in Pakistan is major priority of Japan. To

overcome the energy crisis in Pakistan,

Japan will assist Pakistan in short,

medium and long term projects, he said.

Japan is taking a keen interest in

overcoming the energy crisis in Pakistan,

the ambassador added. He said Japan

wants to eradicate polio from Pakistan

and is already involved in the polio

eradication campaign.

ICCI a finalist inWorld ChambersCompetition 2013

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad Chamber of

Commerce and Industry (ICCI) reached

the finals of the World Chambers Compe-

tition 2013 by presenting its Best Youth

Entrepreneurship Project to an interna-

tional judging panel during a dedicated

Congress session. The 2013 World

Chambers Competition, which was held

at Doha, Qatar, received entries from 65

chambers of commerce and industry

from 42 countries and ICCI was among

the 25 finalists, who presented their in-

novative projects at the forum. This

World Chambers Congress plays a crucial

role in gearing up chambers of com-

merce to satisfy and go beyond the

needs of businesses and increases global

unity between chambers and opens up

new channels of dialogues. inP

ISLAMABAD

Online

Securities and Exchange Commission ofPakistan (SECP) on Friday initiated 122show-cause proceedings againsthigher-ups of various companies forfailing to comply with applicable pro-visions of laws. As part of its man-date to monitor listed and unlistedcompanies to safeguard investor in-terest, the enforcement department ofthe SECP started proceedings againstchief executives, directors, and auditorsof listed and unlisted companies.

Enforcement actions for breaches ofstatutory requirements related to: issuanceof auditors’ reports, takeover regulations, hold-ing of annual general meetings, inter-corporatefinancing, issuance of capital, misstatement offacts, employees’ provident funds, consolidationof financial statements, circulation of financial statements,disclosure of directors’ interests, and cost audit rules.

Penal proceedings against directors of listed companyconcluded on account of material misstatements whereby thedirectors siphoned off tax refunds disguising them as pro-ceeds from the false sale of its subsidiary.

In addition to the proceedings noted above, the depart-ment has concluded 79 proceedings against directors and au-ditors of companies either by penalising or by warning the

identified defaulters. In addition, the departmenthas also initiated inspections on affairs of four

companies while an investigation has beeninitiated into the matters of a private lim-ited company.

The department, addressinggrievances of investors, successfullyresolved nineteen complaints. Thesecomplaints were mainly pertainingto non-issuance of shares, non-veri-fication of transfer deeds, and non-

payment of dividends. Four companies have been di-

rected to hold their overdue annualgeneral meetings within a specifiedtime. To facilitate companies in prepa-

ration of their consolidated financial state-ments, six companies have been grantedexemption from requirements of consolidationof their annual financial statements. One com-pany has been accorded approval to appoint its

cost auditors under the Companies (Audit of Cost Accounts)Rules, 1998. In addition, three companies have been allowedto place their quarterly accounts on their respective websites,while one company has been allowed to change its websitesaddress. One company has been allowed to extend a loan fa-cility to its chief executive. Extension in time has beengranted to a company for making public announcement of“offer to shareholders for sale of their shares,” in relation toits intended acquisition of another company.

SECP takes punitive measures against companies’ executives

ISLAMABAD

APP

The World Intellectual Property Day (IP)2013 was observed on Friday across theglobe including Pakistan with its theme‘Creativity: The Next Generation’.

The event was established by WorldIntellectual Property Organisation(WIPO) in 2000 to “raise awareness ofhow patents, copyright, trademarks anddesigns impact daily life” and “to cele-brate creativity, and the contribution madeby creators and innovators to the develop-ment of societies across the globe”.

The aims of this special day also in-clude increasing understanding of how pro-tecting intellectual property (IP) rights helpspromote creativity and innovation, celebrat-ing creativity and the contribution made bycreators and innovators to the developmentof societies around the globe and to encour-age respect for IP rights of others.

WIPO works together with various

government agencies, non-governmentorganisations, community groups and in-dividuals and holds different events andactivities to promote World IntellectualProperty Day each year.

United Kingdom (UK) Minister forIntellectual Property Lord Younger said inhis message on the occasion: “I’m de-lighted to celebrate World Intellectual

Property Day today. World IntellectualProperty Day is a good time to reflect onwhat we have achieved and also look for-ward at the challenges ahead.”

Working closely with stakeholder or-ganisations, the IP enforcement team is re-sponsible to coordinate a national policyfor the enforcement of Intellectual Prop-erty rights and provide the secretariat forthe IP Crime Group.

This year, an IP enforcement teammember and long standing IntellectualProperty Office staff member Miles Reesput great emphasis on the importance ofthe enforcement work that is carried out.

WORLD INTELLECTUALPROPERTY DAY 2013 OBSERVED

Despite its claim to bea commercial bank

with the largest paidup capital, the bank’scurrent share price at

the KSE rangesbetween Rs 1.50 and

Rs 2.80...Probability of anyrecovery can betermed ‘hoping against hope’

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BUSINESSSaturday, 27 April, 2013

LAHORE: State Life Chairman Shahid Aziz

Siddiqui presents a trophy to Muzafar Ahmed,

deputy general manager Corporate

Communication, on his best performance for

corporate advertising and multi-media

coverage of the corporation’s promotional

activities. PR

ISLAMABAD: Shafqat Sultana, president of the

First Women’s Bank, presides over a meeting

of the Board of Directors. PR

UMT hosts seminar on

using solar panel in homesLAHORE: Khan M Nazir, Assistant Professor at

University of Management and Technology (UMT),

Lahore, conducted a seminar on “Solar Panel for

Our Home”. The aim of the seminar was to

highlight various solar system options available for

domestic use. The seminar was widely attended in

view of the prevailing energy crisis and severe load

shedding that has made life so difficult for most

people. Mr. Khan highlighted and emphasized on

the need and importance of solar system. He

explained various types of solar panels and their

suitability, importance of charge controllers and

their types, battery types and their suitability, and

inverter types. He said that solar energy is

environmental friendly and suits our climate as

well. In his concluding remarks Khan M Nazir

suggested the most economical solutions to

address the problem of electricity shortage. PR

Samsung unveils new WB

250 SMART CAMERAsKARACHI: Samsung

Electronics Co., Ltd, a

global leader in digital

media and digital

convergence

technologies,

today announced

the launch of

upgraded SMART CAMERA and the first

devices to run on the new technology: the WB250F.

As new additions to the WB series of long-zoom

models, DV series of Dual View cameras, the new

devices combine high optical performance and

classic style with the enhanced connectivity of

SMART Camera. Samsung has evolved its innovative

Wi-Fi technology to enhance its acclaimed SMART

CAMERA, originally announced at CES 2012, by

creating SMART CAMERA 2.0. New functionalities

and upgrades allow users to shoot and share their

cherished photography instantly, revolutionizing the

connective camera experience and allowing

consumers to be in complete control across the

breadth of the SMART CAMERA portfolio. PR

The search for youngrock stars beginsLAHORE: Fanta, the most fun-filled Orange

Sparkling brand, has launched a talent hunt in

schools across Pakistan to find young gifted singers

for recording a Fanta song and music video. The

initiative, appropriately named ‘Fanta Rocks’ will be

spearheaded by renowned Rock Band Noori, and

will extend to nearly 250 schools, reaching out to

an estimated 250,000 school children between the

ages of 12 and 18. PR

CORPORATE CORNER

02

B

Major Gainers

COMPANY OPEN HIGH LOW CLOSE CHANGE TURNOVERRafhan Maize 4000.00 4200.00 4200.00 4200.00 200.00 1,300Bata (Pak) XD 1984.50 2083.72 2080.00 2083.72 99.22 7,650Unilever Food XD 5000.00 5090.00 5090.00 5090.00 90.00 20Wyeth Pak Ltd XD 1413.30 1483.96 1450.00 1483.96 70.66 2,150Shezan Inter. 435.00 456.75 440.00 456.75 21.75 162,200

Major LosersSanofi-Aventis XD 458.99 441.01 440.00 440.67 -18.32 300MithchellsFruit 369.00 360.00 360.00 360.00 -9.00 200Mehmood Tex 98.00 93.50 93.10 93.23 -4.77 400Searle Company 82.16 84.90 78.06 78.06 -4.10 273,500Thal Limited 135.81 135.25 131.10 133.30 -2.51 58,500

Volume Leaders

TRG Pakistan Ltd. 10.30 11.30 10.75 11.30 1.00 27,542,000Lotte Chemical 7.35 7.60 7.11 7.54 0.19 16,432,000Maple Leaf Cement 19.36 19.65 18.81 18.95 -0.41 11,817,000Pervez Ahmed 2.57 3.43 2.61 3.29 0.72 11,502,500NIB Bank Limited 2.29 2.46 2.29 2.41 0.12 11,419,000

Interbank RatesUSD PKR 98.4244GBP PKR 152.0361JPY PKR 0.9979EURO PKR 128.2076

ForexBUY SELL

US Dollar 99.70 99.95 Euro 128.80 129.04 Great Britain Pound 152.79 153.06 Japanese Yen 1.0043 1.0147 Canadian Dollar 96.59 98.29 Hong Kong Dollar 12.58 12.82 UAE Dirham 26.95 27.20 Saudi Riyal 26.45 26.70

CoLoMBo

Online

PAKISTANI highC o m m i s s i o n e r(hC) Maj GenQasim Qureshi, onFriday, emphasisedon exploring ways

and means to further enhance busi-ness connectivity and volume of bi-lateral trade between Sri Lanka andPakistan.

During his visit to Galle districtin southern Sri Lanka, Qureshi at-tended a meeting with officials ofthe Galle District Chamber of Com-merce & Industry. The meeting re-

viewed the prevailingbusiness environ-ment between thetwo friendlycountries.

Q u r e s h inoted that thetwo countrieshad put in placean overarchingeconomic frame-work to facilitatebusinessmen of bothcountries to set-up andstrengthen commercial andinvestment ventures.

The hallmark of this frameworkis the Free Trade Agreement (FTA),

which has been opera-tional since 2005, he

added. he furtherstated that Pak-istan and SriLanka alsohave a Bilat-eral Invest-ment Treaty(BIT) and an

MoU on Cus-toms co-operation.

Qureshi high-lighted that Pakistan of-

fered extremely attractiveopportunities to the Sri Lankantraders and consumers to benefitfrom abundant raw materials, avail-

able at competitive prices and lowfreight costs.

he explained that Pakistan pro-duces various varieties of rice, veg-etables and fruits, which ifimported from Pakistan to SriLanka, can considerably reduce theinflation on food items, at the sametime providing a wide choice ofconsumables.

Later in the day, the high Com-missioner also met SouthernProvince Governor Kumari Bala-suriya, Southern Naval CommanderRear Admiral Piyal harischandra DeDilva and Jamiat Ulema Islam (JUI)Galle District chief Mustafa Mo-hammad Awn.

Envoy urges enhanced bilateral trade between Pakistan, Sri Lanka

KARACHI: Engro Foods’ flagship brand

Olper’sunveiled new and innovative packaging

formats using holographic technology to create a 3D

simulation at a local shopping mall. The new

packaging formats include a new format for the

region that employs Ecoleantechnology for 250ml,

and Tetra Edge for 1 liter pack. Ecolean also referred

to as Olper’s Mini Jug is a specialized and convenient

jug-shaped pouch that offers ease of pouring and

handling the pack. It is an eco-friendly and

biodegradable packaging with microwaveable

capabilities. Tetra Edge, on the other hand, is a

premium-packaging format with benefits of a tilted

head and a heli cap, which controls milk spillage,

increases the usability of the pack and keeps the

milk smell-free. Both these are newest innovations in

milk packaging, not just in Pakistan but worldwide.

Olper’sis Engro Foods’ flagship dairy brand and has

emerged as the leading dairy product in the market

since its launch in 2006 after gaining preference over

other established brands and securing a loyal

consumer base all across Pakistan. Olper’s Milk is

sheer indulgence in every sip and is backed by its

high nutrition content and invigorating freshness that

have become synonymous with the Olper’s brand.

The new packaging were unveiled by Olper’s Brand

Ambassador Marina Khan. Olper’s created a high

definition, extremely intelligent holographic 3D

content iGhost to create a jaw dropping virtual world

to interact with audience and to take them on a

journey which they have never seen or experienced

before.iGhost is a technique which creates three-

dimensional images. It involves the use of a laser,

interference, diffraction, light intensity recording and

suitable illumination of the recording. Olper’sprimary

reason for introducing the new packaging is to

augment a differentiated marketing strategy based

on innovation and providing consumers with greater

choice.Olper’s aims to be a part of people’s lifestyle

choices, as aptly encapsulated in our tagline

‘MeraIntikhab’. Speaking at the occasion, Afnan

Ahsan – CEO, Engro Foods said, “Olper’s is a brand

that has believed in innovation and recognizing the

needs and choices of our target consumers. We

continue to focus our efforts on providing increased

choices to our consumers and the introduction of this

new packaging technology is a testament to this

effort that will further preserve the nutrition and

goodness of our products and provide maximum

utility to our consumers.” Olper’s new packaging

style has synced well with its revised communication

strategy and will help to break through the clutter on

the dairy shelf and enhance Olper’s visibility

amongst the target audience. PR

Olper’sunveils new packaging formats using 3D technology

KCCI urges Germanyto invest in PakistanKARACHI: Karachi Chamber of Com-merce & Industry President Muhammadharoon Agar urged the German Ambassa-dor to Pakistan Dr Cyrill Nunn to invitenew German investment in Pakistan as thecountry is the most promising land in theregion for investment and many Germancorporations are operating successfully andexpanding their businesses across Pakistanand beyond. Exchanging views with theambassador during his visit to KCCI, Agarsaid within EU, Germany has become Pak-istan’s biggest trading partner. Germanyranks as the 9th largest trading partnerahead of UK even, he stated. There aremany opportunities and there is a lot of po-tential between the two friendly countrieswhich can be further developed, he added.Pakistan’s exports to Germany in 2012were worth $ 1,151 million while importswere $ 1,174 million. nni

Chairman OGRA signals reduction in POL prices

ISLAMABAD : OGRA Chairman Saeed Ahmad Khan has signaled

reduction in petrol prices in days to come. The OGRA chief said in a

statement issued from Islamabad on Thursday that prices of crude oil are

coming down globally and it is expected that they would continue dropping

further during the next few days. Local prices of oil will be brought down

in proportion to the global reduction and efforts would be made to

render maximum relief to consumers, added the OGRA chief. Online

KARACHI

STAFF RePORT

The federal government appointed Tahir Mah-mood as acting chairman of Securities and Ex-change Commission of Pakistan (SECP), saida statement issued by the apex regulator on Fri-day.

The Finance Division issued a notificationin this regard. Mahmood, currently the com-missioner of SECP’s law division, representsthe category of commissioners who are beingappointed from within the SECP under section5 of SECP Act, 1997.

he is a regular employee of the SECP andjoined the service through Federal Public Serv-ice Commission (FPSC) as a Grade-18 officerin the former Corporate Law Authority (CLA)in 1989. he is a chartered accountant and car-ries a rich experience of over 25 years withCLA and the SECP.

he is fellow member of ICMAP and ICSPand also has a degree in law. he possesses ex-tensive experience in company law administra-tion, takeover laws, corporate restructuring,mergers, corporate finance and judicial orderwriting. he has in his credit about four hundredjudicial orders passed by him in his capacity asadjudicating officer and member of appellatebench while working as executivedirector/commissioner at SECP.

A significant number of such orders arepublished in CLD and referred by the legalcommunity in corporate cases. he is also mem-ber of Company Law Review Commissionbeaded by former chief justice of PakistanAjmal Mian.

he has worked on drafting of various lawsduring his tenure with the SECP. his expertisein corporate law, especially company law andtakeovers laws, are largely acknowledged bythe legal fraternity.

Mahmood appointed acting SECP chief

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