Thursday, 25 October, 2012

ISLAMABAD

ONLINE

President Asif Ali Zardari has urged the USbusinessmen to invest in power sector inPakistan. He was talking to a delegation of aUS power company DACC Global in Islam-abad on Wednesday. The delegation headedby Doug Melvin, President DACC Global,comprised of Arnd Spinger, Joseph Stein-feldt, Mark Lohoff, Adnan Hameed, ZafarAhmed and Nasir Waseem.

Spokesperson to the President SenatorFarhatullah Babar, Chairman IntellectualProperty Organization of Pakistan Mr.Hameedullah Jan Afridi, Secretary to Presi-dent Maj (R) Haroon Rashid, SecretaryWater & Power Ms. Nargis Sethi, CEO Alter-

native Energy Development Board Mr. ArifAllauddin and other senior officials werealso present during the meeting. Spokesper-son to the President Senator FarhatullahBabar while briefing about the meeting saidthat DACC Solar Power Generation Com-pany (DPGC) is pursuing development of a50 MW Solar power project in Punjab, pro-duction of bio-fuel and installation of solarwater pumps in the country.

He said that the President while wel-coming the delegation appreciated their in-terest and investment in the alternate energysector. The President highlighted huge in-vestment opportunities available in thecountry in the alternate energy sector andsaid that abundant sunshine and wind cor-ridors offered great opportunities to the in-

vestors for harnessing this clean and effi-cient source of energy. The President saidthat energy shortage has been one of themajor challenges faced by the country atpresent. He said that the Government wasaccording highest priority to facilitating theinvestors undertaking business ventures inthis sector. He said that the Government wascommitted to promote the alternate meansof energy production so as to reduce de-pendency on conventional modes and si-multaneously to save the environment fromfurther degradation due to burning of thefossil fuels. The President also recountedvarious incentives being offered to foreigninvestors in the energy sector. He said thatPakistan offered 17 percent return on Invest-ment (ROI) for renewable energy projects

which is one of the highest in the world.He said that NEPRA was working on

up-front Tariff for Solar Power projectswhich will further incentivize setting up ofsolar power plants in the country.

The President also mentioned specialcontrol rooms in the Ministry of Water andPower and various offices of power distribu-tion companies for monitoring and coordi-nation purposes. He said that all efforts werebeing undertaken to avoid bureaucratic de-lays and to address the issues related to sup-ply and distribution of power on spot basis.

The President assured the company ofall possible facilitation in its business ven-tures in Pakistan. He also expressed thehope that the company will construct moresolar projects in other parts of the countrytoo, which will greatly help in meeting theenergy demand of the country.

Give us some power!g President urges US businessmen to invest in power sector

ISLAMABAD

ONLINE

FEDERAL Secretary Fi-nance Abdul Wajid Rana islikely to get six month ex-tension in its service as thegovernment may have to

negotiate another loan programmewith the International MonetaryFund(IMF) this fiscal year.

According to sources during cur-rent financial year 2012-13 the govern-ment is likely to negotiate a fresh loanprogramme with the Fund to ensuresmooth repayment of the remaininginstallments to the IMF and for thispurpose

the finance ministry has sent asummery to the Prime Minister seek-ing six months extension in the serviceof federal secretary finance who willreach at the age of superannuation onNovember 6 next month.

“The Finance minister Dr.AbdulHafeez Sheikh does not want to changeeconomic team at the highest level be-cause of expected talks for anotherloan programme with IMF,”sourcessaid, adding that any change in the fi-

nance team at this stage will createtroubles to execute fresh loan talkswith the fund.

According to the repayment sched-ule agreed between Pakistan and IMF,Pakistan will repay its obtain $7.6 bil-lion to the IMF till the end of fiscalyear 2014-15. The $11.3 billion SBAprogram had expired on September30, 2011 and the last two trenches of$3.7 billion could not pay to Pakistanby IMF following Islamabad’s failureto pursue key reforms as well as theemergence of the revenue figures fi-asco.

Pakistan had enter into a $11.3 bil-lion programme in 2008 with IMF andgot disbursements of about $7.6 bil-lion, but failed to get the remaining$3.7 billion due to slippages in per-formance criteria, leading to suspen-sion of the programme in May 2010and was ended unsuccessfully on Sep-tember 30,2011.

Secretary Finance Abdul WajidRana and spokesman of the ministryRana Asad Amin could not be con-tacted immediately for their commentsdespite repeated attempts made tohave their version on the issue.

ISLAMABAD

APP

Promotion of commercial and eco-nomic ties between Pakistan andBrazil would boost bilateral rela-tions as Embassy of Brazil intendedto help Pakistan in doing businesswith Brazil.

This was stated by AlfredoLeoni, Ambassador of Brazil toPakistan who was talking to thebusiness community here at Islam-abad Chamber of Commerce & In-dustry (ICCI).

He also Congratulated ZafarBakhtawari on his appointment asPresident of ICCI and expressedhope that he would help built rela-tions with the diplomatic commu-nity to enhance Pakistan’s tradeand economic relations with coun-tries around the globe.

He proposed that Pakistancould share experiences of Brazil-ian success story in the areas ofeconomy and developmentachieved through the implementa-tion of “Real Plan” which was intro-duced in 1994, in order to controlinflation and stabilize the economy.

The Ambassador said thatBrazil is the sixth largest economyas well as eighth biggest consumermarket of the world, adding thatBrazil is the largest commercialpartner of Pakistan in Latin Amer-ica but bilateral trade was aboutUS$300 million which needs to beenhanced as Brazil is the major in-vestment hub and also a gateway toSouth America.

He said that Pakistan’s privatesector should come forward in tap-ping the multiple opportunities ofmutual trade between Brazil andPakistan.

He assured the audience thatthere was plenty of room for invest-ment in Brazil as it is a very strongand reliable economy. Those Pak-istani businessmen who are inter-ested in doing business withBrazilian partners must registerthemselves onbraziltradenet.gov.br and become amember and a player of the biggestdatabase available in Brazil involv-ing international trading compa-nies, market studies andinformation on fairs, Braziliancompanies and trade offers.

In his welcome address, ZafarBakhtawari, President ICCI laudedthe devoted efforts of Mr. AlfredoLeoni for playing a dynamic role infurther strengthening bilateral re-lations in all areas between Pak-istan and Brazil.

The ICCI President said that weshould concentrate on the existingopportunities and suggested thatcooperation can be enhanced in theagriculture, energy and pharma-ceutical sectors.

He said that visit of businessdelegations should also be encour-aged to explore markets. In thisconnection, he invited businessdelegations from Brazil for meetingwith the Pakistani counterparts.

Bakhtawari said that we shouldlearn from Brazilian economic planas they have turned their economyfrom negative growth indicatorsinto positive economic growth. Hecalled on the Brazilian businesscommunity to take advantage ofvast Pakistani market and invest-ment opportunities in agriculture,construction, livestock and dairy,energy, education, IT and Halal in-dustry sectors.

Brazil for improving trade ties with Pakistan

SBP sets up centre

for smooth

functioning of ATMsKARACHI

APP

The State Bank of Pakistan BankingServices Corporation (SBP BSC) NorthNazimabad, Karachi, has set up Cus-tomer Facilitation Centre to ensuresmooth and uninterrupted functioningof Automated Teller Machines (ATMs)of commercial banks in the DistrictCentral, Karachi, especially duringEidul Azha holidays.A statement on Wednesday said thatthis Customer Facilitation Centre willoperational from 9:00 a.m to 5:30 p.mon all working days, and will receivecomplaints from the general public re-garding non-functioning of ATMs inthe District Central, Karachi, and makethem working within the shortest pos-sible time.This Facilitation Centre will also be op-erational from 9:00 a.m to 5:30 p.m.during Eid-ul-Azha holidays.The members of the general public areadvised to lodge their complaints per-taining to the non-functioning of ATMsin the District Central, Karachi, from9:00 a.m to 5:30 p.m during all work-ing days and Eidul Azha holidays.

1Q cement

export posts

42.35% growth

ISLAMABAD

APP

The cement export from the country duringthe first quarter of current financial year reg-istered growth of 42.35 percent as comparedto the same period of last year.According the data of Pakistan Bureau ofStatistics (PBS), the export of cement in-creased in dollar terms while the quantumexport remain on down track.During the period from July-September2012, about 1,899,791 metric tons cementworth US$ 146.321 million exported whichwas up by 42.35 percent as compared to thesame period of last year.Meanwhile. the export of cement during thefirst quarter of last financial year wasrecorded at 2,158,429 metric tons worth US$112.033 million, the data revealed.However, other commodities includinggems, jewellery, furniture, molasses andhandicraft remained on green track andposted positive growth respectively duringthe period under review.The data revealed that gems export increasedby 69.64 percent, Jewellery by 383.64 per-cent and furniture export by 1.92 percent re-spectively during the first quarter of currentfinancial year.The country exported about 4 metric tons ofgems worth US$ 1.05 million and jewelleryof US$ 740.4 million by the end of first quar-ter of financial year 2012-13 as compared tothe same period of last year.During the period from July-September2012, furniture valuing US$ 1.683 millionexported as compared with the export of US$1.80 million of same period last financialyear, it added. During the first quarter, country earned US$0.138 million by exporting about 2,323 met-ric tons of molasses which was recorded at2,025 metric tons of US$ 0.247 million, thedata revealed.The export of gur and gur products increasedby 86.93 percent in first three months asabout 8,400 metric ton gur and its productsvaluing US$ 37.56 million exported as com-pared to the 7,937 metric tons worth US$21.89 million during the same period of lastfinancial year, it added.

g Finance sect likely to get six month extension

Another IMF programme in the offing

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02

Thursday, 25 October, 2012

Major Gainers

COMPANY OPEN HIGH LOW CLOSE CHANGE TURNOVERBata (Pak) Limited 1419.33 1475.00 1460.00 1460.00 40.67 100Millat TractorsXD 497.61 519.00 493.00 513.71 16.10 95,000Island TextileXD 315.00 330.75 330.00 330.75 15.75 600Sanofi-Aventis Pak 272.01 285.61 279.00 285.61 13.60 900Clariant Pak 235.62 247.40 242.50 247.40 11.78 67,500

Major LosersUniLever Pak 9709.20 9760.00 9225.00 9498.04 -211.16 560Mithchells Fruit 391.95 372.50 372.36 372.36 -19.59 200National FoodsXD 341.87 332.00 324.78 324.78 -17.09 5,000Atlas Battery Ltd. 247.24 240.70 234.88 234.94 -12.30 5,300Service Industries 179.00 181.50 170.05 170.05 -8.95 39,600

Volume Leaders

Pace (Pak) Ltd. 3.52 3.61 2.87 2.98 -0.54 28,136,000P.T.C.L.A 19.20 19.15 18.49 18.57 -0.63 11,539,500D.G.K.CementXD 51.77 52.73 51.56 52.30 0.53 8,783,500Fatima Fertilizer Co 23.67 24.85 23.65 24.83 1.16 8,103,500Jah.Sidd. Co. 14.49 14.88 14.28 14.38 -0.11 7,029,500

Interbank RatesUS Dollar 95.7606UK Pound 153.1212Japanese Yen 1.2003Euro 123.9142

Dollar EastBUY SELL

US Dollar 95.00 95.60Euro 122.08 123.85Great Britain Pound 151.03 153.17Japanese Yen 1.1770 1.1936Canadian Dollar 94.56 96.41Hong Kong Dollar 12.06 12.28UAE Dirham 25.72 26.06Saudi Riyal 25.12 25.42Australian Dollar 97.14 99.97

Business

KARACHI: S Masood Hashmi, CEO Orientm McCann

Pakistan & Khawaja Mohammad Almas, Group Chief, CRBG

Allied Bank Limited opening up accounts in each other’s

hearts by signing an Agency-Client Agreement. Also present

at the occasion were Mr. Sohail, from ABL and Syed Asad

Rizvi, Asma Nabeel,& Nadeem Alvi from Orientm McCann.

ICI announces profit after tax

of Rs 302m for Q3 2012

KARACHI: The Board of Directors of ICI Pak-istan Limited is pleased to announce the financialresults for Q3 2012.The company posted net salesincome of PKR 8.7 billion and PKR 25.4 billion forthe quarter and nine months ended September 30,2012 respectively which was 3% and 6% lowerthan same period last year. Operating result forthe quarter and nine months at PKR 521 millionand PKR 1,270 million were both 32% lower com-pared to same period last year. Sharp reduction inmargin over the feedstock prices as well as lowersales volume in the PSF Business with blend eco-nomics favouring cotton and significantly higherenergy cost played a major role in dragging downthe operating results. EPS from continuing opera-tions for the nine months ended September 302012 at PKR 8.27 was lower by 20 percent com-pared to same period last year.

Nokia Lumia 510 brings Windows

Phone to lower price points

KARACHI: Nokia today announced the NokiaLumia 510, a smart and modern entry-level smart-phone. Featuring a bright, 4-inch display, theNokia Lumia 510 makes the unique benefits ofLumia and Windows Phone even more affordable.“With the Nokia Lumia 510 we continue to meetour commitment to bring Windows Phone to new,lower price points,” said Jo Harlow, executive vicepresident of Nokia Smart Devices. “People who useWindows Phone quickly realize how much moreintuitive it is than other smartphone platforms,and Nokia Lumia is the best embodiment of theWindows Phone experience. With the Nokia Lumia510 we’re looking forward to welcoming more peo-ple into the Windows Phone experience.” Follow-ing on from the success of the Nokia Lumia 610,this latest addition to the Nokia Lumia rangecomes in five vivid colors for a fun and personalway to enjoy Windows Phone. Windows Phone isdifferent to other smartphone platforms thanks toLive Tiles, making it easy to see incoming mes-sages and updates; People Hub, which brings to-gether contacts and updates from across socialnetworks into one location, and access to MicrosoftOffice and Internet Explorer 9 on the mobile.

Standard Chartered Pakistan

announces 2012 third quarter results

KARACHI: Standard Chartered Bank (Pakistan)Limited today announced its third quarter resultsfor 2012. The Bank’s Profit before tax has grown by19% to PKR 6.9 billion in the nine months of thisyear with Earnings Per Share improved to PKR1.16 from PKR 0.97 in the corresponding periodlast year. Revenue has increased to PKR 20.4 bil-lion while deposits and gross advances enhancedto PKR 267.4 billion and PKR 162.5 billion respec-

tively. The increase was underpinned by successfulexecution of the bank’s strategy of focused growth,improved cost discipline and prudent credit expan-sion. This resulted in improved financial perform-ance with steady revenue and decreasing loanimpairments which were 23% lower from the sameperiod last year. Investment into the franchise re-sulted in slight increase in administrative costs al-beit still below the ongoing inflation rate. Despitethe increase in costs, the Cost to Income Ratio re-mained more or less the same at 52%.

Nestlé Pakistan’s

Peerano Goth project

KARACHI: Nestlé Pakistan inaugurated the‘Government Primary Sindh School’ at PeeranoGoth, located in the suburbs of Port Qasim In-dustrial zone, Karachi on Wednesday. TheProvincial Minister for Education & Literacy, PirMazhar ul Haq along with the Managing Directorof Nestlé Pakistan, Magdi Batato, unveiled theplaque for this inauguration ceremony. Theschool which was abandoned a decade ago fell todisrepair and now rebuilt by Nestlé Pakistan. Theproject was initiated in December 2011, achievingthis milestone in 10 months. Nestlé believes thatfor a company to be successful in the long termand create value for its shareholders, it must alsocreate value for society, owning this practice asCreating Shared Value (CSV). Through this, busi-

nesses are encouraged to create economic and so-cial value simultaneously by focusing on the so-cial issues that they are uniquely capable ofaddressing. For maximum impact, Nestlé focuseson CSV projects in the three areas – nutrition,water and rural development which are core tobusiness activities and vital for its value chain.For Nestlé Pakistan, the reconstruction of thisschool is one example of many.

MCB adopts new technology

KARACHI: MCB Bank has adopted Microsoftcollaboration and business productivity platformto enhance the efficiency of customer services by30 percent and maintain its technological edgein banking sector. “Acquisition of the latest tech-nology and moving towards integrated and cen-tralized solutions is the core strategy adopted bythe Bank having largest online branch setup inthe country,” said Mr. Imtiaz Mahmood, Head ofInformation Technology Group, MCB Bank Ltd.“This Microsoft platform will enable MCB em-ployees to connect securely and collaborate fromvirtually any device, anywhere giving the bankhuge edge over its competitors,” he added. SayedHashish, General Manager Microsoft NorthAfrica, East Mediterranean and Pakistan felici-tated MCB Bank for acquiring state of art tech-nology which would give an edge to itsemployees in efficient delivery of services.

CORPORATE CORNER

LAHORE

APP

BEARISH trend prevailed inLahore Stock Exchange onWednesday as it shed 43.55points, following the LSE-25index opened with 4015.96and closed at 3972.41 points.

The market’s overall situation, however,corresponded to an upward trend as it re-mained at 1.578 million shares to closeagainst previous turnover of 1.547 millionshares, showing an upward move of 30,500shares. While, out of the total 114 activescrips 24 moved up, 24 shed values and 66remined equal.

Oil and Gas Development Company Lim-ited, Atlas Insurance Limited and MuslimCommercial Bank Limited were Major Gainerof the day by recording increase in their pershare value by Rs 2.02, Rs 1.80 and Rs 1.75respectively.

Attock Refinery Limited, Pakistan Petro-leum Limited and Nishat Mills Limited losttheir per share value by Rs 3.73, Rs 1.51 andRs 1.35 respectively.

The Volume Leader of the day includedSilk Bank Limited (Saudi) with 346,500shares, NIB Bank Limited with 273,500shares and Fatima Fertilizer Company Lim-ited with 137,500 shares.

Eurozone

business slump

accelerates: MarkitBRUSSELS

AFP

Eurozone private sector business activityslumped deeper into the mire in October,falling at its fastest rate since June 2009to 40-month lows, a closely watched sur-vey showed Wednesday.The Composite Purchasing ManagersIndex (PMI), a survey of 5,000 eurozonebusinesses compiled by the Markit re-search firm, fell to 45.8 points in Octoberfrom 46.1 in September. The index is aleading indicator, and any reading below50 indicates a contraction in activity,with the eurozone getting off to a badstart for the fourth quarter as the debtcrisis continues to undermine growthand jobs. The preliminary data showedthe Services sector PMI at 46.2 points inOctober, edging up from 46.1 in Septem-ber while the Manufacturing sector fellvery sharply to 45.3 from 46.1. Markitsaid activity had fallen continually sinceSeptember 2011 with the exception of amarginal increase in January.

ACCI for

converting fertiliser

plants on coal ISLAMABAD: Attock Chamber of Com-merce and Industry (ACCI) on Wednes-day stressed the need for convertingfertiliser plants on coal to help mitigategas loadshedding in the country.If fertiliser sector is converted on coalash, this will help reduce the gas prob-lems, Former President ACCI, TariqMehmood said while addressing an en-ergy conference. He said that China iscatering 70 per cent of fertiliser demandby producing the commodity throughcoal ash, similarly, America is produc-ing 15 per cent of fertiliser from coalash, India 26 per cent and Australia 18per cent. He was of the view that con-verting fertiliser plants on coal basedfuel will also create two hundred thou-sand jobs, save foreign exchange wastedon import of urea, put an end to gas andCNG loadshedding and save by reducingfossil fuel imports. APP

Bears take over Lahore

Over 2800 companies benefitfrom SECP’s amnesty schemes ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission ofPakistan (SECP) has received healthy response to its amnestyschemes of Companies Regularization Scheme (CRS) and Com-pany Easy Exit Scheme (CEES). According to official handout is-sued here on Wednesday over 2800 companies have either filedtheir overdue returns through CRS or have applied for an easyexit route. Consequently, the compliance rate has witnessed apositive trend.Out of total applicants, 1887 companies have ap-plied for CRS, filing their overdue statutory returns and annualaccounts without the fear adjudication. It said the remaining,991 companies benefited from the easy exit scheme, which al-lows the companies having no assets or liabilities and not doingany business to avail themselves of the exit facility without un-dergoing the cumbersome winding up procedure. This scheme isapplicable to private and public unlisted companies. ONLINE

g LSE down 43.55 points

TOKYO

AFP

THE euro was under pressurein Asia Wednesday as marketsfretted over whether debt-rid-den Spain would seek a fullbailout, while a credit down-grade of five of the country’s re-gions also weighed on the unit.The single currency bought$1.2977 and 103.61 yen inTokyo morning trade, downfrom $1.2978 and 103.64 yen inNew York late Tuesday and welloff the levels above $1.30 and104 yen seen earlier this week.

The dollar was flat at

79.83 yen against 79.84 yen,after briefly topping 80 yen inAsian trade on Tuesday — thefirst time since early July.

Dealers are increasinglyconcerned Madrid has yet toask for a rescue, despite thepoor state of its economy,while Moody’s cut the ratingsof five regions, citing theirweak financial positions andlooming debt redemptions.

A large-scale Spanishbailout would enable the Euro-pean Central Bank to launch a500-billion-euro bond-buyingprogramme aimed at helpingdebt-stricken eurozone mem-

bers contain their soaring bor-rowing costs. Madrid has al-ready accepted a100-billion-euro rescue for itsstricken banks.

“The market is jittery as itdoesn’t know when Spain willask for a bailout,” said DaisakuUeno, senior foreign exchangeand fixed income strategist atMitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stan-ley. Spain, the eurozone’sfourth-largest economy, is en-tering a second year of reces-sion, according to the nation’scentral bank, as its leadersstruggle to curb a bloated pub-lic deficit.

Euro under pressure in Asia on Spain worries

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