Banks propose changes in prudential regulations

Posted on 02.20.07 by StockPK Team @ 12:07 pm    

Banks want to impose 30 percent margin on listed companies share financing. Besides this banks want their exposure in share markets to be protected by imposing eight new safeguards.

Sources of banking industry said on Monday that keeping best international practices in view the banks have drafted five major changes in prudential regulations meant for share markets of the country.

Sources said the proposed regulation number R-41 reads: Exposure against the shares of listed companies shall be subject to minimum margin of 30 per cent of their current market value.

Merrill Lynch bullish on Pakistan

Posted on 02.18.07 by StockPK Team @ 3:57 pm    

“Sell Indonesia, buy Pakistan”, the international financial services firm, Merrill Lynch (ML) recommends Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Mongolia as ‘new frontiers’ in their latest regional investment strategy report released on Thursday (Feb 15).

Among the four countries, Spencer White, the strategist who prepared the report says: “Pakistan remains one of our highest conviction overweight recommendations”. He reasons that the on-going economic reforms remains a core priority and that it should sustain high economic growth and lead to further financial stability, something which ML “feels the market has under-appreciated”. Best exposure to Pakistan has been recommended on rural expansion focus companies, which ML identifies as Adamjee Insurance; MCB; United Bank and Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim.

KAPCO announces 30pc dividend

Posted on 02.17.07 by StockPK Team @ 2:42 pm    

Kot Addu Power Company (KAPCO) managed to announce an interim cash dividend of Rs3 per share (i.e. 30 per cent) for the first half of fiscal year 2007 ending on December 31, 2006, on Friday, despite of a decline the Company registered in its net income.

Net income of the company posted a decline of 42 per cent to Rs2.3 billion (EPS Rs2.6) from that of Rs4.0 billion (EPS Rs4.6) for the period mentioned above.

Decline in earnings mainly ensued from application of corporate taxation and falling debt profile leading to lower principal repayment, Faraz Farooq of JS Research said.

PSO may post lower earnings

Posted on 02.16.07 by StockPK Team @ 3:00 pm    

The Pakistan State Oil (PSO) is expected to post sharply lower first-half profit as falling global prices offset stronger sales. State-run PSO, which is earmarked for partial privatisation in March, is likely to see further earnings pressure in its second half if world energy prices remain soft. The government has long planned to sell a 51 per cent stake in PSO, which controls almost 65 per cent of petroleum marketing business in the country. But the transaction has been postponed repeatedly because of lukewarm interest from buyers. However, investor interest has been healthier this time, raising hopes of a successful sell-off. The PSO is expected to post a net profit for its July-December first half of between 1.35 billion rupees and 1.97 billion rupees ($22.2-32.4 million), according to a range of forecasts from five analysts surveyed by Reuters. The firm, which has a stock market of just below $1 billion, earned Rs3.35 billion in the same period last year. It will release its results on Feb 22. As Pakistan’s top oil marketer, PSO has the largest oil product inventories, making it more susceptible to price falls.

Shell declares loss in Q2

Posted on 02.16.07 by StockPK Team @ 1:10 pm    

Shell Pakistan on Thursday posted a net loss of Rs152 million for second quarter of fiscal year 2007 with a translated loss of Rs2.78 per share following a slump in international oil prices. However, the board of the company approved payment of an interim dividend for the year ending June 30, 2007 at Rs8 per share. “This quarter also saw full impact of reduced unit margins as a result of revision in the government’s pricing formula earlier this year,” the company said in a letter to Karachi Stock Exchange. The announcement of loss against a profit of Rs210 million during the same period of previous year coincided with the press conference of Zaivji Ismail, Chairman, Shell Pakistan. “Most important thing for a company is to remain robust,” he said and emphasised that the international oil marketing firm was enjoying very robust operations. Unveiling a plan to spend Rs3 billion on expansion of retail network, he said the company was also focusing on CNG business.

Removal of MD: heated debate in KSE board meeting

Posted on 02.16.07 by StockPK Team @ 12:32 pm    

KSE Board meeting held on Thursday ended in chaos, source told The News. Board of Directors (SECP nominated and KSE elected) failed to reach any consensus regarding the removal of incumbent KSE-MD, M A Lodhi, which was the only agenda of the meeting.

Meeting lasted for six hours commencing at 2:30 pm and culminating at around 08:30 pm. On can measure the intensity of the issue with the time span that meeting consumed, but ended up with zero sum game.

Zafar A Khan, Chairman-KSE, preferred not to talk on the issue and switched off his mobile without responding to the queries about the outcome of the meeting. But, before switching off his mobile he completed the sentence “you better talk to KSE-Secretary.”

Corporates announce dividends

Posted on 02.15.07 by StockPK Team @ 12:29 pm    

Board of Directors of Hub Power Company on Wednesday, recommended an interim cash dividend of Rs1.25 per share (i.e. 12.50 per cent) for second quarter ending on December 31, 2005.

Board announced the interim dividend after its meeting held at London on Tuesday.

Interim dividend will be paid to shareholders whose names appear in the Register of Members at the close of business on March 14, 2007. The Share Transfer Books will remain closed from March 15, 2007 to March 26, 2007 (both days inclusive).

The Company net profit for the period shrank to Rs526.049 million from Rs628.674 million for the corresponding period of 2005.

Tips for Investing

Posted on 02.13.07 by Afzal Adamjee @ 6:49 am    

Many people want to take advantage of the opportunity to invest as a way to supplement their income, but few people have the knowledge or the time to monitor stocks and they are reluctant to pay the high fees associated with full-service brokers.

As well, most people know that a diversified portfolio is the best-performing portfolio, but few people have the huge capital it takes to properly diversify a portfolio made up only of stocks.

One option for those people is to purchase mutual funds.

Best Cure for Hiccups?

Posted on 02.12.07 by Tanveer Sultan @ 2:49 pm    

“No matter how strong a bull may be, there is a time when it gets tired”, I said in my article “How Much Bull Can you Take”. My sentence reflected the market situation last week. (Behold, for my next trick I shall make Chirac disappear!) I mentioned that the bullish trend would continue and it is going to be a week of correction. It wasn’t exactly a correction of the magnitude I’m still expecting but it was definitely a hiccup that required more than a glass of water to abate. Though on the day market was a bit rough and the index showed fluctuation of about 175 points, Tuesday ended with a positive note. Correction, nevertheless, it was, in principle.

Analysts suggest caution as KSE touches 9-month high

Posted on 02.11.07 by StockPK Team @ 2:24 pm    

The outgoing week (February 06-09) is the seventh in sequence of closing the Karachi bourse on positive note. However, the process of much awaited technical correction was initiated on weekend.

KSE 100-Index moved ahead by another 255.01 points on week-on-week basis and closed above nine-month high record at 11,844.65 points despite of the bearish resistance it faced during week.

To calculate the future movement of the benchmark, it is worth mentioning here that 100-Index breached through 12,000 points on aggressive buying on Friday, but market failed to sustain this level. Corrections reversed the earlier gains after touching 12,047.72 points peak level this week.