Stock
Karachi Stocks Up 73.07 Points:
KARACHI, Mar 15: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 13433.74, up 73.07 points.
KARACHI, Mar 15: At close of trading, the KSE-100 index was at 13433.74, up 73.07 points.
March 15, 2012
5 TOP GAINERS
& LOOSERS:
Nestle Pakistan |
Rs 196.21 |
Unilever Pakistan |
Rs (44.08) |
Unilever Foods |
Rs 88.19 |
Siemens Pakistan |
Rs (36.33) |
Fazal Textiles |
Rs 11.74 |
Wyeth Pakistan |
Rs (20.36) |
Shell Pakistan |
Rs 7.54 |
East-West Insurance |
Rs (11.75) |
Mithchells Farms |
Rs 6.69 |
ICI Pakistan |
Rs (5.29) |
KSE Index gains 90 points on selective buying
After early having fallen by 80 points on profit-selling on the blue chip counters, the benchmark KSE 100-index managed to recover a good part of the initial losses thanks to active short-covering in the heavyweights and ended at 13,451.07, up 90.40 points.
The recovery from the early lows was aided by OGDC, Engro Corporation, Shell Pakistan, National Refinery, Pakistan Oilfields and some leading bank shares.
“The weakness of the recent market trend setters, notably fertiliser sector on reports of first quarter poor sale figures has a negative impact on the broader market,” said analyst Samar Iqbal.
But major interest was again seen in the cement stocks under the lead of D.G. Khan and Lucky Cement on reports of steady pick up in exports to various countries amid perceptions of higher sales, he said.
“There is no reason to believe that a major shakeout may be around at the current inflated levels,” stock analyst Ahsan Mehanti said. The market was in a consolidation phase and may behave orderly despite profit-selling on some counters, he added.
He said the April 1 is eagerly awaited not for routine jokes but for the introduction of amended Capital Gains Tax regime and if the market needed a correction that could manifest itself during the post-CGT regime.
Plus signs again dominated the list under the lead of Nestle Pakistan and Unilever Foods, up by Rs196.21 and Rs88.19, while Unilever Pakistan and Siemens Pakistan topped the losers, off by Rs44.08 and Rs36.33 respectively.
Traded volume was maintained on the higher side at 336.913m shares as compared to 347m shares a day earlier, bulk of which again remained confined to low-priced shares.
The active list was topped by Bank of Punjab, up 46 paisa at Rs9.55 on 26m shares followed by Lafarge Pakistan, firm by 35 paisa at Rs3.46 on 19m shares, NIB Bank, steady by eight paisa at Rs2.81 also on 19m shares, Dewan Salman, up 78 paisa at Rs4.19 also on 19m shares, TRG Pakistan, off 34 paisa at Rs3.65 on 15m shares, PACE Pakistan, easy by 23 paisa at Rs2.75 on 14m shares and Fauji Cement, up 27 paisa at Rs5.50 on 13m shares.
They were followed by D.G. Khan Cement, up 76 paisa at Rs30.98 on 12m shares, JS Bank, lower by 27 paisa at Rs6.86 on 11m shares and Arif Habib Corporation, off 49 paisa at Rs32.09 on 10m shares.
FUTURE CONTRACTS: The active list on this counter was led by Engro Corporation, up 45 paisa at Rs111.14 on 3.249m shares followed by D.G. Khan Cement, higher by 71 paisa at Rs31.11 on 2.747m shares and National Bank, lower by 80 paisa at Rs54.21 on 2.102m shares.
They were followed by Arif Habib Corporation, easy 47 paisa at Rs32.26 on 1.644m shares and National Bank, March B settlement, lower by 86 paisa at 43.14 on 1.301m shares.
DEFAULTER COMPANIES: Active trading was witnessed on this counter featured by higher volumes, the leading among them, Kohinoor Industries, up 24 paisa at Rs1.77 on a large volume of 0.661m shares followed by Dost Steels, easy 15 paisa at Rs2.75 on 0.323m shares, Dadabhoy Cement, easy by two paisa at Rs1.98 on 0.294m shares.
Other actively traded shares were led by Kohinoor Power, higher by 51 paisa at Rs2.90 on 0.204m shares, Genertech Power, lower five paisa at Rs0.85 on 0.189m shares and Mukhtar Textiles, firm by nine paisa at Rs0.65 on 69,942 shares. There were some others, which also turned out large turnover.
1. ICI profits dented by gas shortage
KARACHI, March 15: Profit-after-tax at ICI Pakistan declined 20 per cent for the year ended Dec 31, 2011, to Rs1.93 billion, from Rs2.43 billion the previous year.
Those translated into earning per share at Re13.95 and Rs17.50. The board which met on Thursday also recommended a final cash dividend at Rs5.50 per share.
Net sales in terms of value increased 14 per cent to Rs40.11 billion in 2011, from Rs35.13 billion the earlier year. In a short report attached to the accounts, the directors stated that the operating results were 23 per cent lower than last year, “due almost entirely to a further deterioration in the availability of gas by Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited to the Soda ash and Polyester Staple Fibre plants for 174 days and 86 days, respectively compared to 143 and 108 days in 2010.”
The consequent financial impact on operating result of using alternative expensive fuel was over Rs826 million in 2011. The operating results were also said to include an impairment charge of Rs210 million, relating to the investments in ICI Pakistan Powergen Limited, a 100 per cent owned captive power company, in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards.
“This impairment has occurred due to the deterioration in the future prospect of the economic benefit of investment on account of severe gas undersupply to ICI Pakistan Powergen Ltd,” the company complained.
In 2011, the company also incurred a one off demerger expenses amounting to Rs170 million.
The Paints, Chemicals and Life Sciences businesses recorded strong growth in margins and operating results.
The coal-fired boiler project already approved by the board at a cost of Rs2 billion is expected to be commissioned in the second quarter of 2013, which, the company expects, would significantly improve the energy economics of the Soda Ash Business.
2. SSGC announces gas suspension to industry
KARACHI, March 15: The industrial estates
in the city will face suspension in gas supply on Friday and Saturday for 12
hours each.
A spokesman of the SSGCL on Thursday said that due to shortages from gas
fields, the company was constrained to invoke force majeure and suspension of
supply to industries and captive power units.He said gas supply to Korangi, Landhi and Bin Qasim Industrial areas would remain suspended on Friday from 7am to 7pm, while Site and F.B. Industrial areas would not get gas on Saturday from 7am to 7pm.
However, the spokesman had not mentioned about the name of gas fields from where the SSGC was facing shortages. The spokesman said that all CNG stations in Sindh would remain open on Friday and as per past practice, however all CNG stations will remain closed on Saturday from 9am to 9am on Sunday.
From Thursday afternoon consumers made a beeline as almost all the CNG stations of the city faced extremely low gas pressure.
Chairman CNG Dealers Association Abdul Sami Khan said that the gas pressure had dropped to two PSI from the normal eight PSI causing inordinate delay in filling cars at the outlets.
He said that the SSGCL management had assured that there would be no gas load shedding after February 15, 2012 but the situation was getting worse making pump owners more worried about their huge investment.
Korangi Association of Trade and Industry Chairman Ehteshamuddin said the industries had already been facing 24 hours gas suspension on Sundays for the last few months.
He said many industries had taken two gas connections one regular/commercial and another connection for boiler. Korangi has 33 captive power units out of total 2,200 units in the industrial area.
“The government should clearly mention as to how we can run our industries without gas,” he said, adding many export-oriented units will miss shipments deadline for exports. Chairman Site Association of Industry Mohammad Irfan Moton said the industries were already getting low gas pressure from the last one week.
He blamed the SSGCL management for not properly handling the gas crisis and it seemed that efforts were being made to cripple the industrial base and export.
Out of 2,200 active units in Site area, around 200 are captive power units and leading exporters. He said textile processing units will suffer heavily. Muzzamil Hussain, former chairman Towel Manu-facturers Association (TMA), said that after destruction of industrial activities in Punjab, the industries of Karachi were now heading towards possible collapse.
He said non-availability of gas would result in sheer loss of investment of billion of rupees made by industrialists in setting up captive power facility.
3. Foreign firm to fund KESC project
The project, first of its kind in Pakistan, entails replacement of existing 6x210MW RFO boilers of the power station with coal boilers and construction of coal and ash handling facilities in different phases and.
The KESC and Bright Eagle held their first joint session on Thursday to kick off joint development agreement signed last month.
The joint session was attended by a visiting 14-member high-level delegation from Bright Eagle, China Resource Power and China National Technical Import and Export Corporation. The members of the team also visited the site to obtain a tangible perspective on this significant undertaking by KESC.
The visiting delegation and KESC management had a productive dialogue aimed at strengthening the relationship between the partners and setting concrete milestones to achieve the desired goals, according to the power utility.
Both the sides reiterated that prospects of Pakistan-China friendship be translated into joint ventures to undertake and complete projects which also serve the larger public interests.
The visiting delegation was led by Mr Chen Ping, Chairman, Bright Eagle Enterprises, while other dignitaries included Wang Yujun, Executive Director and CEO of China Resource Power, and LU Zhikang, Marketing Director of China National Technical Import and Export Corporation.
KESC is already in the progression of finalising its feasibility study through a reputed US-based consultant, ‘Knight Piesold’.
No comments:
Post a Comment