01

BUSINESS

BFriday, 22 February, 2013

US should increase investment in

Pakistan’s energy‚ agriculture and

livestock sectors. – President Asif Zardari

ISLaMaBaD

INP

FEDERAL Secretaryfor Production GulMohammad Rindadmitted that Pak-istan Steel Millswas utilising only12% of its produc-tion capacity while

two billion rupees was being used everymonth as salary for twenty thousand em-ployees. He added that at present the or-ganisation was suffering a loss of onebillion rupees every month.

Replying to a host of questions bymedia personnel on Thursday, the produc-tion secretary hoped that Pakistan Steelwas expected to attain 30% production inthe next few months. He said NationalBank of Pakistan has not turned down therequest of a three billion loan to the SteelMills and a summary has been moved tothe Economic Coordination Committee(ECC) of the Cabinet for approval.

He said there were financial problemsin purchasing raw material from Iran as theIranian company had demanded that ar-rears be cleared first and then it will enterinto a new deal due to which the produc-tion was affected. The secretary said whenthe bail out package was given, Pak SteelMills Administration had committed toraise the production to 25% but it failed tohonour its promise.

He said raw material has now beenpurchased from Australia and soon twoships would reach Karachi port. Once the

material is available, the production wouldbe increased from 12% to 30%.

To a question, the secretary said a del-egation of Ministry of Production would

be going to Russia to discuss the expansionof Steel Mills with Russian officials.

Pak Steel Mills productionat 12% despite bailout

ORGANISATIONSUFFERING MONTHLY LOSS OF ONEBILLION RUPEES

KARACHI: A ship carrying 55,000 met-ric tonnes of iron ore for Pakistan SteelMills (PSM) reached Port Qasim PakistanSteel Jetty from Australia.

The cargo unloading was startedthrough the 4.2 km conveyer belt from thejetty to Pakistan Steel raw material stock-yard. The PSM opened LC of $ 8.3 mil-lion to M/S Cargill International for theship arrived Thursday.

According to a PSM spokesman, pres-

ent management of Pakistan Steel wasmaking arrangements for maintainingtimely supply chain of raw material andfloated several tenders for iron ore out ofwhich 3 tenders were finalised and thefirst shipment of 55,000 MT iron ore inthe current year arrived successfully.

Besides all these efforts, the usage oflocal iron ore is also on-going to run theproduction wheel. The spokesman saidaccording to recently signed contracts, ar-

rival of further shipments of iron ore incoming days is also expected. He addedthat this continuity in the supply chain ofraw materials will help PSM to increaseits production utilisation, and overcomeother issues.

Pakistan Steel has succeeded insigning 3 contracts, each of 55, 000 MTiron ore with 2 companies of Singaporeincluding M/S Cargill and M/S SwissSingapore.

PSM imports 55,000MT Australian iron ore at $8.3m

Lahore

ONlINE

The United States (US) Senate ForeignRelations Committee Chairman RobertMenendez visited Mangla Power Stationto review firsthand, the contribution USassistance funds are making to help alle-viate energy crisis in Pakistan. US Am-bassador in Pakistan Richard Olson alsoaccompanied him during the visit.

The visit was conducted in the con-text of the US commitment for providingfinancial assistance up to $ 150 millionfor refurbishment and up-gradation ofMangla Hydel Power Station.

Speaking on the occasion, SenatorMenendez stated that, “the Americanpeople are proud to support large-scaleenergy projects in Pakistan that will add900 MW of power to the national grid bythe end of this year, enough power to sup-ply electricity to more than two millionhouseholds across the country.”

Earlier, Federal Secretary Water andPower Nargis Sethi, thanking the US forthe support in power sector, informedSenator Menendez of the power situationin Pakistan and the measures being takenby the government to overcome electric-ity shortages and improve the ratio oflow-cost electricity in the national grid.

WAPDA Chairman Syed RaghibShah dilating upon the details of ManglaPower Station apprised the guests thatWAPDA had undertaken refurbishmentand up-gradation of the power house inview of aging factor of the generatingequipment, and availability of additionalwater due to the raising of Mangla Dam.This will not only help rehabilitate the

power house but also increase its genera-tion capacity from 1000 MW to 1310MW, resulting in average annual incre-ment of 1,632 million units low-cost

hydel electricity to the national grid. Thetask, currently underway, will be com-pleted in phases with an estimated cost ofUS $ 400 million, he added.

Engro offers reductionin Urea price ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordina-tion Committee (ECC) is expected to makea decision in its meeting on Friday thatwill save farmers Rs 34.2 billion annuallyand keep food inflation in check in thecountry.Officials said that in a meeting with thetop government officials, Engro Corpora-tion offered to reduce urea prices by Rs.300 per bag if government fulfils its con-tractual obligations to Engro. In 2012, Engro Fertilizer’s efficient andstate of the art $1.1 billion dollar plant re-ceived only 9% of its gas allocation in ablatant violation of its water tight gas con-tract with SNGPL. As a company acrossall sectors it has received the least amountof gas in the year.Since 2010, the government has suppliedgas to other sectors and vested interestgroups, many of whom do not even havegas supply agreements. Furthermore, theyhave provided gas to other sectors in com-plete violation of the government’s ownGas Allocation Policy. As a last resort in2011, Engro went to the Sindh High Courtwho passed judgment that gas should begiven to Engro per its contractual commit-ment and Article 158 of the constitution.The government did not act on the SindhHigh Court order.As a result farmers have had to bear thebrunt of expensive urea which has causedfood prices to escalate. In 2010 the priceof urea was Rs 800 per bag which is nowRs 1,670 (inclusive of GST). Engro’s offerto reduce price by Rs 300 will bring downthe price of a urea bag to 1370 (inclusiveof GST).During the meeting, Engro once again ar-ticulated that it is ready to start the Tharcoal project and help solve the energy cri-sis in the country but it could not do sowhile the government is in breach of itsgas contract. ONlINE

LPG pricesslashed by Rs15per kilogramme

ISLAMABAD: The price of the LPG wasslashed by Rs15 per kilogramme afterwhich the price of a residential cylinder hasbeen cut by Rs170 while the price of a com-mercial cylinder has gone down by Rs 650.This was stated by the LPG Distributors As-sociation Chairman Irfan Khokhar who fur-ther said that LPG prices are expected to bereduced even more within the next fewdays. LPG would be available at 40-50 per-cent lower price than that of petrol anddiesel, he added.After the price reduction the new price ofLPG in Karachi and Hyderabad would beRs115 per kilogramme while the price of aresidential cylinder would be Rs1,330.In Sadiqabad, Rahimyar Khan, Bhawalpur,Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan and Sahiwal thenew price would be Rs120 per kilogrammewhile the price of residential cylinderwould be Rs1,390. Meanwhile, the newLPG price in Lahore, Gujranwala, Sialkot,Faisalabad, Sargodha, Jhelum and Gjjratwould be Rs125 per kilogramme while resi-dential cylinder would cost Rs1,450.The new LPG price in Islamabad,Rawalpindi and Murree would be Rs 130per kilogramme while a residential cylinderwould be available at Rs1,510.The new LPG price in Gilgit, FATA, AzadJammu & Kashmir would be Rs135 perkilogramme while a residential cylinderwould be available at Rs1,570. INP

KSE tracks a global fall; rupee frail against USDKARACHI: Pakistan’s stock market closedlower on Thursday after a correction inglobal stock markets. The Karachi StockExchange’s (KSE) benchmark 100-shareindex ended 0.15 percent, or 26.05 points,lower at 17,921.02. Telecom stocks likePakistan Telecommunication Corporation,Telecard Ltd and World Call Telecom roseafter a court decision approved recentlyraised international call rates. Profit takingwas seen in cement and oil stocks, said adealer. Pakistan Telecommunication Corpo-ration rose 4.97 percent to 22.83 rupees andWorld Call Telecom was up 19.61 percentat 3.72 rupees. The rupee ended weaker at98.13/98.18 against the dollar, compared toWednesday’s close of 98.04/98.09.Overnight rates in the money market rose to8.50 percent from Wednesday’s close of7.25 percent. STAFF REPORT

Tax on incoming Intlcalls: SC overrulesLHC decisionISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pak-istan on Thursday annulled a stay order ofthe Lahore High Court pertaining to collec-tion of additional tax on incoming interna-tional calls. According to a private televisionchannel, a two-member bench of the LHChad issued a stay order against collection ofadditional tax by the Pakistan Telecommuni-cation Authority (PTA). The decision waslater challenged in the Supreme Court by dif-ferent companies. NNI

US proud to support large-scale energy projects in Pakistan

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BUSINESSFriday, 22 February, 2013

Major Gainers

COMPANY OPEN HIGH LOW CLOSE CHANGE TURNOVERUniLever Pak 10358.60 10560.00 10400.00 10560.00 201.40 900Colgate Palmolive 1575.00 1600.00 1600.00 1600.00 25.00 350Wyeth Pak Limited 945.00 960.00 920.00 960.00 15.00 150Sapphire Textile 249.37 260.89 260.89 260.89 11.52 300Murree Brewery 143.33 150.49 147.75 150.49 7.16 33,600

Major LosersBata (Pak) 1480.00 1485.00 1450.00 1450.00 -30.00 300Indus Dyeing SD 448.71 433.00 433.00 433.00 -15.71 100National Foods 325.00 320.00 311.00 316.00 -9.00 3,200Indus Motor Co 304.45 305.00 293.05 296.00 -8.45 6,500Attock Petroleum Ltd 487.99 489.99 480.25 482.86 -5.13 30,100

Volume Leaders

WorldCall Telecom 3.11 4.01 3.08 3.70 0.59 55,152,000P.T.C.L.A 21.75 22.83 21.75 22.83 1.08 42,278,500Jah.Sidd. Co. 18.30 19.19 18.10 18.88 0.58 32,584,500Telecard Limited 5.10 6.10 5.02 6.10 1.00 30,298,500Maple Leaf Cement 17.68 18.60 17.65 18.41 0.73 29,367,000

Interbank RatesUSD PKR 98.0740GBP PKR 149.2785JPY PKR 1.0499EURO PKR 129.3106

ForexBUY SELL

US Dollar 99.2 99.5Australian Dollar 102 103Canadian Dollar 97.7 98UK Pound Sterling 154.3 155Euro 132.2 132.7Japanese Yen 1.055 1.11Saudi Riyal 26.4 26.7China Yuan 13.5 14UAE Dirham 26.95 27.2

ICI Pakistan Limitedappoints Asif Jooma asChief Executive

KARACHI: The Board of

ICI Pakistan Limited

announced the

appointment of Asif

Jooma as Chief

Executive of the

company effective

February 25, 2013. Asif

Jooma started his career

in the corporate sector

with ICI Pakistan in 1983. He brings with him over

28 years of extensive experience in senior

commercial and leadership roles. Following early

years with ICI Pakistan and subsequently Pakistan

PTA Limited, Asif Jooma was appointed Managing

Director of Abbot Laboratories Pakistan Limited in

2007. He has previously served as President,

American Business Council (ABC), President of

Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce &

Industry (OICCI) and Chairman of Pharma Bureau.

He also serves as a Director on NIB Bank Limited,

Engro Fertilizers Limited and Board of Investment

and Executive Committee of BOI – Government of

Pakistan. Commenting on the announcement, Asif

Jooma expressed his commitment to drive the

company towards maximizing shareholder value

and added: “I am excited to be taking over the

leadership of a company that has such a significant

footprint and corporate brand equity. With over 69

years of solid performance and successful

presence, ICI Pakistan today is recognized as a

symbol of corporate excellence. I believe that

through a combination of further leveraging our

existing businesses and exploiting future

opportunities for organic growth and diversification,

we will be embarking on a journey of aspiration and

ambition. Our responsibility to all our stakeholders

will form the cornerstone of our activities and

future actions. Following the acquisition by Lucky

Holdings Limited, ICI Pakistan is now a part of YBG,

a conglomerate with diversified interest in building

material, textiles and power sector. PR

ICI Pakistan posts Rs 893 million profit after tax for 2012KARACHI: The Board of Directors of ICI Pakistan

Limited is pleased to announce the financial results

for the year ended December 31, 2012. The

company posted net sales income of PKR 34.7

billion for the year which is 2% lower than last year

mainly due to lower volumes and prices in the

Polyester Business where volumes were dampened

due to deteriorating energy crises affecting

downstream demand. Operating results were down

by 37% primarily on account of lower PSF volumes

and significant reduction in margin over feedstock.

The results were further dragged down due to

extended gas outages in the Polyester and Soda

Ash Business resulting in incremental expenditure

on expensive alternate fuel amounting to

approximately PKR 407 million. Profit after tax from

continuing operations at PKR 893 million is 42%

lower than last year and EPS (earnings per share)

from continuing operations at PKR 9.67 was 27%

lower than last year. PR

ZONG employees spend a day with mentallychallenged children

ISLAMABAD: ZONG employees under its

Corporate Volunteerism Programme recently visited

Chambeli Institute of Mentally Challenged Children

and Physiotherapy Center located in Satellite Town,

Rawalpindi. The Institute has around 50 mentally

challenged children enrolled in it and has a staff of

20 people to manage and help with these children.

It was a full day event which comprised of many

fun filled activities like face painting, musical

chairs, tableau by children, 3-legged race, spoon &

ball race and dancing competition. Children

participated with great enthusiasm while volunteers

from ZONG compassionately arranged all these

activities with help of the institute’s staff. Children

also watched a cartoon movie on the multimedia

and later on excitedly received gifts, food items and

goodie bags which were being distributed by ZONG

employees. Each child was presented stationery

items, coloring box set, glitter pens and coloring

books along with scrumptious delights to make this

day a memorable one for them. PR

135 families in Swatbenefit from IKF VillageDevelopment ProgramLAHORE: The Imran Khan Foundation (IKF) has

successfully completed its Village Development

Program in four villages of Swat. During this project

the IKF helped to rebuild the lives of 135 families

whose homes/lives were destroyed during the 2010

floods in Pakistan. During the 18month program,

145 homes have been constructed, using concrete

blocks, which will not just be flood water resistant

but are also designed to be earthquake proof. In

addition, a micro-hydel power plant has been

installed to cater to the electricity needs of the 4

villages, Draboo, Damana, Ariana & Qandeel. PR

Bank of Punjab to launchIslamic BankingLAHORE: The Bank of Punjab is set to achieve

another milestone when it launches Islamic banking

in its operations. Apart from shoring up tangible

support for the bank in the last four years, the

Chief Minister also engendered an environment in

the bank that ensured zero tolerance for corruption

and eliminated government interference in the

bank’s affairs. The Chief Minister Punjab has thus

been principally responsible for restoring bank’s

trust and goodwill amongst its customers.

In such an environment, backed by prudent

financial management through a team of

committed professionals the bank has grown from

strength to strength during this time leading to

growth in deposits from Rs.164billion to Rs.266

billion, growth in branch network to 306 branches

across Pakistan, handling home remittances of

Rs.176 billion (USD2billion), lead arrangement for

wheat procurement worth Rs.248 billion, new

relationships numbering 545,598 in this period,

largest portfolio of Vehicle financing, now in excess

of 20,000 vehicles, apart from all-round growth in

numbers, the bank has also invested in quality in

its human resource in terms of both hiring and

training. Also, branches have undergone major

refurbishment, with renovations of older facilities

and introduction of modern, new branches — all

with a view to enhancing the end-to-end

experience of its customers with the bank.

Having successfully accomplished the turnaround in

the bank after four years of unrelenting

commitment to achieve it, the bank is now poised

to take further new initiatives. One such significant

initiative is adding a new business stream by

entering the Islamic banking sector. In response to

its request, the State Bank of Pakistan has granted

approval to adopt the institutional model of

providing Islamic banking products and services

through standalone Islamic branches. This business

is to be managed by a separate Islamic Banking

Division (IBD) in BoP. State Bank of Pakistan has

already granted approval for conversion of five

branches into Islamic branches by June 30, 2013

and the Bank intends to expand its network of

Islamic branches by another ten branches in the

remainder of 2013. BoP is earnestly looking

forward to serve the growing demand of its existing

as well as prospective customers who have a

preference for Islamic banking. In doing so, its IBD

will adopt the best business practices and make

itself a robust business unit with a premium on

abiding compliance of Shariah guidelines. The bank

is confident it will catch up with its peers in the not

too distant future and become the bank of choice

for Shariah conscious customers. PR

Warid hires Latitude CRS for PR servicesLAHORE: Warid Telecom has signed on Lahore-

based Latitude Corporate Relationship Solutions for

the provision of public relations services. Latitude is

a boutique public relations and relationship

management consultancy that offers a range of

services in the fields of public and corporate relations

and media management. The agency was selected

following a competitive pitch process, during which

the Latitude team demonstrated its ability to build

the strategic relationships and communications

necessary for informing the public and other interest

groups about the latest developments in Warid’s

offerings and corporate standing. PR

KARACHI: The Board HR Committee of

Pakistan State Oil (PSO) was convened on

Wednesday at PSO House to review personnel

related matters at the national oil giant. The

meeting was chaired by Dr Mirza Ikhtiar Baig

and was attended by Sohail W Siddiqui,

Chairman PSO, Malik Naseem Hussain Lawbar,

Wazir A Khoja, Sarfraz Bugti, Muhammad

Azam, Naeem Y Mir, CEO&MD, PSO and Faisal

Ahmed, Company Secretary. PR

CORPORATE CORNER

02

B

Recent policy initiatives have made Pakistan an

investment-friendly country, particularly for the

petroleum sector. – Dr Asim Hussain

KaraChI

ONlINE

Agricultural credit disbursement bybanks surged by 13.21 percent onyear-on-year basis to Rs 169.42 bil-lion in the first seven months (July-January, 2013) of the current fiscalyear (2012-13).

In absolute terms, disbursementof credit to the agriculture sector in-creased by over Rs 19.77 billion inJuly-January, 2013 when comparedwith the total disbursement of Rs149.65 billion in the same period ofthe last fiscal year.

Overall credit disbursement byfive major commercial banks in-cluding Allied Bank Limited, HabibBank Limited, Muslim CommercialBank Limited, National Bank ofPakistan and United Bank Limitedstood at Rs 89.65 billion in July-Jan-uary, 2013 as compared with Rs82.46 billion disbursed in July-Jan-uary, 2012 depicting an increase ofRs 7.19 billion or 8.72 percent.

Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited(ZTBL), the largest specialisedbank, disbursed a total of Rs 26.22billion in July-January, 2013 ascompared with Rs 26.36 billion dis-

bursed in the same period of the lastfiscal year. Punjab Provincial Coop-erative Bank Limited (PPCBL) dis-bursed Rs 4.65 billion inJuly-January, 2013 down by 6.46percent when compared with Rs4.98 billion disbursed in the sameperiod of the last fiscal year.

Fourteen domestic private banksalso loaned a combined amount ofRs 38.81 billion in July-January,2013 up by 33.85 percent as com-pared with Rs 28.99 billion dis-bursed in the same period of the lastfiscal year.

Five Microfinance Banks in-

cluding Khushhali Bank Ltd., NRSPMicrofinance Bank Ltd., The FirstMicrofinance Bank Ltd., Pak OmanMicrofinance Bank Ltd. and TameerMicrofinance Bank Ltd. disbursedagricultural loans amounting to Rs10.06 billion during July-January,2013 as compared to Rs 6.85 billiondisbursed in the same period of thelast fiscal year.

It may be pointed out that theState Bank of Pakistan has provi-sionally set an indicative agricul-tural credit disbursement target ofRs 315 billion to banks for the cur-rent fiscal year.

Agricultural credit disbursementsurges by over 13 percent

Discrimination on the go incountry’s industrial sector ISLAMABAD: Despite the deteriorating law and order situation in the coun-try resulting in turning away of large number of investors, the government hi-erarchy remains busy in benefiting specific people and companies. FBR hasimposed 8% duty on polyethylene terephthalate resin and other products forthe benefits of a certain company. In this regard, the letter from TransparencyInternational (TI), the advice of Federal Minister Saleem Mandviwala and thepolicy note of the Competition Commission of Pakistan have also been ig-nored. At this TI showed its concerns but FBR did not take any notice of thematter, and thus the monopoly of the specific company continues. Industrialcircles are of the view that the responsible officials must take notice of thematter, and the duty-structure must be equal for all companies. ONlINE

PSO revenue swells by 37pc to Rs 630 billion in 1HFY13KARACHI: The Board of Management of PSO convened Thursday at PSOHouse to review the company’s performance over the first half of FY13ranging from July to December 2012. The meeting was chaired by PSOChairman Sohail W Siddiqui. In the period under review, PSO’s revenuesrose to Rs 630 billion as compared to Rs 576 billion in the corresponding pe-riod last year, representing a growth of 9.34%. After tax earnings also wit-nessed significant improvement and increased to Rs 6.3 billion in 1HFY13in comparison to Rs 4.6 billion in FY12 representing a healthy increase ofnearly 37%. Keeping in view the company’s financial performance overthe past six months, the board announced a cash dividend of Rs 2.5 pershare and bonus shares equivalent to 20% of shares held. STAFF REPORT

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