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Doctor prescribes newmedicine Page 02

Wednesday, 11 April, 2012

CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOULLESS

THe cement sector’s recent bullrun is an interesting extension ofthe market’s current behaviour –stellar uptrend decoupled from

the real economy. It outperformed thewider market by approximately 30 percent, even as 8M-’12 y-o-y growth in totaldispatch was an unimpressive 3.5 per cent(exports actually dropped 5.6pc!). Yet thesector posted healthy gains, mainly be-cause leading companies employed cost-cutting measures just in time to leveragehigher retention prices in both local andinternational markets.EXOGENOUS FACTORS, DEMO-GRAPHICS: Of course, it helped that theinternational price of coal – the main costdriver – fell 22 per cent (y-o-y) as weaken-ing global growth dimmed demand forcommodities across the board.

“Higher retention prices, along with re-duced input cost, improved margins acrossthe sector”, notes Husain Asghar of Syner-gistic Financial Advisors, a Lahore basedconsultancy. “Investors started mountingas prices rose in the local market, reachingaround Rs410-430”. Signs of marked im-provement have also appeared on the ex-ternal side, despite dismal numbers so farin the outgoing fiscal. There is a suddenspike in demand owing to imminent post-nato reconstruction in Afghanistan, wherePakistani cement furnishes approximately90 per cent of the market, and unprece-dented improvement in trade relationswith India. Demographics will now deter-mine company earnings in the immediateterm, says Hamad Malik, market strategistat First national equities. Companies inthe north will cash in on the Afghan tradewhile the likes of DG Khan, closest by roadto India, will benefit from phasing out ofthe India-specific negative list.RUSH TO EXPORT: exports toAfghanistan alone have risen 11.5 per centmonth-on-month, and seven per cent y-o-y. Increased cross-border demand has ob-viously bid up prices, leaving supplybottlenecks in the local market. “The rushto export is interesting, to say the least,”

says Hamad, adding that “margins arehigher locally, yet there is an overwhelm-ing focus on increasing exports, which isdifficult to explain in normal market con-ditions”. Analysts including the Fnestrategist believe local companies arehappy exploiting higher prices in the inter-national market, especially since the sup-ply shock leaves subsequent internal priceshigher, much to the benefit of manufactur-ers. And this practice will continue at leastso long as reconstruction momentum re-mains in Afghanistan, and Indian marketdemand reacts favourably.HOMEGROWN DEMAND, GOINGLONG: Domestic off-take, which hasformed the basis of the sector’s profitabil-ity so far, is set to continue strongly as thelast quarter plays out.

“A number of factors are convergingjust as election year compulsions demandan expansionist, people-friendly budget,”says Hussain. “You have post-flood recon-struction in affected areas of Sindh, settingup of new hydral projects, and cyclicaluptick in demand that generally followsthe end of winter”. And since these factorscoincide with increased external demand– Afghanistan, India, even Saudi Arabiaand Qatar – market sentiment is stronglyin favour of long positions even as the sec-tor is clearly overweight, raising expecta-tions that the bid in cement is tied to thestrong uptrend in the wider market. Yet acloser look shows that bullish fundamen-tals might not hold beyond the current fis-cal, though brokers remain divergent.POTENTIAL HEADWINDS: “Thereare potential headwinds that can put a haltto the current sprint-run in the cementsector, or even turn the tide the other wayaround,” according to Sarfraz Abbasi, sen-ior analyst at the Karachi based SummitCapital. One, the sector’s capacity utilisa-tion is 71 per cent, the lowest in five years.Two, increased production from Iranthreatens blunting our competitive advan-tage in our most lucrative markets(Afghanistan, India, Iraq). Three, deple-tion in foreign inflows due to financial andsecurity breakdown has caused a hemor-rhaging of funds from the developmentbudget, squeezing room for fiscal expan-sion. Four, unnatural and perhaps engi-neered rise in cement prices has started

unnerving consumers and authoritiesalike, and chances of continued abnormalbid that catapulted the sector in the lastfew quarters are practically zero. Five, thegovernment’s incurable addiction to bor-rowing continues to crowd out private sec-tor investment, compromising the sector’smost ambitious point of leverage. “Thus webelieve with modest growth in demand andcement prices, cement stocks might loseexcitement in FY13,” concludes Abbasi.TAKE PROFITS?: It’s still difficult tofigure exactly which bit of fundamentalnews will best signal profit taking, sincemarket analysis is limited by near com-plete absence of technical tendencieschartists can leverage. Mid-level puntershave had repeated experiences of gettingtheir fingers burnt in times of furiousselling, and an untimely repeat will sendworrying signals about the market.Hamad notes clear bubble-tendencies,that too in the near burst stage.

“There are clear abnormalities in ce-ment,” he says. “When DGK increases 100per cent in two months, for example, I tendto doubt there is long term fundamentalbid”. He eyes an end-June deadline for thesector to return to stable earnings.SEASONAL, CYCLICAL: There are stillcontrarian views though. Synergistic Fi-nancial doubts the trend is likely to peterout with the change of fiscal year. With in-creasing demand both internally and ex-ternally, input costs reduced andcompanies nicely positioned to exploit un-derlying advantages, they expect the bull-ish sentiment to waltz into the new fiscal.The only threat, notes their sector newslet-ter, is unforeseen rise in the internationalcoal price. “If coal price rises and cementplayers are unable to pass it on, marginscould come under pressure,” it notes.

But for the more prudent, especiallythose sitting on healthy gains, perhaps itsbest to avoid unnecessary uncertainty.Sometimes seasonal and cyclical signalsare best to take cue from. “April onwardsis a good time to shift interest to the fer-tiliser sector,” says Hamad. “ Demand in-creases as cultivation season approaches,and market interest shifts to fertiliserscrips.” There’s a good chance that returnof rationality to cement will coincide witha bull rampage in fertiliser.

KaraChI

ISMAIL DILAWAR

One can aptly smell politickingon the part of the presentdemocratically-elected gov-ernment which is all set to

present a tax-free federal budget forFY13 on the eve of general elections ex-pected to be held in March next year.

The federal government on Tuesdayunveiled its four-point budgetary “prior-ities” for next fiscal year which, the fi-nance minister said, include economicstability, unemployment and inflation,welfare of “forgotten” segments and theimprovement of taxation system. Also,Federal Finance Minister Dr AbdulHafeez Sheikh said the government in anindiscriminate action was able to collectaround Rs 4 billion embezzled by “someof the biggest” names of Pakistan on ac-count of tax adjustments with the Fed-eral Board of Revenue (FBR).

Talking to reporters at the 28th Cor-porate excellence Awards ceremonyhere, the finance minister said the forth-coming Budget 2012-13 would neitherbring any new tax nor would the existingtax rates be increased. However, the fi-nance minister said, the rich but untaxedwould be brought into the tax net tomake the resource-constrained countryfinancially self-sufficient.

Outlining the four priorities his gov-ernment had “principally” set for thenew fiscal budget, Dr Hafeez said the in-ternational and national negatives, likeglobal contraction in economic growth,backbreaking floods etc., warranted Is-lamabad to focus on budgetary meas-ures that could lead the country to

economic stability. “Of course, (eco-nomic) austerity is essential,” for eco-nomic stability, he noted.

The finance minister said ensuringthat its tax collection policies be im-proved and implemented in letter andspirit, his government would tax thecountry’s rich for achieving economicself-sufficiency.

“The existing taxpayers would not beburdened any further nor the existing taxrates would be increased,” said he adding“So, naturally, there would be no newtaxes or increase in the existing ones.”

Also, Dr Hafeez said like this year’sallocation of Rs 50 billion under BenazirIncome Support Program (BISP) thecountry’s “forgotten” segments would notbe forgotten in the new budget. It wouldbe ensured that the “weak” and the poorare provided with insurance, small loansand other basic facilities. Unemploymentand the present double-digit inflationwere cited by the finance minister as afourth priority of his government.

Other areas the budget would focusare: law and order, health, education,availability of drinking water and infra-structure development. earlier, the fi-nance minister told the best performingcorporate giants at the awards cere-mony that the government was deter-mined to take indiscriminate actionagainst those involved in financial ir-regularities of any kind.

Recalling a list comprising the names“who is who of Pakistan” show to him bythe ex-FBR Chief Salman Siddiqui, hesaid he had ordered the lodging of anFIR against the bigwigs without any hes-itation. “Rs 4 billion were collected fromthat one act alone,” the minister said.

How tax-free budgetswin you elections,Book 3, Chapter 12

Is the bid in cement sustainable?SITUATIONER

Shahab Jafry

PRO 11-04-2012_Layout 1 4/11/2012 12:59 AM Page 1

news02Wednesday, 11 April, 2012

KaraChI

STAFF REPORT

FeDeRAL Minister for Fi-nance Dr Abdul HafeezSheikh Tuesdaylaunched the Code of

Corporate Governance, 2012 hereat a ceremony organized by the Se-curities and exchange Commissionof Pakistan (SeCP). Held in collab-oration with the Center for Inter-national Private enterprise (CIPe),the ceremony was attended by par-ticipants from various segments ofcorporate sector including marketassociations, corporates, capitalmarket institutions and commer-cial and investment banks, non-bank finance companies, lawyers,regulators, auditors, institutionsand media. The Code sets a mini-mum benchmark in terms of gov-ernance standards, bringsconsistency in the corporate prac-tices and promotes transparencythrough enhanced disclosure re-quirements. The Code will result inavailability of enhanced informa-tion to markets participants andhence will provide better protec-tion of the rights of all investors,particularly minority shareholders.

Governance standards are dy-namic and changing with the de-velopment of constantly evolvingcorporate sector and financial mar-kets. This calls for a constant re-view of governance framework tokeep pace with globally set bench-marks. In an endeavor to align ourgovernance regime with enhancedrequirements of present times andglobal best practices, the SeCP

mandated the Institute of Corpo-rate Governance to initiate work onreview of the Code.

The SeCP, while finalizing theCode, conducted a thorough con-sultative process which includedholding of three roundtables, anumber of bilateral meetings withstakeholders, written and verbalcomments and suggestions re-ceived from a wide range of stake-holders. While finalizing the Code,due consideration was given to allthe suggestions received, keepingin the view the global develop-ments in corporate governance andthe overall objective of raising thestandards of corporate governancein the country.Salient features of the newcode are given below:1. The Code, 2012 requires at leastone independent director whilepreference is for 1/3rd of the totalmembers of the board to be inde-pendent directors. 2. Criteria forassessment of independence havebeen substantially expanded. 3.Maximum number of executiveDirectors has been decreased from75% to 1/3rd of elected directorsincluding CeO. 4. number of di-rectorships has been decreasedfrom 10 to 7 that a director can holdat the same time. 5. Requirementof board evaluation has been intro-duced. 6. Office of the Chairmanand CeO has been separated. TheChairman shall now be electedfrom amongst the non -executivedirectors of a listed company. 7. Itwill now be mandatory for direc-tors of listed companies to attaincertification under any director

training program offered by any in-stitution (local or foreign), whichmeets the criteria specified by theSeCP. The criteria are available atthe websites of the stock exchangesand the SeCP. 8. The appoint-ment, remuneration and terms andconditions of employment of theChief Financial Officers (CFO),Company Secretary (CS) and theHead of Internal Audit (IA) oflisted companies shall be deter-mined by the Board rather thanCeO. The removal will also be bythe Board for CS and CFO. 9. Qual-ification introduced for Head of IA.The removal of Head of IA is withthe approval of the Board onlyupon recommendation of theChairman of the Audit Committee.10. A formal and transparent pro-cedure to be followed regarding re-muneration of Directors anddisclosure of aggregate remunera-tion in the annual report. 11. It isnow mandatory for the Chairmanof the audit committee to be an in-dependent director, who shall notbe the chairman of the board. AuditCommittee shall comprise of non-executive directors.12. The secretary of Audit Commit-tee shall either be the CompanySecretary or Head of InternalAudit. However, the CFO shall notbe appointed as the secretary to theAudit Committee. 13. Human Re-sources and Remuneration Com-mittees have been introduced. 14.The internal audit function may beoutsourced by a listed company toa professional services firm or beperformed by the internal auditstaff of the holding company.

LahOrE

STAFF REPORT

PUnJAB Food Departmenthas announced its wheatprocurement policy for theyear 2012-13 with an aim

to purchase 3.5 million metric tons ofwheat from 20th April directly fromthe farmers to discourage the role ofmiddle man in entire process ofwheat procurement.

Secretary food, Punjab, Irfan Alialong with Director Food najam Shahduring a press briefing on Tuesdayhighlight the salient features of theprocurement policy. The procure-ment price has been set to Rs 1050 per40kg along with Rs 7.50 per 100 kgwheat as delivery charges. Issuance ofGani bags (Bardana) will commencefrom 15th April and will be issued tofarmers on first come first serve basis.

A grower who applies for the gani bagswill be entertained for maximum 200jute bags or 400 polyethylene bagsonce during the first 15 days of pro-curement at the center, in case of over-crowding, maximum aforesaid limitsmay be reduced by the department.

Director food najam shah saidthat the logic behind this arrange-ment is that maximum number ofgrowers who own less or up to 12.5acre land will be fully accommodated.Over 90 percent of the growers fallinto this category, he added. Theprice of jute bag is set at Rs 112 perbag and Rs 29 per polyethylene bag,8 jute bags or 16 PP bags per acre willbe issued to growers, the number willnot exceed the limit of 200 jute or400 PP bags, he said. incase the enti-tlement is more than the maximumlimit then further bags will be issuedto the farmers after he brings back

the first consignment, he added.We will start purchasing wheat

through our 375 centers from 20thApril, but I feared that the date mightfurther extend up to 25th April due toweather conditions, shah said. Bank ofPunjab will provide a loan of Rs 92 bil-lion to food department for wheatpurchase, he said. We are trying tocreate space at our godowns, howeverprivate godowns will also be hired tostore maximum wheat stocks in cov-ered accommodation, till date fooddepartment has open stocks of 0.997Mmt and covered stocks of 0.892Mmt, Shah said. he said that all pri-vate buyers will be free to procure andstore wheat as per their requirements,wheat exporters will be allowed toprocure wheat under public privatepartnership agreement as per last yearpractice, in order to stabilize the pricesin open market, he added.

LahOrE

STAFF REPORT

PAKISTAn Industrial &Traders Association Front(PIAF) has said that energy

Conference must give some longterm solution to the aggravating en-ergy crisis but it has failed to come upwith any such breakthrough. In theirjoint reaction on the outcomes of en-ergy conference, Chairman PIAFengr. Sohail Lashari, Chairman La-hore Township Industries Associa-

tion Iftikhar Bashir Chaudhry andChairman Autoparts Manufacturers& exporters Association Tahir JavedMalik said that decisions like closureof markets at 8 pm, electricity sus-pension to the neon signs and twoholidays in the government depart-ments would hardly help in bridginggap between demand and supply ofthe electricity. Particularly two holi-days would create more hurdles forthe trade and industry. KBP NOT BEST PLEASED:Kisan Board Pakistan (KBP) ex-

pressing its reservations on wheatprocurement policy announced bythe Punjab government has de-manded to make it more transparentand efficient. The Board urged thegovernment to end political inter-vention in the coming procurementdrive and small growers should begiven gunny bags on priority basis.

This demand was raised at ameeting of the Lahore Divisionwing of the Kisan Board Pakistanhere on Tuesday. KBP CentralPresident Sardar Zafar HusseinKhan chaired the meeting, whichwas also attended by the KBP Cen-tral Punjab President Chaudhrynoor elahi Tatla.

Procurement policy to separatethe wheat from the chaff

LahOrE

STAFF REPORT

THe budget for the year 2012-13must be focused on energysector as country’s economic

revival hinges on availability of cheaperand uninterrupted power and gassupply. This was the crux of the LCCIBudget proposals for the year 2012-13,finalized after getting feedback fromvarious sectors. Almost all the sectorscalled for immediate measures tobridge electricity demand-supply gap.Irfan Qaiser Sheikh said that austerityshould be the theme of the budgetdocument and for the purpose thegovernment would have to cut off theunnecessary expenditures as excessivegovernment borrowing was not onlyresulting in higher interest rates butalso restricting availability of cheaperliquidity for the private sector. TheLCCI President urged the governmentto broaden the tax net by bringing theagriculture and services sectors into thetax net. Public Sector enterprises(PSes) like PIA, Railways and PakistanSteel Mills, generating a loss of Rs. 400billion annually should be managedprofessionally or be privatized to avoidthe huge loss to the national exchequer.The SRO 111 about whitening of capitalthrough TT must be withdrawn inorder to promote tax culture andbroadening of tax net. Annex “D”

should be abolished From the IncomeTax return. The government shouldwithdraw SRO 191 immediately. Rateof minimum income tax of 1% ofturnover under section 113 is too high.It is suggested that rate be reduced to0.5% of the turnover. MinimumTurnover Tax u/s 113 shall not be leviedon entities which are bearing loses. If,however, government intends to applythe minimum tax rate, it should notexceed previous 0.5% tax of theturnover. While 0.2% rate should beapplied on distributors, whole sellersand retailers, due to their very thinmargin of profit. Corporate tax shall bereduced to 25% from 35% for limitedcompanies quoted on stock exchanges.The rate of withholding tax oncontracts should be reduced to 1percent. The basic exemption limit forincome tax should be raised toRs.500,000/- which is in line with theoverall inflation of our economy andrising prices of consumer products. TheWHT at imports U/S 154 is different forCommercial and Industrial Importerswhich creates an imbalance and opensroom for corruption. LCCI demand thatWHT should be equalized for bothcommercial and industrial importers @3%. Presumptive income should beallowed and withholding tax should beadjustable. Turnover Tax be reducedfrom 1% to 0.2% for the indigenousseed industry/companies. There

should be no Sales Tax on import andlocal supply of plant and machinery. Alltaxes should be waived off on I.T baseditems:- The LCCI recommends that theSales Tax on Agricultural Diesel engineshall be reduced in the same manner asit has been reduced on agriculturaltractors from 16% to 5%. It is proposedthat government should bring downcustom duty on light truck tyres from20% to 15%. Custom duty on all rawmaterials of tyre manufacturing shouldbe reduced to 5%.The LCCI stronglyrecommends that government shouldbring down custom duty on all plasticraw materials, which are not producedin the country to 5%. Grand ParentStock is basic seed/raw material forpoultry sector; its import should beallowed as duty free instead of 5%duty, being charged presently. Toimpose 15% duty on the import ofbroiler parent stock or hatching eggsto produce broiler parent stock dayold chicks. Duty free Import offertilizer raw materials should beallowed into Pakistan. LCCI stronglyrecommend that there should beabsolute exemption of Sales Tax andCustom Duties on import ofindustrial raw material and plant &equipment. Paper & paperboardshould be categorized as a semi-finished raw material for the printing,Converting and Packaging Industryand as such import duty of Chapter48 be brought down to 5% in existingduty. LCCI President urged the govtto fix the duty of Digital Camera up toRs. 500-. Through this, legal import& proper documentation will startwith better revenue to the Govt ofPakistan. It is proposed that, 5%custom duty be charged on import ofPeT bottle scrap only.

ISLaMabaD

AMER SIAL

WHAT was the best excuse given by theincumbent government on thepersistent energy shortage as “they

(Musharraf regime) did nothing”, will be soonused against it at every forum as the ruling partyhas failed to address the root cause of energycrisis, the circular debt, that has already startedhampering new potential power projects in thecountry. An official source said that thegovernment has been recently informed by thepower sector investors that the banks were notinterested to provide any financing for new powerprojects until the issue of circular debt was notresolved. The banks are already over exposed tothe power sector and given the current precarioussituation in which a few Independent PowerProducers (IPP) have invoked the sovereignguarantees for the third time within a year. Thelow credibility of the government and its failure toresolve the circular debt have forced the investorsto back track as they do not want their receivablesand payment struck. The source said the refusalby the local banks would be affecting the progressof new power projects in the alternate energycategory in which the government has set a targetof 1000 MW before the end of the current yearwhile the Thar coal based projects would not bestarted. He said the government would be blamedby all for doing nothing in the last four years todevelop any hydro, wind or other alternate mode

of energy for the country. even though China andJapan have shown interest to finance the muchrequired infrastructure in the Thar areas, the lackof seriousness of the federal and provincialgovernment of Sindh has played a major role inno progress of any power project. A studyconducted by the Pakistan Business Councilestimates that the petroleum import bill would bereaching over $ 120 billion by 2020 if measuresto promote alternate modes of power were notintroduced in the country. Pakistan’s currentenergy requirement of 14000 MW is estimatedto rise to 26,000 MW by 2020. For energysecurity of the country, experters are stressingutilizing vast untapped potential of hydel andcoal. The source said that a joint public privatepartnership project the Sindh engro CoalMining Company has completed its technicaland bankable feasibility study for 1200 MWpower plant, which requires an investment of $3 billion. He said that without the resolution ofthe chronic problem of circular debt the bankswere not likely to finance the project ofutilization of the indigenous coal. Other majorsreasons for the slow pace on the Thar coal frontremains the absence of the feed-in tariff for theprojects. The Minister for Water and Power hasclaimed many times that it would be announcedsoon but the matter still remains unresolved.Then there has been no development on theinfrastructure front even though the PPPgovernment is claiming from 2008 Thar coal asa panacea for the energy crisis.

LCCI’s turn to exercise its little greycells over FY 2012-2013 budget

Power investors are a bunch of meanies!

WATCHING THE WHEAT

BUDGET BASH NO MONEY NO HONEY

The Doctor prescribesnew medicine

g Dr Hafeez conjures up his own 14 points via new code of corporate governance

g Punjab Food Department announces Wheat Procurement Policy 2012-13g Growers owning less than 12.5 acres of land to be fully accommodatedg Thieves in department to be smoked out

Pessimistic traders, apprehensive farmersg PIAF fails to dig out optimism from Energy Conferenceg KBP finds Wheat Procurement Policy bordering on a joke

g No investment in power sector till circular debt perseveres g IPPs invoke sovereign guarantees for third time this year g Andit seems as if no one gives a rabbit about Thar coal project either

PRO 11-04-2012_Layout 1 4/11/2012 12:59 AM Page 2

news

Wednesday, 11 April, 2012

03

Bahria Town organises PANAH Walk

RAWALPINDI: Bahria Town organized thePAnAH(Pakistan national Hearts Association) Walkat Rose Garden near Begum Akhtar Rukshana Memo-rial Trust Hospital Phase 8, Bahria Town on Sunday,8th April 2012. Hundreds of people and residents ofBahria Town participated in this event. Volunteerswere also present at the event to provide emergencymedical services and beverages to the participantsand spectators. The Chief Guest Brig (r) nazir Snr.General Manager Bahria/Safari Homes Bahria Townalong with distinguished guests Snr. Vice PresidentPAnAH Col (r) Rafi, General (r) Ashraf and Organiz-ers, Brig (r) Akhtar GM maintenance and Muhammadnaseer Admin Manager Bahria Town with PAnAHTeam were present at the event. PRESS RELEASE

Toyota IMV sales reach global 5m mark TOKYO: Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) announcesthat worldwide cumulative sales of its Innovative Inter-national Multi-purpose Vehicle (IMV) project seriesreached 5 million units at the end of March. The IMVseries consist of five vehicles—three pickup trucks (In-cluding two series of Hilux which are well known inPakistan), a minivan, and an SUV—specially developedin 2004 for introduction to over 140 countries and re-gions. Based on the concept of producing vehicleswhere they are sold, TMC has established an optimalworldwide production and supply system to quicklyoffer attractive vehicles at an affordable price to con-sumers around the world. PRESS RELEASE

USAID signs MOU with NSPPLAHORE: In continuation of its ongoing efforts to cre-ate sustainability of the program, USAID funded Assess-ment and Strengthening Program (ASP-Rural SupportPrograms network) set a major milestone by signing aMemorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the na-tional School of Public Policy (nSPP), Government ofPakistan. The MOU, signed on the 6th of April is a steptowards institutionalizing the program objective ofstrengthened Pakistani Public Sector organizations fortransparent and accountable utilization of USAID re-

sources and other development funds, hence enhancingaid effectiveness.

SAPPL signs MoU with PTC+ (Netherlands)

LAHORE: Solve Agri Pak (Private) Limited (SAPPL)has signed a memorandum of understanding withPTC+ (netherlands) to work together on training andskill development initiatives for agriculture & livestocksector in Pakistan. SAPPL is the premium servicesprovider in dairy, livestock & related agriculture sec-tors of Pakistan; whereas PTC+ is a highly respectedand renowned Dutch institute specialized in conduct-ing practical trainings in agriculture, livestock and al-lied fields. A small but robust ceremony was held forthe signing of the Memorandum of Understanding atthe SAPPL Head Office in Lahore. PRESS RELEASE

5th TeleCON 2012 comes to KarachiLAHORE: The 5th Annual Pakistan Telecommunica-tions Conference 2012 (TeleCOn 2012) organized bySHAMROCK Conferences International and endorsed bythe Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) will beheld on April 19, 2012 from 9.30 am to 4.00 p.m. at theAvari Hotel Karachi. Mr. Saleem H. Madviwalla, Ministerof State & Chairman, Board of Investment, GoP will bethe Chief Guest and Chairman PTA, Dr. MohammadYaseen will be delivering the keynote address. The themeof the conference is “Riding the Wave of Technology &Consolidation” and will include strategic presentations inthree distinctive sessions, Regulatory, Technology andeconomic Challenges; ICT, Improving Access and en-ergy/Power Supply Issues and Maximizing on the Powerof 3G for economic Activity in Pakistan. PRESS RELEASE

Hascol launches first LPG Autogas Station KARACHI: Hascol Petroleum Limited recentlylaunched Pakistan’s first LPG Autogas Station atShahrah-e-Faisal, Karachi in an event. This is one of thekey steps taken by Hascol to make sure that LPG be-comes the fuel of choice in the coming years. The inau-guration saw Dr. Asim Hussain, Federal Minister forPetroleum and natural Resources as the chief guest. Hewas hopeful that with the LPG Policy 2012 to be released

shortly, new policy changes suggested by Chairman Has-col will be incorporated. PRESS RELEASE

Wateen expands services to PakpattanLAHORE: Wateen Telecom, Pakistan’s leading con-verged communications service provider, is proud toannounce the commencement of its services in Pakpat-tan, Punjab. Wateen, which was recently ranked thenumber one wireless broadband service provider in thecountry by the PTA for QoS and was also ranked theleading ISP by the Consumer Choice Awards, is fast ex-panding its network of services across Pakistan. The ad-dition of Pakpattan to Wateen’s WiMax network comesas part of Wateen’s collaboration with the UniversalServices Fund (USF). Through the USF, Wateen offersdiscounts to subscribers in areas where internet pene-tration is extremely low. Wateen is already workingwith USF on four broadband and three optical fibreprojects in underserved areas of Balochistan, Sindh andPunjab, with subsidies worth a total of PKR 2.8 billion.With the addition of Pakpattan, Wateen now serves atotal of 25 cities, with 960 WiMAX sites nationwide,making the company the largest WiMAX serviceprovider in the country. PRESS RELEASE

SBP revises transaction fee at Rs1000under remittance facilityKARACHI: The central bank on Tuesday revisedthe rate of the transfer of funds and remittances tothe banks under the Remittance Facility. The re-vised fee communicated to the banks and Develop-ment Finance Institutions has been set at Rs 1000per transaction. “It has been decided to charge a flatfee of Rs 1000 per transaction for each fund transferinstruction with immediate effect,” said an SBP cir-cular issued on Tuesday. The revision, the circularsaid, was with reference to Circular no 04 of 2007issued by the Finance Department on December 18,2007 whereby the SBP had levied a uniform rate of0.07 percent on all funds transfers and remittancesunder the Remittance Facility to banks. All other in-structions on the subject shall, however, remain un-changed, said the bank. STAFF REPORT

50 women entrepreneurs leave forMultan expeditionLAHORE: A 50-member delegation of south Pun-jab’s women entrepreneurs led by Mrs. MaimonaHameed left for Multan this evening after holding aconcluding session at the Small and Medium enter-prises Development Authority. The delegation ledby Mrs. Maimona Hameed included woman tradersfrom Bahawalpur, Khanewal and Multan. The mem-

bers of delegation thanked SMeDA for arrangingtheir participation in the women lifestyle exhibitionheld at Islamabad and providing proper training toorganize stalls in the exhibitions. SMeDA Officialsapprised the delegation about the efforts beingmade by SMeDA to attract women towards busi-ness. The delegation was told that SMeDA had setup a Women entrepreneurship Cell to hold trainingworkshops on business and initiate projects forbusiness facilitation of women entrepreneurs. Thecreation of Women Business Incubation Center atLahore and also in other cities was also undertakenby the same cell. earlier, the delegation visitedKARMA Fashion House in D.H.A, where therenowned Fashion Designer Maheen Kardar briefedit about the latest fashion trends in national and in-ternational market. STAFF REPORT

LAHORE: Coca-Cola and students of Aitchison College, incollaboration with Mr Raja Ejaz of Hazara, organized afree eye camp for three days. A total of 2500 patientswere treated and 300 eye operations were performed byspecialists from Lahore and Islamabad. In this picture (L-R): Ibrahim Ihsan Khan, Rizwan Khan, Country GeneralManager Coca-Cola & Raja Ejaz. PRESS RELEASE

CORPORATE CORNER

Major Gainers

Company Open High Low Close Change Turnover

UniLever Pak LtdXD 5844.49 5900.00 5600.00 5896.30 51.81 816Sanofi-Aventis 175.96 184.75 184.00 184.75 8.79 4,343Indus Motor Company 255.31 268.06 256.00 263.18 7.87 4,136EFU General InsXD 87.48 91.85 86.80 91.85 4.37 41,884Packages Limited 86.83 91.17 86.90 91.10 4.27 179,826

Major Losers

Siemens Pakistan 770.00 751.00 735.01 747.00 -23.00 150Nestle PakXD 4509.00 4579.00 4461.00 4486.67 -22.33 24Habib Bank XDXB 111.72 113.50 108.00 108.98 -2.74 132,855Millat Tractors 491.75 492.99 489.00 489.01 -2.74 5,434Service IndXD 179.98 180.00 175.28 177.62 -2.36 251

Volume Leaders

NIB Bank Limited 2.85 3.15 2.87 2.95 0.10 32,258,523Dewan Cement 6.19 7.19 6.12 7.18 0.99 26,392,769D.G.K.Cement 39.58 41.55 39.72 41.46 1.88 20,150,012Byco Petroleum 11.93 12.93 12.05 12.45 0.52 13,755,894Jah.Sidd. Co. 21.65 21.94 21.05 21.35 -0.30 13,328,399

Interbank RatesUS Dollar 90.7300UK Pound 143.6709Japanese Yen 1.1170euro 118.6567

Dollar EastBuy Sell

US Dollar 90.70 0.00Euro 118.03 119.04Great Britain Pound 142.92 0.00Japanese Yen 1.1101 1.1193Canadian Dollar 90.12 91.38Hong Kong Dollar 11.55 11.71UAE Dirham 24.66 24.84Saudi Riyal 24.14 24.33Australian Dollar 92.48 94.71

LAHORE: Mr Muhammad Umer Draz Awan has taken overPIA Lahore as District Manager. He carries with himextensive marketing and administrative experience. Priorto his present assignment he was Manager Dhahran,Saudi Arabia. PRESS RELEASE

KaraChI

STAFF REPORT

THe bulls kept dominatingKarachi stocks market onTuesday with benchmark,KSe 100-share index gained

38.44 points. The day saw the indexclosing up by 0.28 percent at 13903.12points against 13,864.68 points ofMonday.Higher global commodities, risinglocal and export cement prices,expectations for stronger quarter-endresults played a catalyst role in bullishsentiments at KSe, said Abdul Azeem,an analyst at InvestCap.On Tuesday, the trading volumes atthe ready-counter were recorded lowerat 290.421 million shares against348.244 million shares of the previousday. The trading value too decreasedto Rs 5.393 billion compared to Rs5.412 billion of the previous session.The intraday high and low,respectively, stood at 14,002.08 and13,864.68 points. He added that the Pakistan Stocksclosed higher amid renewedinstitutional & foreign interest lead bythird tier stocks. The marketcapitalization grew modestly andincreased to Rs 3.574 trillion from Rs3.564 trillion a day earlier. Of the total378 traded scrips, 157 gained, 140 lostand 81 finished as unchanged.

The free-float KSe-30 index alsogained 29.35 points to close at12,161.81 points against the previous12,132.46 points. Azeem said, “Reportof approval of rise in natural gas by30pc and hopes for earlyannouncements on revised CGTimplementation affected thesentiments.national Investment Bank Limitedwas the day’s volume leader countingits traded shares at 32.258 millionwith the opening and closing ratesstanding at Rs 2.85 and Rs 2.95,followed by Dewan Cement, D.G.K.Cement, Byco Petroleum and JahangirSiddiqui Company Limited withturnover of 26.392 million, 20.150million, 13.755 million and 13.328million shares respectively. Accordingto analyst the Index remained over anarrow range amid investor interest inselected oil, cement and bankingstocks ahead of key quarter endearning announcements due nextweek. On the future market, theturnover increased remarkably byover 3 million shares to 14.809million against 11.374 million sharesof Monday. The UniLever PakistanLimited XD and Sanofi-Aventis, upRs 51.81 and Rs 8.79, led highestprice gainers while, SiemensPakistan and nestle Pakistan XD,down Rs 23.00 and Rs 22.33respectively, led the losers.

Bulls dominate proceedings,index up 38 pointsg Global commodities, cement prices instigate bull run

Parvez Elahi craves Chineseflavour in trade cuisine

LahOrE

STAFF REPORT

PAKISTAn Muslim League Senior Central Leader & SeniorFederal Minister for Industries and Defense ProductionChaudhry Parvez elahi has underlined the need for paying

greater attention to regional trade for boosting economy of Pakistan.This he said while talking to visiting Chinese delegation, headed byLi Gang, Chairman China Council for Promotion of InternationalTrade, who called on him at his residence here today. During themeeting views were exchanged regarding increasing trade relationsbetween the two countries. Ch. Parvez elahi said that regional tradeis being promoted throughout the world and new trade blocs arebeing created. He said China has a strong economy and a fastemerging world power whose growth rate is more than 10 percentfor the last two decades. He said being a neighbour and friend ofChina, there are vast opportunities for Pakistan for trade withChina. Senior Federal Minister Ch. Parvez elahi exhorted theChinese investors to invest in Pakistan and said that the Chineseinvestors can invest in energy, infrastructure, agriculture, heavyindustry and mineral sectors. He assured the delegation thatPakistan Govt. will provide every possible facility and protection tothe Chinese investors. He said during our last tenure, we had signeda member of agreements with Chinese province Jiang Xu which hadproduced very commendable results and national industryregistered appreciable growth. The Chinese delegation invited theSenior Federal Minister to attend Trade & Industrial exhibitionscheduled to be held in June in Cheng Du as the Chief Guest, Ch.Parvez elahi accepted the invitation with thanks and said that hewould participate in the exhibition with a representativedelegation of Pakistan. He said that it is an honour that Pakistanidelegation will be attending the exhibition as the Chief Guest andthis will be a great opportunity for Pakistani traders to bringChinese investment in the country. On this occasion, leader of theChinese delegation Li Gang said that this exhibition is beingorganized every year regularly for last 60 years and it is attendedand participated by large number of big companies from all overthe world. He said Pakistan can secure huge investment of billionsof rupees through its effective and full-fledged participation in theupcoming trade and industry exhibition.

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