Rain, floods inpunjab and sindherode cottonoutput by 9pcKARACHI: The cotton bales producedup to February 1 were counted at12.38 million against 13.62 millionarrived till the same date of last year.This, according to Pakistan CottonGinners Association (PCGA) data,depicts a decline of nine percent year-on-year in the cotton arrivals.According to PCGA figures, the cottonarrivals during the current seasonremained subdued.A massive decline of 18% YoY in cottonarrival from Punjab was the mainreason behind the fall, since theprovince contributed 73% (9 millionbales) to the total.“During the current season lower partof Punjab and upper part of Sindh werebadly affected by heavy rains,therefore, a flood-like situationdamaged cotton production,” saidanalysts at InvestCap Research.However, they said, a massive surge inthe cotton arrival from Sindh as awhole supported the production,posting a handsome increase of29%YoY to 3.35mn bales. That said,despite low cotton production duringthe season, prices of cotton remainednear Rs 6000/maund level as theavailable cotton inventory in the localmarket is currently sufficient to satisfylocal demand. STAFF REPORT

ssGCL clarifies position on Unaccounted for Gas

KARACHI: In response to a statementissued by OGRA maintaining thatUnaccounted for Gas (UFG) occurring inthe SSGCL system is twice the OGRAspecified target of 4.5%, SSGCL clarifiedthe information of all concerned that thecurrent actual UFG of its domestic andsmall commercial customers isestimated at about 4 times the OGRAspecified target while for othercustomers it is half of the OGRAspecified target. SSGCL has pointed outthat UFG figures are given in its actualaccounts which gives the region-wiseUFG in percentage terms. SSGCLbelieves that UFG mainly results fromsocio-economic factors, saline soilconditions and third partydamages/tampering which translatesinto higher UFG in its distribution systemfor domestic and small commercialcustomers. If SSGCL is allowed to takedecisions on pure commercialconsiderations, the UFG can be broughtdown below the OGRA specified target.SSGCL maintains that according to theChicago Gas Institute UFG of 1% to 3%is considered low, 4% to 6% isconsidered reasonable and above 6% isconsidered excessive.STAFF REPORT

01

BUSINESS

BThursday, 7 February, 2013

KARACHI: Consul General of Germany Tilo Klinner poses for a group photo with Karachi Stock Exchange MD Nadeem

Naqvi and others during his visit to KSE. ONLINE

Pakistan Steel Mills will not be

privatised – Qamar Zaman Kaira

BEIJING

APP

THE Chinese Customsdata showed that thecountry has imported25 percent of ricefrom Pakistan in2012. Pakistan fol-lowed Vietnam in the

staple crop while Thailand stood third.66.7 percent of China’s rice imports

were from Vietnam, 25 percent from Pak-istan and 7.6 percent from Thailand lastyear, respectively.

The Ministry of Agriculture (PRC)said China’s rice imports, which used to bedominated by Thai rice favoured by high-end consumers, turned to overseas marketsfor low price.

Rice prices in China started to outpace

those in Vietnam and Pakistan last year dueto a stronger yuan and steady price hikesin the domestic market, it said

China’s rice imports more than quadru-pled from the previous year to reach 2.32million tonnes in 2012, marking the largestamount of such imports since 2000, the lat-est customs data revealed.

Because the imports only accountedfor a small share of international rice trade,as well as domestic production and con-sumption, they will not have an obviousimpact on the global grain market or affectthe domestic rice market, said a statementfrom the ministry.

Meanwhile, China’s grain output rosefor the ninth consecutive year last year,with rice output up 1.6 percent year onyear, which has contributed toward makingrice supplies generally sufficient, said thestatement.

China iMpoRts 25% of RiCefRoM pakistan in 2012

ISLAMABAD

AGENCIES

Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf whilepresiding over the 6th Board of In-vestment (BoI) meeting onWednesday said the BoIshould be further strength-ened and directed it toevolve a mechanism tobecome more effective infacilitating investmentsin the country. The primeminister said it was ironicthat Pakistan, which hadone of the best investmentpolicies on paper, failed to attractforeign investment.

The board in its meeting held an in-depth discussion on ways and means to at-tract investment in the country which is

critical to the growth of the economy.The prime minister said the present

process of approval of projects was cum-bersome and involved a large number of

departments before a project could seethe light of the day. This, he said,

was discouraging investorsand needed to be simplified.“We need to work on a onewindow system where theinvestor can be providedall necessary informationand facilities”, remarked

Ashraf. He directed the bu-reaucracy to work on simpli-

fication of procedures byrevisiting the existing processes

without compromising on transparencyso that the investors were comforted.

Representatives of the private sec-tor assured the prime minister that they

are prepared to share their experienceand expertise to ensure implementationof government’s investment-friendlypolicies.

The minutes of the 5th BoI Boardmeeting, appointment of professionals anddetails of expenditure incurred from theboard fund so far were confirmed duringthe meeting. The new members from theprivate sector who participated in the meet-ing included Vice President FPCCI HaroonRasheed Shaikh, CEO Bank Alfalah AtifBajwa, Advocate Supreme Court of Pak-istan Syed Faisal Hussain Naqvi, VisionAir CEO Capt. Ijaz Ali Faizi, SapphireGroup Chairman Muhammad Abdullah,Saif Group of Companies Chairman JavedSaifullah Khan, Pakistan Mining Explo-ration Corporation Chairman Agha Shahidand Karachi Stock Exchange Board Chair-man Munir Kamal.

PM urges smooth proceduresto lure foreign investors

Govt borrows over Rs 223b from banksKARACHI: The cash-strapped governmenton Wednesday borrowed over Rs 223 billionfrom the banks to cater to its ever-burgeoning budgetary needs.The federal finance ministry raised over Rs223.162 billion from primary dealersthrough auctioning the Market Treasury Billof 3, 6- and 12-month maturities.The central bank auctioned the T-billssetting the cut-off yield at 9.0942, 9.1645and 9.2553 percent, respectively, for 3, 6and 12 months papers.The primary dealers, mostly the otherwisecash-strapped banks, responded well andoffered a surplus amount of over Rs315.162 billion to the government theirprime focus being the mid-term (6-month)government papers against which bids ofover Rs 168.936 billion were received.The central bank, however, accepted bidsof Rs 69.198 billion against the 3-monthpapers, Rs 141.863 billion against 6-month and Rs 12.100 billion against12-month securities in Wednesday’sauction. STAFF REPORT

“WE NEED TO WORKON A ONE WINDOWSYSTEM WHERE THEINVESTOR CAN BEPROVIDED ALLNECESSARY

INFORMATION ANDFACILITIES”

MCB likely to post Rs 22bprofit for CY12KARACHI: Muslim Commercial Bank(MCB), which is due to announce its fullyear CY12 results on Thursday (today), isexpected to post a profit after tax (PAT) ofRs 22.1 billion.The bank’s expected PAT, market analystssaid, would translate into a diluted earningper share (EPS) of Rs 24.03, marking asignificant increase of 14 percent year-on-year. “We expect the bank to post PAT ofRs22.1 billion translating into a diluted EPSof Rs 24.03, up by a significant 14% YoY,”said a report issued by the InvestCapResearch on Wednesday.It said whereas the net interest income ofthe bank was expected to slide by 8%YoY,the bank’s profitability was to be driven bylower provisions, expected to fall by89%YoY in CY12, along with 22% increasein non-interest income.The report said the enhancement in thebank’s non-interest income was mainly ledby expectations of improved commissionand brokerage income on the back ofimproved performance by the marketwitnessed in CY12.Furthermore, it said, the bank was expectedto announce a final cash dividend of up toRs4/share taking the full year payout toRs14/share.On a quarterly basis, PAT was expected toinch up by 2% in the fourth quarter of CY12to a level of Rs 5,431 million, translatinginto an EPS of 5.90 per share. STAFF REPORT

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BUSINESSThursday, 7 February, 2013

Major Gainers

COMPANY OPEN HIGH LOW CLOSE CHANGE TURNOVERUniLever Pak 10000.00 10100.00 10000.00 10075.00 75.00 280Rafhan Maize Prod. 3550.00 3600.00 3550.00 3600.00 50.00 120Wyeth Pak Limited 900.00 945.00 945.00 945.00 45.00 50Bata (Pak) 1400.00 1449.95 1375.50 1445.00 45.00 350Unilever Food 4080.00 4100.00 4100.00 4100.00 20.00 20

Major LosersNestle Pakistan Ltd. 4911.50 4701.00 4701.00 4701.00 -210.50 20Indus Dyeing 597.50 567.63 567.63 567.63 -29.87 300Gatron Ind. 192.50 182.88 182.88 182.88 -9.62 1,500Sunrays Textile 162.00 155.00 155.00 155.00 -7.00 500Exide (PAK) 348.15 350.00 340.10 342.01 -6.14 2,300

Volume Leaders

WorldCall Telecom 2.86 3.57 2.91 3.49 0.63 53,424,500TRG Pakistan Ltd. 7.28 8.28 7.30 8.28 1.00 33,858,000Wateen Telecom Ltd 2.99 3.48 2.99 3.34 0.35 24,513,000P.T.C.L.A 19.39 20.38 19.49 20.31 0.92 22,912,500Telecard Limited 4.43 4.88 4.51 4.56 0.13 20,275,500

Interbank RatesUSD PKR 97.8551GBP PKR 153.2705JPY PKR 1.0430EURO PKR 132.3882

ForexBUY SELL

US Dollar 99.10 99.80 Euro 132.58 134.91 Great Britain Pound 153.60 156.26 Japanese Yen 1.0465 1.0640 Canadian Dollar 97.94 100.27 Hong Kong Dollar 12.53 12.82 UAE Dirham 26.80 27.22 Saudi Riyal 26.30 26.66

KARACHI: Ameena Sayyad, chairperson of

Oxford Press, addresses a press conference

on the Karachi Literature Festival on

Wednesday. Arts Council President Ahmed

Shah is also seen in the picture. STAFF PHOTO

emirates moves up a gearwith formula 1® Globalpartner agreement

KARACHI: Emirates, one of the world’s fastestgrowing airlines, and the Formula One group haveannounced a five year agreement appointingEmirates as a Global Partner of Formula 1®starting with the imminent 2013 season. Theannouncement was made today by HH SheikhAhmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, Chairman and ChiefExecutive, Emirates Airline & Group and BernieEcclestone, Chief Executive Officer of the FormulaOne group. Emirates will have a strong brandingpresence at 15 races on the 2013 FIA Formula OneWorld Championship™ calendar across Europe,Asia, Australasia, North America and SouthAmerica. Starting at the Grand Prix™ in Malaysia(22-24 March 2013), the distinctive Fly Emiratesbranding will be seen at historic circuits such asSilverstone in Great Britain, Monza in Italy andInterlagos in Sao Paolo, Brazil. “This is an excitingglobal opportunity to align two world leadingbrands. The ambition, cutting-edge technologicalstandards and worldwide reach of Formula One gohand in hand with Emirates’ vision and ambition,”

said Sheikh Ahmed. “For many years, Emirates hasbeen at the forefront of sports partnerships acrossthe world. With the addition of this globalpartnership with the Formula One group we arecontinuing to expand our sponsorship portfolio,which I’m sure will be appreciated by sports fans.Today’s Formula One partnership follows on fromour recent sporting announcements such as re-signing a multi-year sponsorship agreement withArsenal Football Club, being a sponsorship partnerof the 2014 Commonwealth Games and becomingthe Official Airline of the ATP World Tourtournament.” As part of the Formula 1® GlobalPartner agreement, branding will be displayed oncircuit bridges and associated ground signs andEmirates will make full use of the world-renownedFormula One Paddock Club™. PR

Canada pakistanBusiness Council hostslunch for sM Muneer

The Canada Pakistan Business Council (CPBC)

hosted a lunch in honour of SM Muneer on January

17 at the Richmond Hill Country Club. Muneer

served as President of Federation of Pakistan

Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI) and is

currently the President of India-Pakistan Chamber

of Commerce & Industry (IPCCI) and is Vice

Chairman for the MCB Bank Limited of Pakistan.

Muneer has played a leading role in previous Trade

Missions to Canada and the first ever single county

exhibition in Canada. He has facilitated, received

and hosted many trade missions from Canada to

Pakistan. The meeting was attended by Senator

Salma Attaullah-Jan; the Consul General of

Pakistan, Mohammed Nafees Zakaria; MPP Dr.

Shafiq Qaadri; the Canadian International

Development Agency (CIDA) Director for Pakistan,

Jacob Thoppil; President of the Mississauga Board

of Trade, Sheldon Leiba; and CPBC Board

members, advisors, special guests and media

representatives. PR

AGRA: (From L-R) Subodh Bhargava,

Chairman Tata Communications & Board

Member, Tata Motors & Tata Steel,

Muhammad Azfar Ahsan, CEO, Nutshell Forum

& Founder, Pakistan India Management

Council, Amin Hashwani, President, Pakistan

India CEOs Forum and Rajiv Kaul, Chairman,

Nicco Corporation India at the Partnership

Summit in Agra, India hosted by

Confederation of Indian Industry & Ministry of

Commerce India and attended by 1500

delegates from all over the world. PR

UBL oMni gets 2nd

consecutive nomination for

GsMa Global Mobile award

KARACHI: UBL Omni has been recognized at a globallevel yet again, with a nomination for the 18th GSMAGlobal Mobile Awards 2013 to be held in Barcelona,Spain on 26th February. This is the single largestannual event in the mobile industry organized byGSMA spanning over 220 countries and uniting nearly800 of the world’s mobile operators, as well as morethan 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem.UBL Omni has been short-listed at the GSMA in thecategory of “GSMA mWomen Best Mobile Product orService for Women in Emerging Markets” fortransparent and efficient loan repayment & cash grantdisbursement services. UBL Omni is one of thepioneering players of Pakistan’s Branchless Bankingsector that offers G2P disbursements, corporate cashcollections, salary disbursements, mobile accounts,money transfer and bill payment services. Omni alsocaters to financial needs of underprivileged women byfacilitating the government and other internationaldonor agencies in providing loan repayment and cashgrant facility aimed at the underserved. Atif R.Bokhari, President & CEO, UBL said, “It is a greathonour to be nominated for a second consecutiveyear at the prestigious GSMA awards that trulyrecognizes the world’s best offerings in mobile forthe given category.” PR

Xpress Money announcesguaranteed cash prizesfor remittance receivers KARACHI: Xpress Money, one of the mostdependable global money transfer brands, haslaunched an exclusive 95 -day long promotionalbundle in Pakistan offering customers an array offreebies to be won every month. The promotion isvalid from January 26 to April 30 2013 during whichperiod customers using the Xpress Money networkwill be awarded a guaranteed cash prize of PKR 100on every cash-pickup from any of the 285 branchesof Telenor across the country. Apart from this,customers also stand a chance to win prizes from abouquet of over 125 mobile phones, five motorcycles and one free Umrah ticket in monthly raffledraws. “Pakistan is a significant for Xpress Money,which in the last few years has developed manifolddue to the large number of remittances sent in bythousands of hardworking Pakistani expatriates whowork abroad. It is due to their support that todayXpress Money is the leader in the money transferbusiness in Pakistan. PR

pappaRoti launches in pakistan

KARACHI: PappaRoti an international chain for

buns and an array of options for beverages has

opened at Dolmen Mall Clifton, Karachi with its

“versatile assault on the senses”. The signature

buns café extends its success story further after

setting up over 400 PappaRoti cafes and kiosks

across the globe - an absolute testament to the

brand’s appeal. Exclusive rights to open

nationwide chain of PappaRoti in Pakistan are

acquired by Zahdan Retail, a company of Zahdan

Group (Pvt) Ltd. PappaRoti is the flagship Café of

PappaRoti Trading Sdn. Bhd. and PappaRoti (M)

Sdn. Bhd - Malaysia. PR

CORPORATE CORNER

02

B

There is a high need of resetting the priority of energy

supply in the country in the larger interest of the

national economy – PTEA Chairman Asghar Ali

indian cabinet toconsider spV fortapi project NEW DELHI: Struggling to get global energymajors who can build the USD 9 billion TAPIgas pipeline, its four promoter nations havedecided to float a special purpose vehicle tokeep the transnational project alive. TheSPV, TAPI Ltd, will be formed withTurkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan andIndia pumping in $5 million equity each.India will be represented by state-ownedGAIL India Ltd. The proposal for formation ofthe Dubai-based SPV and GAIL being theIndian nominee is listed for consideration ofthe Union Cabinet for its meeting slated fortomorrow, official sources were quoted assaying. The issue however may not be takenup as Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily is in theUS on a 10-day visit. The SPV is beingconsidered for the project as no multinationalcompany is willing to participate in theproject unless they get a share inTurkmenistan’s rich gas fields. WhileTurkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan areof the view that the four promoters couldbuild and operate the pipeline on their own,India has insisted that the project be takenup only if a multinational company leads it.New Delhi does not want to be at themercy of Afghanistan and Pakistan for itsgas needs and also feels that none of thenominee companies of the four countrieshave the financial and managerialcapability to execute the project. Sourcessaid TAPI Ltd would scout for a consortiumleader who will build and operate theproject, while the US government wouldpursue Turkmenistan to get upstreamequity for its multinational. ONLINE

ISLAMABAD

APP

CONTRARy to the other partsof the world, microcredit sec-tor has witnessed a robustgrowth in Pakistan, which hasbeen ranked by the EconomicIntelligent Unit among the top

countries for offering conducive environment formicrofinance sector growth.

According the latest report of MicrocreditSummit Campaign, just about 13 million world’spoorest families received access to microcredit andother financial services in 2011.

The report titled “Vulnerability: The State ofthe Microcredit Summit Campaign Report 2011”however observes that microcredit sector has reg-istered a considerable progress in Pakistan.

As a sector developer, Pakistan Poverty Al-leviation Fund (PPAF) is in the driving seat tocontrol the trajectory and disbursed over Rs 14billion during the year under review resulting inan increase of Rs 2,545 million in the outstandingloan portfolio and contributing almost 76 percentof the total increase witnessed by the microfi-nance sector in Pakistan.

PPAF is the strategic and exclusive partner ofMicrocredit Summit Campaign for reporting andin terms of realising its aims and objectives. Since

its inception, PPAF has disbursed more than $850million through 5.2 million microcredit loans.

Currently, almost half of Pakistan’s microfi-nance market share is financed by PPAF throughover 50 microfinance banks, microfinance institu-tions and other civil society organisations in 92districts across the country.

It is for the first time since 1998, when the Mi-crocredit Summit Campaign began tracking thisdata, the total number of clients and number of thepoorest families reached has declined.

The total number of clients was reported tohave fallen from 205 million to 195 million andthe sub-set of families living in extreme poverty,defined as less than $1.25 a day, from 137 millionto 124 million. According to the report, most otherparts of the world saw moderate or slowed growth,with the exception of 1.4 million new clients inSub-Saharan Africa.

Despite this reverse in 2011, microfinance in-stitutions still provided microloans to more than124 million households living in extreme poverty.

Assuming an average of five persons per fam-ily, this means that more than 621 million peoplewere affected; this is twice the entire population ofthe United States. The report argues that gettingthe industry back on track will require a new un-derstanding of clients’ needs, preferences and as-pirations as well as designing new tools fordelivering products and services at lower costs.

Microfinancewitnesses robustgrowth in pakistan

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